Oscar Wilde

Born

in Dublin, Ireland

October 16, 1854

Died

November 30, 1900

Website

http://www.cmgww.com/historic/wilde/

Genre

Theatre, Poetry, Fiction

Influences

Balzac, Walter Pater, Edgar Allan Poe, John Ruskin, Peter Kropotkin, L ...more

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Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, and a plentitude of aphorisms, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest.

As the result of a widely covered series of trials, Wilde suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years hard labour after being convicted of "gross indecency" with other men. After Wilde was released from prison he set sail for Dieppe by the night ferry. He never returned to Ireland or Britain, and died in poverty.

Combine Editions
Oscar Wilde's Books

Average rating: 4.09 · 1,216,408 ratings · 37,388 reviews · 750 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Jeffrey Eugenides (Introduction) 4.05 avg rating — 668,628 ratings — published 1891 — 2282 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Importance of Being Earnest 4.17 avg rating — 230,416 ratings — published 1899 — 721 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays by Oscar Wilde, Richard Allen Cave (Commentary) 4.26 avg rating — 49,771 ratings — published 1954 — 77 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Ideal Husband 4.03 avg rating — 31,361 ratings — published 1893 — 345 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde, Inga Moore (Illustrator) 3.89 avg rating — 28,794 ratings — published 1887 — 600 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Happy Prince 4.22 avg rating — 19,019 ratings — published 1888 — 181 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lady Windermere's Fan 3.90 avg rating — 14,874 ratings — published 1893 — 223 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Complete Works of Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde, Merlin Holland (Introduction) 4.45 avg rating — 17,902 ratings — published 1900 — 260 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete Fairy Tales 4.33 avg rating — 9,949 ratings — published 1891 — 117 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Happy Prince and Other Tales 4.13 avg rating — 10,021 ratings — published 1888 — 399 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Oscar Wilde…

Quotes by Oscar Wilde

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
― Oscar Wilde

tags: attributed-no-source, be-yourself, honesty, inspirational, misattributed-oscar-wilde

132597 likes

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
― Oscar Wilde

tags: attributed-no-source, enemies, forgiveness, strategy

69859 likes

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
― Oscar Wilde

tags: life

66446 likes

See all Oscar Wilde's quotes »

Polls

Who is your favorite British author?

J. K. Rowling

13 votes, 28.3%

William Shakespeare

5 votes, 10.9%

J R R Tolkien

4 votes, 8.7%

Jane Austen

3 votes, 6.5%

Roald Dahl

3 votes, 6.5%

Oscar Wilde

2 votes, 4.3%

Aldous Huxley

2 votes, 4.3%

Terry Pratchett

2 votes, 4.3%

Agatha Christie

2 votes, 4.3%

Robert Louis Stevenson

2 votes, 4.3%

Lewis Carroll

1 vote, 2.2%

Mary Shelley

1 vote, 2.2%

H G Wells

1 vote, 2.2%

Emily Bronte

1 vote, 2.2%

James Joyce

1 vote, 2.2%

Anne Bronte

1 vote, 2.2%

George Orwell

1 vote, 2.2%

Charles Dickens

1 vote, 2.2%

Rudyard Kipling

0 votes, 0.0%

Thomas Hardy

0 votes, 0.0%

Virginia Woolf

0 votes, 0.0%

Arthur Conan Doyle

0 votes, 0.0%

Bram Stoker

0 votes, 0.0%

J M Barrie

0 votes, 0.0%

Daniel Defoe

0 votes, 0.0%

John Milton

0 votes, 0.0%

Charlotte Bronte Herr

0 votes, 0.0%

Neil Gaiman

0 votes, 0.0%

George Eliot

0 votes, 0.0%

46 total votes

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