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Summary of Oscar Wilde's Life - Coggle Diagram
Summary of Oscar Wilde's Life
Early life
Oscar Wilde's father, best remembered for his dedicated medical care in Dublin's poorest neighborhoods, also published books on archeology and folklore.
After being homeschooled by his mother until the age of nine, Oscar Wilde entered Portora Royal School in 1864.
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland to Sir William Wilde, a renowned ear and eye surgeon, and Jane Francesca Elgee, a writer and Irish nationalist.
Education
In 1871, Wilde entered Trinity College, Dublin and proved himself to be an outstanding student.
He won the Berkeley Gold Medal, which is the highest award available for students of classical studies, particularly languages, history, literature, and art.
As a result, Oscar Wilde was awarded a scholarship to Magdalen College in Oxford, England...
While at Magdalen College, Wilde won the 1878 Newdigate Prize for his poem "Ravenna." He graduated in November 1878 with a double first (highest honors in two areas of study) in classical moderations and Literae Humaniores, or "greats" in classical literature.
Wilde entered Portora Royal school in 1864, after being homeschooled.
Personal Life
Wilde returned to Ireland after graduating from Magdalen. It was in his hometown of Dublin where he met and fell in love with Florence Balcombe. When she did not return his love and, instead, became engaged to Bram Stoker (author of Dracula), Wilde vowed to leave Ireland forever.
While he was in London that Wilde met Constance Lloyd, the daughter of Queen's Counsel Horace Lloyd, and they married May 29, 1884.
Constance was given a generous allowance by her father, allowing her and her new husband Oscar Wilde a comfortably luxurious lifestyle. The couple had two sons, Cyril (1885) and Vyvyan (1886).
It was this comfortable lifestyle that allowed Wilde the leisure time to engage in activities that led to a terrible scandal surrounding Wilde's alleged homosexuality. In May 1895, this scandal culminated in Wilde being sentenced to two years of hard labor for "gross indecency." The shame of this public humiliation led Wilde's wife Constance to change her name and Wilde's sons' names to "Holland."
Carer
Wilde was primarily a playwright, poet, and short story writer; however, his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is probably one of his most memorable works.
He spent the next six years on a lecture tour that took him to London, Paris, and parts of the United States.
Wilde and the aesthetic movement
Oxford, England where Wilde continued his study of the classics and became part of the Aesthetic movement.
This movement was characterized by an excessive appreciation of the arts and the idea that life had to be lived intensely, following an ideal of beauty.
The characteristics of Lord Henry Wotton and Dorian Gray in Wilde's only novel are prime examples of those who live life according to the standards of the Aesthetic movement.