Two Worlds

There are two worlds.  The one exists and is never talked about; it is called the real world because there is no need to talk about it in order to see it.  The other is the world of art; one must talk about that, because otherwise it would not exist.[1]

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[1] This is a passage from In Conversation by Oscar Wilde. Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854 to Sir William Wilde, a philanthropic ear and eye surgeon and writer, and his wife Lady Jane Francesca, a successful poet and journalist who wrote patriotic Irish verse under the pseudonym “Speranza.” Oscar had an elder brother, Willie, and a younger sister, Isola Francesca, who died at the age of 10. Oscar mourned Isola throughout his life, always keeping with him a lock of her hair. He was educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh (1864-71), Trinity College, Dublin (1871-74) and Magdalen College, Oxford (1874-78). While at Oxford, he became involved in the aesthetic movement and won the 1878 Newdigate Prize for his poem Ravenna. After he graduated, Wilde moved to Chelsea, London (1879) to establish a literary career. In 1881, he published Poems, his first collection of poetry. It received mixed reviews. He worked as art reviewer. In 1882 he traveled to America, lecturing in the United States and Canada. In 1883 he lived in Paris and also lectured in Great Britain and Ireland. From the mid-1880s he was regular contributor for Pall Mall Gazette and Dramatic View.

In 1884, Wilde married Constance Lloyd, daughter of wealthy Queens Counsel Horace Lloyd. They had two sons, Cyril (1885) and Vyvyan (1886). To support his family, Wilde accepted a job as the editor of Woman’s World magazine, where he worked from 1887-1889. In 1888 he published The Happy Prince and Other Tales, fairy-stories written for his two sons. His first and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was published in 1891 and received a negative response. This was due in part to the novel’s homoerotic overtones, which caused a sensation amongst Victorian critics. In 1891 Oscar began an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed ‘Bosie’, who became both the love of his life and his downfall. Wilde’s marriage ended in 1893.

Wilde’s greatest talent was for writing plays; his first, Lady Windermere’s Fan, opened in 1892. He produced a string of extremely popular comedies including A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895) and the still-famous The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). These plays were all highly acclaimed. In April 1895, Wilde sued Bosie’s father for libel as the Marquis of Queensberry had accused him of homosexuality. Wilde’s case was unsuccessful and he was himself arrested and tried for gross indecency. He was sentenced to two years hard labor for the crime of sodomy. During his time in prison he wrote De Profundis, a dramatic monologue and autobiography, which was addressed to Bosie. Upon his release in 1897, he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol, revealing his concern for inhumane prison conditions. He spent the rest of his life wandering Europe, staying with friends and living in cheap hotels. He died of cerebral meningitis in 1900, penniless, in a cheap Paris hotel.  (Source: wilde-online.info)