Scarica OSCAR WILDE: life and works e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! OSCAR WILDE 1 OSCAR WILDE BIOGRAPHY LIFE AND WORKS Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854, the son of a surgeon and an aspiring literary lady. He was sent to Oxford after attending Trinity College in his hometown, where he earned a first-class degree in Classics and became known for his quirkiness. He was influenced by art critic John Ruskin and later became a student of Walter Pater, supporting the "Art for Art's Sake" idea. He traveled to London after graduating in 1878, where he quickly became famous for his exceptional wit and dandy-like manner of dress. Wilde released "Poems" at his own expense in 1881 and was invited to give a speaking tour in the United States, where his lectures wowed the American audiences. He told reporters upon his arrival in New York that Aestheticism was a search for the beautiful, a science through which men sought to understand the link between painting, sculpture, and poetry, all of which were merely various expressions of the same reality. Wilde's tour was a huge success, and he became known for his sarcasm, attitudes, and posturing. In 1883, when he returned to Europe, he married Constance Lloyd, with whom he had two children. He was best known as a wonderful speaker at this time in his career: his appearance became a social event, and his remarks were published in the most fashionable London journals. OSCAR WILDE 2 A series of short tales, "The Canterville Ghost," "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," "The Happy Prince and Other Tales," and the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray," written for his children in the late 1880s, displayed Wilde's creative potential (1891). Following the publication of his first and only work, he became interested in theatrical and resurrected the comedy of manners. "Lady Windermere's Fan" (1892), "A Woman of No Importance" (1893), "An Ideal Husband" (1895), and his masterwork "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1896) were all successful on the London stage in the late 1890s (1895). However, the novel and "Salomé" (1893), a French tragedy, both harmed the author's reputation: the former was deemed immoral, while the latter was barred from being presented on the London stage due to its alleged obscenity. Oscar Wilde's years of glory came to an end in 1891, when his close relationship with the young poet Lord Alfred Douglas, "Bosie," led to his prosecution on allegations of homosexuality, which was illegal in the United Kingdom at the time. He was given a two-year term of hard labor. He composed "De Profundis," a long letter to Bosie, while in jail, which was published posthumously in 1905. He was a shattered man when he was released; his wife refused to see him, and he went into exile in France, where he spent the rest of his life in poverty. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" (1898), written under his jail alias "C.3.32", was his final published work before dying of meningitis in a Paris hotel in 1900. THE REBEL AND THE DANDY "My existence is like a piece of art," Wilde said in one of his famous dialogues, adopting the "aesthetic ideal." He was a rebel and a dandy at the same time.
