Jack Goldstein - 101 Amazing Facts about Oscar Wilde

Title Page

101 AMAZING FACTS ABOUT OSCAR WILDE

Jack Goldstein & Isabella Reese

Publisher Information

Published in 2014 by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

The rights of Jack Goldstein and Isabella Reese to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998

Copyright 2014 Jack Goldstein and Isabella Reese

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

All information contained within this book has been researched from reputable sources. If any fact is found to be false, please contact the publishers, who will be happy to make corrections for future editions.

Introduction

Did you know that Oscar Wilde was said to have had a photographic memory? Or that his father was eye surgeon to none other than Queen Victoria? How did his homosexuality come to the attention of the police? And why was a glass barrier erected in front of his tomb? This fascinating book contains over one hundred facts about Wilde, organised into categories for easy reading. Whether you are studying him for a project or you are just interested in finding out more about one of the worlds greatest writers, this is the book for you.

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Biographical Facts

1. Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer and poet who became one of Londons most popular playwrights in the late 19 th century, in addition to publishing his only novel, the critically acclaimed The Picture of Dorian Gray.
2. He was born on the 16 th of October 1854.
3. His full name is Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde.
4. He was born in Dublin at number 21 Westland Row.
5. Wilde was baptised as an infant at St. Marks Church, Dublin.
6. Oscars father was called William and his mother Jane Francesca.
7. He was the second of three children; his older brother was called William Charles Kingsbury Wilde (nicknamed Willie) and his younger sister Isola Emila Francesca Wilde.
8. On the 29 th of May 1884, Oscar married a woman named Constance Mary Lloyd.
9. He and Constance had two children together; sons Cyril (born in 1885) and Oscar Beresford (1886).
10. Oscar Wilde died of cerebral meningitis on the 30 th of November 1900 at the age of just 46.

Quotes

1. Men become old, but they never become good. - Lady Windermeres Fan
2. Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood. - The Sphinx Without a Secret
3. A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her. - The Picture of Dorian Gray
4. To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance. - An Ideal Husband
5. Nowadays all the married men live like bachelors and all the bachelors live like married men. - The Picture of Dorian Gray
6. The more one analyses people, the more all reasons for analysis disappear. Sooner or later one comes to that dreadful universal thing called human nature. - The Decay of Lying
7. People who count their chickens before they are hatched, act very wisely, because chickens run about so absurdly that it is impossible to count them accurately. - Letter from Paris, dated May 1900
8. True friends stab you in the front.
9. Men always want to be a womans first love - women like to be a mans last romance.
10. No man is rich enough to buy back his past.

General Facts

1. Wilde had brown hair and grey eyes and was considered handsome by both men and women.
2. The majority of his great literary works were written between 1886 and 1895.
3. Wilde was very generous with his wifes annual allowance, giving her 250 a year - equivalent to around 22,100 in todays money. This gave her plenty of financial freedom, something which many women of the day did not have.
4. Oscars sister Isola tragically died at the age of nine from meningitis; his poem Requiescat is dedicated to her memory.
5. Her death took a huge toll on him, and for the rest of his life he carried a lock of her hair in a sealed, decorated envelope.
6. Oscars father was Queen Victorias eye surgeon - he was even knighted for performing the positions duties so well.
7. Oscar had a step brother (Henry) and two step sisters (Emily and Mary) from his fathers relationship prior to meeting his mother. Tragically, when Mary was just 22 and Emily 24, the two died in a fire.
8. There is a statue of Wilde in Merrion Square in Dublin. It depicts Oscar reclining on a rock and is made out of granite, green nephrite jade, white jadeite and thulite.
9. His last words were said to be My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or other of us has got to go.
10. Since his death, Oscar has had nine full biographies written about him, one of which actually written by his grandson, Merlin Holland, in 1997.

Notable Works

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Wildes only published novel. Today it is considered a masterpiece of Gothic fiction and contains a strong Faustian theme.
2. The Happy Prince and Other Tales - Wildes first book of stories for Children which features five stories - The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Selfish Giant, The Devoted Friend and The Remarkable Rocket.
3. Lord Arthur Saviles Crime and Other Stories - four semi-comic mysteries published in 1891 which include Lord Arthur Saviles Crime, The Canterville Ghost, The Sphinx Without a Secret and The Model Millionaire. Later editions also added The Portrait of Mr. W. H . to the collection.
4. The Importance of being Earnest - farcical comedy play which satirises Victorian life. Famously contains the line A handbag?
5. A Woman of No Importance - a dark comedy which looks in particular at the English upper classes.
6. Lady Windermeres Fan - as with much of Wildes work, this play pokes fun at the morals of Victorian life, particularly the institution of marriage.
7. An Ideal Husband - after The Importance of Being Earnest, this is Wildes most performed play and is considered a great masterpiece. It revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and the aspects of public and private honour.
8. The Sphinx - poem which inspired the initial design of Oscar Wildes tomb
9. The Ballad of Reading Gaol - poem written after Wildes incarceration for homosexual offences, it was a commercial success for the publisher, but very little of the money made its way to Wilde himself who was at the time living in exile.
10. Intentions - Oscar reworked his essays on aesthetic subjects for this volume which is comprised of The Critic As Artist, The Decay of Lying, Pen, Pencil and Posion and The Truth of Masks

Did You Know?

1. Up to the age of nine, Oscar was educated at home, where a French maid and a German governess taught him to speak their respective languages.
2. After this, he attended Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.
3. Wilde excelled at studying the classics while at Portotra, taking the top prize in his last two years as well as earning second prize in drawing.
4. He earned the Royal School Scholarship in 1871 and went on to attend the highly respected Trinity College in Dublin.
5. Wilde liked to wear his hair long, and decorated his room at college with peacock feathers, sunflowers and blue china and would remark to his friends I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china.