Oscar Wilde was born Oscar Finagl O'Flahertie Wills Wilde on October 16, 1854 in the city of Dublin, Ireland. Growing up Wilde was exposed to the literature of the day by listening to talks at his mother's salon. His mother's name was Jane Franceseca Elgee. She wrote many revolutionary poems under the pen name 'Speranza.' William, Wilde's father and a graduated surgeon, completed voyages to North Africa and the Middle East and was a leader in the Irish medical society. Oscar Wilde attended Trinity College in Dublin and later went on to study at the University of Oxford. As a youth Wilde fell under the influence of artistic leaders such as Walter Pater and John Ruskin. These innovators of literature shaped him into the long haired, eccentric young man he became. Wilde's rooms were filled with unusual objects like sunflowers, peacock feathers, and blue and white china.
             On May 29, 1884, Wilde married Constance Lloyd who was four years younger than he. Together they had two children, Cyril in 1885 and Vyvyan in 1886. Later in life Wilde came to accept the homosexual feelings he had been struggling with since his youth causing his wife and two children to leave him. A scandal within the Victorian middle class centered on Wilde when he "came out of the closet." Wilde was eventually sentenced to prison for his acts of sodomy. After his release he moved to Paris where he died of meningitis on November 30, 1900.
             Oscar Wilde published his first work in 1881. It was a collection of poems accurately titled Poems. Wilde's distinguishing works were his four comedies, Lady Windermere's Fan in 1892, A Woman of No Importance in 1893, An Ideal Husband in 1895, and The Importance of Being Earnest in 1895. The plays were characterized by cleverly written plots, remarkably witty dialogue between characters, and sharply contrasting paradoxes.
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