the wild life of Oscar Wilde welcome to
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hello a lack sirs welcome back Oscar
Wilde
might be a familiar name to you even if
you're not too familiar with his work he
was known just as much for his bold
style and distinctive personality as he
was for writing in his lifetime but many
who recognized his name today aren't
familiar with the fascinating tale of
his life and the spectacular rise and
fall he experienced that parallels that
of a few celebrities in history but
today we are diving deep into the
details as we tell the story of the wild
life of Oscar Wilde but first a little
background who is Oscar Wilde
Oscar fan gallo flirty wills Wilde was a
poet and playwright from Dublin Ireland
who lived in the second half of the 19th
century his best-known works include The
Importance of Being Earnest the Picture
of Dorian Gray and a woman of no
importance he was one of the most
popular playwrights in London in the
early 1890s but by the end of the decade
he would experience a fall from grace
that culminated in a criminal conviction
and an early death but before we get
ahead of ourselves let's go back to the
start of the story beginnings
Oscar grew up in an affluent household
with his father Sir William Wilde being
a doctor and his mother Jane an
outspoken artist who wrote under the
pen-name speranza his parents always had
artists writers and intellectuals around
while Oscar was growing up and this
helped him to gain an early appreciation
of art and culture Oscar was an
extremely bright student and was the
head of his class at Trinity College in
Dublin he then earned a scholarship to
the University of Oxford and moved to
England it was here that Oscar appeared
to find himself and come into his own he
developed a persona with elaborate
costumes and long hair and he loved to
indulge in the finer things in life his
room at college was a reflection of his
emerging personality as it was decorated
with peacock feathers son
flowers Lily's artwork in Blue China he
loved to entertain and throw lavish
parties he fully bought into the
aesthetic movement which emphasized
beauty and aesthetic appeal in art and
literature rather than focusing on
social or political themes becoming a
celebrity after he completed his degree
he set about making a name for himself
his early writings were not very
successful but due to his distinctive
personality and leadership position in
the aesthetic movement he became a
celebrity anyway and he travelled around
England and America giving lectures he
continuously played with different
avenues of expression and was often seen
in flamboyant outfits adorned with
lilies or sunflowers in 1880 he
published his first book of poems which
was fairly successful even though some
accused him of plagiarism in 1881 a play
about asceticism entitled patience
became popular in London one of the main
characters was incorrectly thought to be
based on wild and wild encouraged this
misconception by attending the play in
outrageous outfits or the play debuted
in New York City Wilde was invited by
the producer to introduce the play to
American audiences this led to Wilde
touring America for six months and
giving lectures many Americans found him
in shrieking but he had just as many
critics as fans while overseas he met
with a number of notable people
including Walt Whitman Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow and Jefferson Davis it's
worth mentioning that at this point he
still only had nominal success with his
writing and instead relied on his strong
presence and public persona to attract
attention he craved but his whole life
would soon change in a major way
marriage and affair when he returned to
Europe he had enough money from his
American tour to spend three months in
Paris where he wrote a play entitled the
Duchess of Padua
he struggled to find a backer to produce
his play and even cut his hair and tried
to act more conservatively so a producer
might take him seriously but instead he
paid $1,000 of his own money to produce
the play in New York but it was a
failure and closed after one week wilds
life changed when he married Constance
Lloyd in May of 1884
he seemed happy to settle into married
life and fatherhood when their son
Searle was four in the next year however
after his second son Vivian was born in
1886 their marriage grew strained it was
around this time he met 17-year old
Canadian Robert Ross and the two engaged
in an affair this was the first of
several relationships Oscar would have
with men something that was strictly
forbidden and potentially punishable by
death in Victorian England the peak of
Fame in 1890 Wilde experienced the first
in a string of commercial successes with
the publication of his novel the Picture
of Dorian Gray in 1891 and 1892 he
produced three successful plays Salome
lady Windermere span and a woman of no
importance with these and other
successes Wilde was at the top of his
game and was finally earning respect
from the British aristocracy along with
international fame based on his work yet
he started to live a secret life which
involved frequently a saans with male
prostitutes in 1891 Oscar met Lord
Alfred Douglas who was better known as
beau see this was the 21 year old son of
the Marquis of Queensbury a Scottish
nobleman Wilde who is 35 when they first
met became infatuated with beau see and
they soon were inseparable they traveled
to Italy and France and Wilde rented
houses for them to stay with each other
outside of London while he still tried
to maintain his status as a family man
secret life in 1894 Wilde wrote The
Importance of Being Earnest while on
holiday with his wife and children by
1895 he was a universally respected and
acclaimed playwright in London but at
the same time he was being less cautious
about hiding his secret relationship
with bossy he was making 100 pounds a
week from his place which equals out to
about 3,500 u.s. dollars at today's
valuation he used a good amount of this
money to pamper beau C and satisfy his
every desire Wilde also occasionally
hired male prostitutes during this time
the Marquis of Queensbury confronted
Wilde and his son several times about
the nature of their relationship and he
repeatedly threatened to expose wild
public
scandals On February 15 1895 the Marquis
of Queensbury left his card at the
Albemarle a club that Wilde was a member
of on the card he had written for Oscar
Wilde posing sodomite beau C was furious
at his father and encouraged while to
sue him for libel this led to the marque
hiring a private detective so he could
prove that his accusation of Wilde's
homosexual behavior was in fact true
wilds friends who knew there was plenty
of evidence to be found to support this
accusation told him to flee to France
but Wilde was convinced he could shrimp
in court and continually professed his
innocence
however when Wilde found out that the
prosecution was planning to bring in
male prostitutes to testify he dropped
the case but Queensbury lawyers
contacted public prosecutors with a
recommendation that Wilde be tried for
gross indecency and sodomy the press
also pounced on all of the information
coming out about wilds secret life
including his association with male
prostitutes and homosexual brothels the
trial which began on April 26 the 1895
had become a public spectacle and wild
quickly lost the widespread respect he
worked so hard to earn during the trial
Wilde denied engaging in any physical
relationships with men stating he simply
preferred the company of young men on
May 25th 1895 Wilde was found guilty of
gross indecency and received a maximum
sentence of two years hard labor the
judge stated it was the worst case you'd
ever tried and those in the courtroom
drowned out wilds reply with chants of
Shane wilds prison sentence began
immediately life during and after prison
Wilde was imprisoned from May 25th 1895
to May 18th 1897 meanwhile his book
sales stopped his friends abandoned him
his belongings were sold at auction his
plays were closed down and he was denied
leave to visit his dying mother the last
time he saw his wife Constance was
February 19 1896 when she came to tell
him his
mother had passed away he never saw his
children again Wilde suffered in prison
lost 30 pounds and was frequently ill
when he was released he immediately went
to France and never returned to England
again he reunited with basi and began
using the name Sebastian Mel month they
moved to Naples for a few months in 1897
until threats from Bozize family led to
their separation after Constance his
death in 1898 wild quit writing drank
heavily and begged friends for money
he was only 44 at the time but his
health was fading he moved to Paris and
became a recluse in his final months he
died from meningitis on November 30th
1900 at the age of 46 but his memory and
writings would live on his legacy today
Oscar Wilde is once again recognized as
one of the great playwrights and authors
of the 19th century his plays have been
performed thousands of times in the 120
years since his death and perhaps his
most popular play The Importance of
Being Earnest has been adapted into a
movie three times the most recent being
released in 2002 in 2017 his crimes were
pardoned along with those of 50,000 men
who had been prosecuted for homosexual
acts in Britain for a captivating look
at the rise and fall of Oscar Wilde
check out the book the fall of the house
of wild by E Murrow Sullivan she
separates the myth from the reality of
wilds fascinating life starting from his
unusual upbringing all the way through
his untimely death this book is
available exclusively on audible for 21
dollars but you can listen to it without
parting with your hard-earned cash just
go to Alex comm slash free book and sign
up for the first time then you'll get
the audiobook version for free thanks to
our partnership with audible the quote
while researching his story became
across an incredible quote from Wilde
we'd like to share with you and it goes
like this our ambition should be to rule
ourselves the true kingdom for each one
of us and shrewe progress is to know
more and be
more and do more this is a great
reminder of how much we control within
our own lives and how we need to harness
that power to rule our own kingdoms
within ourselves question now that we
are wrapping up this story we'd like to
know have you read any of Oscar Wilde's
writings let us know in the comments and
of course for sticking with us until the
end
here's that bonus we owe you in his
teenage years Oscar had a two-year
relationship with Florence Balcombe he
wanted to marry her but she instead
decided to marry Bram Stoker the author
of Dracula thank you for spending some
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