Oscar Wilde

(1854 - 1900)

Study Questions
MILLENNIUM 2 P. 96
1. What do you remember of Wilde’s life?
• Born in Dublin, he was educated first at Trinity College, Dublin,
and then at Magdalen College, Oxford.
• Attracted by the Aesthetic movement, he was deeply influenced
by Walter Pater’s and John Ruskin’s works.
• After graduating he moved to London, gave lectures in the
States, got married and had two children.
• He wrote a series of fables for his children, later on collected in
two volumes: “The Happy Prince and other Tales” (1888) and “A
house of Pomegranates” (1891).
• His first literary success was the novel “The Picture of Dorian
Gray” (1891), which is an demonstration of extreme decadence
and a mystery story.
• He then started a career as a playwright and published a series
of light comedies, of which the greatest was “The Importance of
Being Earnest” (1895).
• In 1895 he was condemned to prison for homosexuality.
• He spent his final years in Paris where he died in 1900, alone
and bankrupt.
2. What reputation did he gain first in Oxford and then in London?
• In Oxford he gained the fame of a brilliant conversationalist, dandy
and an aesthete ; in London, thanks to his brilliant and extravagant
personality, his way of dressing in bright colours and his wit, he
became the spokesman of the Aesthetic Movement.
3. How many comedies did Wilde write? List them. Which is his
most famous one ?
• He wrote four comedies:
1. “Lady Windermere’s Fan”(1892) ,
2. “A Woman of no Importance” (1893)
3. ; “An Ideal Husband”, (1895)
4. “The Importance of Being Earnest” (1895) ,which is the most famous of
all.
4. How did the years in prison change his view of life?
• His view on life changed radically. He wrote two of his greatest
works: “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” about his experience in prison
and “De Profundis”, a long autobiographical letter, in which we
greatly feel his suffering.