The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde,
Born 16 October 1854 in Dublin,Ireland
Died 30 November 1900 (aged 46) in Paris,France
Wilde was an Irish writer, poet, and prominent aesthete. From an early age he was tutored at home, where he showed his intelligence, becoming fluent in French and German. He attended boarding school for six years, then attending a university at seventeen. After university, Wilde moved around trying his hand at various things. He published a book of poems and toured America lecturing extensively on aestheticism. He then returned to London, where he worked as a journalist for four years. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress, and glittering conversation, Wilde was one of the most well-known personalities of his day. He next produced a series of dialogues and essays that developed his ideas about the supremacy of art. However, it was his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, that brought him more lasting recognition. He became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London with a series of social satires which continue to be performed, especially his masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest.He sued his lover's father for libel, though the case was dropped at trial. After two subsequent trials, Wilde was imprisoned for two years' hard labour, having been convicted of "gross indecency" with other men. In prison he wrote De Profundis, a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. Upon his release he left immediately for France, never to return to Ireland or Britain. There he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, a long, terse poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. He died destitute in Paris at the age of forty-six.