Celebrated Irish dramatist and wit Oscar Wilde – best known for his poetry and his stage comedies – managed to complete only one novel during his career, The Picture of Dorian Gray, a brilliant and (at the time) scandalous narrative, in which Wilde explores the life of a young man who sells his soul in order to live the profligate life of an avowed hedonist. Through a bit of supernatural magic, Dorian is given a portrait of himself that reflects his sinful and destructive ways while Dorian himself remains as alluring and attractive as the day the painting was created. As Dorian’s soul rots, the figure in the painting does as well, but his face appears pure and untouched, no matter how far down into darkness Dorian manages to sink. As his sins mount from casual cruelty to cold-blooded murder, Dorian’s double life becomes impossible to sustain, leading to a shocking and horrifying conclusion.
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Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish poet, novelist and playwright. Born to a pair of Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin, Wilde attended Trinity College in Dublin and then transferred to Oxford to complete his studies. After graduation, Wilde moved to London to begin life as one of his era’s most important and infamous social and literary figures.Wilde almost immediately became a fixture in London high society, celebrated for his intellect and his razor-sharp wit. Unsure of what kind of writer he wanted to be, Wilde wrote poetry and traveled to America as a lecturer on aestheticism (an art movement that celebrated the simple beauty of art over the deeper or political themes behind it). His many essays and dialogues on this subject would eventually lead him to publish his first and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890.Eventually, Wilde was drawn to write for the stage, beginning with Salome in 1891, but swiftly transitioning to comedies, penning four of the era’s most celebrated and enduring plays, including his triumph: The Importance of Being Ernest, which was still running in London when Wilde became embroiled in the legal drama that would lead to his downfall and eventual death. In 1895, Wilde was engaged in a love affair with a young aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas. When Douglas’ father accused Wilde of impropriety in a letter, Wilde sued him for libel. During the trial, evidence was presented that proved Wilde was a homosexual and, after the libel charges were dropped, Wilde was immediately arrested and tried for ‘gross indecency.’ After two trials, Wilde was found guilty and sentenced to prison from 1895 to 1897.Prison proved to be disastrous to Wilde’s health. After his release, Wilde fled to France where he would die of meningitis in 1900. But his poems, plays and sole novel live on and Wilde is now considered one of the most accomplished writers of his era. His works continue to be performed around the world and have been adapted multiple times to the stage and screen.
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