Are you curious to learn some weird and wonderful facts about Oscar Wilde?
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It’s time to chat about Oscar Wilde facts.
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Facts about Oscar Wilde
1 – Oscar Wilde was born on October 16th, 1854.
2 – He is best known for his work as a playwright and poet.
3 – His first major success came with the play “Lady Windermere’s Fan” in 1892.
4 – Wilde died of cerebral meningitis on November 30, 1900.
5 – In April 2009, he was commemorated by a statue in Merrion Square Park (Dublin).
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6 – Oscar Wilde also had an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas; this led to his imprisonment for two years after being convicted of gross indecency under British law of the time.
7 – His real name was Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde.
8 – He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
9 – The most famous work by Oscar Wilde are “The Importance of Being Earnest”, which he worked on for more than ten years before it was published in 1894.
10 – In 1878, Wilde published his first book — The Picture of Dorian Gray — which caused controversy in England at the time because it depicted homosexuality as a natural part of life.
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11 – The book also led to Wilde’s arrest and conviction for gross indecency with other men under the British Labouchere Amendment in 1895; this made homosexuality illegal until 1967.
12 – In 1891 he married Constance Lloyd with whom he had two sons; Cyril born in 1894 and Vyvyan born in 1897. Oscar Wilde had two sons: Cyril Holland and Vyvyan Holland.
13 – His father worked as an earlographer for the Irish Ordnance Survey so they moved around quite often when he was young.
14 – The way that he dressed was often seen as eccentric because it did not match the Victorian era standards for what people should wear.
15 – The young Oscar Wilde attended the Portora Royal School in Enniskillen from 1870 to 1871 and then went to Magdalen College, Oxford where he studied classics but became interested in art history instead.
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16 – After graduating with his Bachelor’s degree he spent several years traveling around Europe before returning to London where he found work as a critic for the Pall Mall Gazette.
17 – His first major success came with his society play Lady Windermere’s Fan which premiered on February 14th 1893 at the St James Theatre.
18 – One of the most famous quotes from him is “A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.”
19 – He published his first book Poems in 1893 followed by The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) which received critical acclaim but sold only moderately well.
20 – In 1895, he travelled to America to give lectures in New York City and Chicago. His lecture tour was a success and he made enough money that he never needed to work again.
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21 – He died at age 46 on November 30th 1900 due to cerebral meningitis after going into exile because he had been accused of homosexual activity by the Marquess of Queensberry. It turns out that this accusation was true – Wilde had relationships.
22 – The Importance of Being Earnest – one of his most popular plays – has been translated into over 25 languages and made into several films, including a 1996 version starring Rupert Everett as Jack Worthing and Colin Firth as Algernon Moncrieff.
23 – His ashes were buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris near the grave of fellow Irish author James Joyce.
24 – His last words were “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death… One or other of us has to go.”
25 – Oscar Wilde wrote many short stories and plays but only one novel. His only novel was The Picture Of Dorian Gray.
