Oscar Wilde
"Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life."
Oscar Wilde was an irish writer and poet of the 19th century who belongs to the literary style of the aestheticism.
He was born the 16th October 1854 and he died the 30 novembre 1900.
He come from the irish middle-class and he was a brilliant student.
His father was an oculist and his mother was a poet so he's nursed by the poetry and by the writing from the youngest age.
He went in Oxford's university where he was seen like a dandy or a person who likes art. He began to write seriously when he was in London and he met a lot of intelectual people. He published his first poetry's book in 1881 and it was named poems.
His masterpiece is a book named The picture of Dorian gray was published in 1980, it was requested by an american publisher J.M Stoddart for his newspaper. Finally, it was published and very appreciated in america but a lot of english critics were shocked by this book. However it was very well writen, with an extraordinary literary quality but it spoke about a men who sold his soul to the devil and there was to much of explicit homosexuality which was forbidden. Therefore, according to the critics this book was dangerous to the people's minds.
In 1891 he met Lord Alfred Douglas of Squeenberry and he fell in love with him. During some months they lived their love and they showed their homosexuality in public. Alfred's father didn't aprove this relationship and he sent a visit's card with this message:
"For Oscar Wilde posing as Somdomite"
Oscar Wilde was very hurt by this so he lodges a complain against him but he lost and the trial turns around against Wilde and he goes to jail for two years because he's homosexual. During this detention, he could have write but he only wrote a letter to Lord Alfred Douglas. It's very sink and negative. This letter was published but it was signed "De Profundis ".
When he went out of the jail he went to France and he lived in Robert's Ross house, who was one of his friends. He received an Alfred Douglas card, and he found him again. Alfred would never read " De profundis".
Oscar Wilde made all kinds of literature, novels ( The picture of Dorian Gray ), essays ( The critic as artist ), short stories ( The canterville ghost ), plays ( Salome ) and poems.
He was married to Constance Lloyd and he had two childrens Cyril and Vyvyan.
He stays, today, a very influent writer, with an exeptionnel personnality.
