Oscar Wilde

Oscar Finegal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born In 1854 in Dublin and died in 1900 in Paris. He was son of well-known surgeon sir William and a poet Jane.
In his first stages of education he was already conceived as very talented. He was studying in Oxford where he got his first award for the poem “Ravenna”. At university he was known as well from sense of humor and ability of beautiful speaking as extravagance. He was effeminate – had long hair, didn’t like sports and decorated his room with wings, flowers, porcelain, etc.
He was representative of Aestheticsm. It’s a view which says “art is for art” (pl. sztuka dla sztuki).
In 1882 he went with his lectures to USA and two years later married Constance Lloyd. They had two children. At that time he wrote “The Happy Prince and Other Tales”, “The Picture of Dorian Grey” and lots of satiric comedies. He became more and more famous.
His most well-known works are “Lady’s Windermere’s Fan”, “Woman of No Importacne”, “The Importance od Being Earnest” and “An Ideal Husband” which was even taped as a soap opera.
Wilde was bisexualist. He had few lovers e.g. Robert Ross and Lord Alfred Douglas.
Five years before hist death Wilde had been sentenced because of homosexuality for 2 years of heavy works. After that his wife changed last name and with their children went away from Great Britain.
During his stay in prison he wrote “De Profundis” a monologue letter adressed to Alfred Douglas. When he left prison he was very ill and he was a bancrut. As Sebastian Melmoth he spent his las years in Europe where he wrote “The Ballad of Reading Goal”.
He died because of meningitis (pl. zapalenie opon mózgowych) caused by syfilis in “Hotel d’Alsace”. Although whole life he was an atheist on death-bed turned Catholic. He is burried on cemetary Pere Lacheise in Paris. His grave is whole covered with lipstick kisses from his female fans.

Quotatnions:

• All art is quite useless.
• There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.
• The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.
• Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
• Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.
• There is no sin except stupidity.
• Hournalism is inreadable, and literature in not read.
• Being natural is simply a pose, and the most irritating pose I know.
• Life is far too important to be taken seriously.
• In this world there are only two trgadies. One is getting what one wants, and the other i getting it.
• Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing int his world that is worth knowing can be thaught.