Biography (from wikipedia)
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s,
he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams, his only novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray),
his plays, and the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death.

Wilde's parents were successful Anglo-Irish Dublin intellectuals. Their son became fluent in French and German early in life. At university Wilde read Greats;
he proved himself to be an outstanding classicist, first at Dublin, then at Oxford. He became known for his involvement in the rising philosophy of aestheticism,
led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles. As a spokesman for aestheticism,
he tried his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on the new "English Renaissance in Art", and then returned
to London where he worked prolifically as a journalist. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversation, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day.

At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty
into his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with larger social themes, drew Wilde
to write drama. He wrote Salome (1891) in French in Paris but it was refused a licence for England due to the absolute prohibition of Biblical subjects on the English stage.
Unperturbed, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London.

At the height of his fame and success, while his masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), was still on stage in London, Wilde had the Marquess of Queensberry
prosecuted for libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The charge carried a penalty of up to two years in prison. The trial unearthed evidence
that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for gross indecency with other men. After two more trials he was convicted and imprisoned for two years' hard
labour. In 1897, in prison, he wrote De Profundis, which was published in 1905, a long letter which discusses his spiritual journey through his trials, forming a dark counterpoint
to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. Upon his release he left immediately for France, never to return to Ireland or Britain. There he wrote his last work,
The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.

He died destitute in Paris at the age of forty-six.
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Oscar Wilde's Works
"I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again."
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
Dorian Gray, a young man of wealth and stature in late 1800's London, meets Lord Henry Wotton while posing for a portrait by his friend Basil Hallward. Once the painting is complete,
Dorian realizes that it will always be young and attractive, while he will be forced to age and wither with the years. Carelessly, he wishes the opposite were true.
What happens is a treatise on morals, self-indulgence and how crucial personal responsibility is towards one's self.
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PLAYS |
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The Importance of Being Earnest
Jack and Algernon are wealthy gentlemen. Jack (known to Algernon as Ernest) lives a respectable life in the country providing an example to his young ward Cecily.
Algernon lives in luxury in London and has invented an imaginary invalid friend (Bunbury) whom he visits in the country whenever an unappealing social engagement
presents itself. Jack has also invented a character - a wayward younger brother called Ernest whom he uses as pretext for going up to London and enjoying himself.

Jack wants to marry Algernon's cousin Gwendolen, but must first convince her mother, Lady Bracknell, of the respectability of his parents. For Jack, having been abandoned in a
handbag at Victoria station, this is quite a difficult task.

Algernon visits Jack's house in the country and introduces himself to Cecily as Ernest, knowing that Cecily is already fascinated by tales of Ernest's wickedness. He further wins
her over and they become engaged. Shortly after, Jack arrives home announcing Ernest's death. This sets off a series of farcical events. Cecily and Gwendolen have a genteel stand-off
over which of them has a prior claim on 'Ernest'. Jack and Algernon vie to be christened Ernest. Eventually, Jack discovers that his parents were Lady Bracknell's sister
and brother-in-law and that he is, in fact, Algernon's older brother, called Ernest. The two sets of lovers are thus free to marry.

During these events the characters of Canon Chasuble and Cecily's governess Miss Prism have also fallen in love, and in the best tradition of the well-made play the story
ends with all the loose ends tied up and everyone set to live happily ever after.
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FAIRY TALES |
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Podcast |
From the "THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER TALES"
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The Happy Prince
In a town where a lot of poor people suffer, a swallow who was left behind after his flock flew off to Egypt for the winter meets the statue of the late "Happy Prince",
who in reality has never experienced true happiness. Viewing various scenes of people suffering in poverty from his tall monument, the Happy Prince asks the swallow to take
the ruby from his hilt, the sapphires from his eyes, and the golden leaf covering his body to give to the poor.
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The Nightingale and the Rose
A nightingale overhears a student complaining that his professor's daughter will not dance with him, as he is unable to give her a red rose. The nightingale visits all the
rose-trees in the garden, and one of the roses tells her there is a way to produce a red rose, but only if the nightingale is prepared to sing the sweetest song for the rose all
night with her heart pressing into a thorn, sacrificing her life.
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The Devoted Friend
Hans is a gardener, the devoted friend of a rich miller. On the basis of this friendship, the miller helps himself to flowers from Hans' garden, and promises to give Hans
an old, broken wheelbarrow, to replace one that Hans was forced to sell so that he could buy food. Against this promise, the miller compels Hans to run a series of arduous
errands for him. One stormy night, the miller asks Hans to fetch a doctor for his sick son.
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The Remarkable Rocket
This story concerns a firework, who is one of many to be let off at the wedding of a prince and princess. The rocket is extremely pompous and self-important, and denigrates all
the other fireworks, eventually bursting into tears to demonstrate his "sensitivity". As this makes him wet, he fails to ignite, and, the next day, is thrown away into a ditch.
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From the "A HOUSE OF POMEGRANATES"
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The Young King
The Young King tells the story of the illegitimate shepherd son of the recently dead king's daughter of an unnamed country. Being his only heir, he is brought to the palace to
await his accession. There, he is in awe of the splendor of his new home and anxiously awaits his new crown, scepter, and robe which are soon to be delivered to him for his
coronation in the morning.
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The Birthday of the Infanta
The Birthday of the Infanta is about a hunchbacked dwarf, found in the woods by courtiers of the King of Spain. The hunchback's father sells him to the palace for the amusement of
the king's daughter, the Infanta, on her twelfth birthday. Her birthday is the only time she is allowed to mingle with other children, and she much enjoys the many festivities
arranged to mark it, especially the Dwarf's performance. He dances, as he did in the woods, thoroughly unaware of his audience's laughing at him. She insists on his performing a
second time for her after dinner.
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The Fisherman and His Soul
In The Fisherman and his Soul, a young Fisherman finds a Mermaid and wants nothing more than to marry her, but he cannot, for one cannot live underwater if one has a soul.
He goes to his priest, but the priest tells him his soul is his most precious possession, and the soulless mermen are lost. He tries to sell it to merchants, who tell him it is
not worth anything. He goes to a witch, who tells him his soul is his shadow, and says how it can be cut away with a viper-skin knife after he dances with her.
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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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The Star-Child
The Star-Child is the story of an infant boy found abandoned in the woods by a poor woodcutter, who pities him and takes him in. He grows up to be exceedingly beautiful, but vain,
cruel, and arrogant, believing himself to be the divine child of the stars. He lords himself over the other children, who follow him devotedly, and takes pleasure in torturing the
forest animals and town beggars alike.
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Oscar Wilde : an essay from my Blog
These are some articles from my
"etinkerbell's blog"
about Oscar Wilde's works.
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Title and abstract |
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April 7, 2013
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The aesthetic surrender
Aestheticism and Romanticism have a lot in common, rejection of the material world and materialism in general,
emphasis on sensibility and imagination, the quest for that striking, unforgettable emotion that gives meaning
to your life.......
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April 5, 2013
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True lies
The Importance of Being Earnest, at the very beginning, seems to follow the usual morality play canvas:
good vs evil. Algernon Moncrieff, one on the two main male protagonists, is the bad guy: a penniless aristocrat
devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and particularly fond of muffins.......
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March 28, 2013
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Order and chaos
“What a piece of work is a man”: the noblest of all God’s creatures, the very essence of grace and beauty,
“infinite in faculties”, “in action how like an angel“,” in apprehension how like a god” (Hamlet Act 2, scene 2).
Yes, a god, this is very likely what Basil Hallward must have seen the first time he had met Dorian Gray........
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March 24, 2013
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The scent of beauty
Eighteenth century France. Grenouille‘s early life had not been easy: abandoned to die by his mother,emotionally
abused, exploited; he needs to be loved but the entire world seems to ignore or feel repulsion for him.
Grenouille has a peculiarity:he was born with no scent, but at the same time he has the most gifted nose in
the world.......
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March 17, 2013
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The wrong answer
Sibyl of Cumae was a prophetess in service to Apollo and a renowned beauty. Apollo wished to take her as his lover
and was ready to offer her anything she desired. She didn’t ponder on her answer and instinctively asked to defy
death: she wanted to live forever.......
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