Oscar Wilde was the epitome of aestheticism, therfore, it is a no-brainer why Wilde is one of my favorite writers as someone who lives for aesthetics and writers.
BY CASSIDY WHITE
When people think of Oscar Wilde, the first two thoughts that often come to mind are his novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the fact that he was gay. These are common facts that anyone who has taken an English course or even looked it up online can confirm. However, there is an entire deep history surrounding his adulthood that remains unknown to many. I’m here to change that. Understanding the circumstances of his life, I believe, adds deeper meaning to every piece of work he published.
Oscar Wilde, his full name being Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, was born in a small home in Dublin on October 16th, 1854. His childhood home would later be turned into what we know today as Trinity College, where he studied at from 1871 to 1874. He became the face of aestheticism and was even mentored on the subject. As ironic as it sounds, Wilde could not actually speak Irish (Gaelic), but he was fluent in French, German, English, and had a working knowledge of Italian and Greek.
Oscar Wilde only wrote one novel but wrote several small pieces including, The Importance of Being Earnest. However, many may not know that he was also a successful children’s book author, having published a collection of child-friendly stories that became widely popular. He later married Constance Lloyd, who was also a children’s book writer. They went on to parent two boys, Vyvyan and Cyril.
While Oscar Wilde was married to Constance Lloyd that did not stop him from pursuing a relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, who is described as his first and only true love. Douglas’ father had Wilde incarcerated for sodomy after refusing to stop seeing his son; Wilde took the punishment with grace. Through his time in jail, Lloyd and their kids never left, sticking with him and supporting him through it all. However, Lloyd and the children changed their last name to Holland in an attempt to hide from the judgement cast upon them because of Wilde’s conviction.
Oscar met his fate on November 30th, 1900 in the privacy of his own home. It is documented that his final words were, “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or other of us has got to go,” which is poetic and very much what one would expect from Wilde. Flash forward to 1997 when a series of three monuments were erected in his honor in Dublin. Still widely studied for his aestheticism, Wilde remains one of the most influential writers of the Victorian Era.
The Deadline 