Oscar Wilde Research Paper

Oscar Wilde

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. He is the middle child of Sir William and Jane Wilde. Oscar is known for being a crazy character and his parents were no different. Sir William was the father of three children before his marriage to Jane. Oscar’s mother become somewhat infamous in 1846 when she wrote rebellious poems under the name “Speranza.” She was also one of Dublin’s most gossiped about hostesses. She often wore bizarre dresses and was known for her bawdy talk. Wilde was a very bright child. He attended Portora Royal School at Enniskillen. While there he excelled in his studies and became partially fond of Greek and Roman studies.

While there, he wrote “blank-verse tragedy that had been commissioned by the actress Mary Anderson. When he sent it to her, however, she turned it down.” (CMG Worldwide) He then went back to England and Ireland to perform his lectures there. While at a lecture in Dublin, he met Constance Lloyd. He proposed to her and they were married May 29 1884. Constance was the daughter of a prominent barrister and was four years younger than Wilde. She spoke several languages, was outspoken, and had a very independent mind. They had two sons very quickly, Cyril, born in 1885, and Vyvyan in 1886. Since Wilde now had a family to support, he accepted a job as the editor of the magazine, Woman’s World. The magazine had lost its popularity, and, during Wilde’s two years as editor, he revitalized the magazine making it extremely

In 1891, he met Lord Alfred Douglas. ‘Bosie’ was an undergraduate at Oxford, and a fan of Wilde’s work. Boise was sixteen years Wilde’s junior, and by 1893, they had began an affair. From Wilde’s plays, he was earning £100 a week, which is equivalent to almost £6,000 today. You could compare this to his £6 a week while editor of Woman’s World. He would spend all of this money on Douglas, giving him everything he wanted. Wilde, never went home to his wife and children. He wrote her that he was writing while he was with Douglas. Lord Douglas soon led Wilde to the Victorian underground scene of gay prostitution. Wilde began to meet young, working class male prostitutes, offer him gifts, dine him privately and then take him to a hotel room. His public and private lives soon became two completely different