Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

Sunday 16 August 2015

I have a quote by Oscar Wilde, which gave me inspiration to write a post about Oscar Wilde.

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde. Wow thats a mouthful. Oscar Wilde was an Irish author, playwright and poet. He was born on 

16th October 1854 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Then died on 30th November 1900 in Paris, France.

He was the Father to two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan Holland. And Husband of Constance Wilde, nee Lloyd.

During the 1880s Oscar Wilde wrote in different forms, then in the early 1890s he became one of Londons most popular playwriters.  His plays included The Importance of Being Earnest, Salome, An Idea Husband, Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance and more.

He also published several novels, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Happy Prince and Other Tales, De Profundis, The Canterville Ghost, The Ballard of Reading Goal, and much more.

Thanks to a conflict with Queensberry which resulted in him and Oscar Wilde being Arch-enemies. Playing it the easy way and attempting to throw rotten vegetable on stage after Oscar's preformance one night and being found out and not let in. Queensberry decided to take further action and acuse Oscar of Sodomy and "gross indecency" under Section .  of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, a term meaning homosexual acts. 

Oscar had a warranr out for his arrest and was found trying to leave the country. He was then imprisoned on remand at Holloway. Events moved quickly after that and his prosecution opened on 26 April 1895. Oscar Wilde pleaded not guilty. Under cross examination Oscar Wilde was at first hesitant, then spoke eloquently:

Prosecuter Charles Gill: What is "the love that dare not speak its name"?

Wilde: "The love that dare not speak its name" in this century is such a great affection of an elder for a younger man as there was between David and Jonathan, such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy, and such as you find in the sonnets of Michelangelo and Shakespeare. It is that deep spiritual affection that is as pure as it is perfect. It dictates and pervades great works of art, like those of Shakespeare and Michelangelo, and those two letters of mine, such as they are. It is in this century misunderstood, so much misunderstood that it may be described as "the love that dare not speak its name," and on that account of it I am placed where I am now. It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection. There is nothing unnatural about it. It is intellectual, and it repeatedly exists between an older and a younger man, when the older man has intellect, and the younger man has all the joy, hope and glamour of life before him. That it should be so, the world does not understand. The world mocks at it, and sometimes puts one in the pillory for it.

His response was counter-productive in a legal sense as it only served to reinforce the charges of homosexual behaviour. The trial ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict. Oscar's counsel, Sir Edward Clarke, was inally able to get a magistrate to allow Oscar to post bail.

The final trial was on 25 May 1895, Oscar Wilde was convincted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labor.

Wilde was released on 19 May 1897, and although his health had suffered greatly, (Prison did not agree with him) he had a feeling of spiritual renewal. He then spend mid-1897 writing 'The Ballard of Reading Goal'. 

By 25 November Oscar had developed cerebral meningitis. He then died on 30 November 1900. Oscar was initially buried in the Cimetiere de Bagneux outside Paris; in 1909 his remains were disinterred and transfered to Pere Lachaise Cemetery, inside the city.

In 2011, his tomb had to be cleared of all the lipstick marks left there by admirers, and a glass barrier was installed to prevent further damage or marks. 

The epitaph is a verse from The Ballard of Reading Goal:

And alien tears will fill for him

Pity's long-broken urn,

For his mourners will be outcast men,

And outcast always mourn.

There is a lot more information about Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, but I dont think a post that goes for months would be exactly necessary. So here is just the tip of the ice berg. I hope you enjoyed it and have a great week. :)

'A dreamer is one who can only 

find his way by moonlight, 

and his punishment is that he sees the 

dawn before the rest of the world.'