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 · 1,438,640 ratings · 46,222 reviews · 1,122 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Jeffrey Eugenides (Introduction) 4.07 avg rating — 799,441 ratings — published 1890 — 3264 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 — 271,104 ratings — published 1895 — 103 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) 4.25 avg rating — 44,940 ratings — published 1898 — 62 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 4.04 avg rating — 33,838 ratings — published 1893 — 5 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 — 35,071 ratings — published 1887 — 952 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 4.23 avg rating — 23,410 ratings — published 1888 — 211 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 3.91 avg rating — 16,679 ratings — published 1893 — 299 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 — 18,926 ratings — published 1908 — 281 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 4.34 avg rating — 10,158 ratings — published 1891 — 86 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 4.14 avg rating — 12,702 ratings — published 1888 — 608 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

143497 likes

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

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

73868 likes

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

tags: life

71135 likes

See all Oscar Wilde's quotes »

Polls

February 2015 Old School Classics Poll

Which book would you like to read for our February 2015 Old School Classics group read?

1887, The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde, 126 pages

10 votes, 20.0%

1899, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, 195 pages

8 votes, 16.0%

1818, Persuasion by Jane Austen, 249 pages

6 votes, 12.0%

1864, Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 233 pages

5 votes, 10.0%

800, Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Unknown, 213 pages

5 votes, 10.0%

1853, Bleak House by Charles Dickens, 1017 pages

4 votes, 8.0%

1893, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, 321 pages

4 votes, 8.0%

1871, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 108 pages

3 votes, 6.0%

1767, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne, 588 pages

2 votes, 4.0%

1782, Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, 448 pages

2 votes, 4.0%

1795, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 396 pages

1 vote, 2.0%

1877, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, 245 pages

0 votes, 0.0%

50 total votes

1 comment

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