Oskar Wilde Biographical Information
- Wilde married a woman named Constance in 1884. She was very wealthy and helped end his poverty.
- Using his early poems and lectures, he became a huge supporter of the aesthetic movement – a theory of art and literature that highlighted the pursuit of natural beauty rather than a social or political view.
- Exhausted from his recurring financial difficulties, Wilde used his writing to escape from society’s oppressive forces. Like his characters in the Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde uses his creativity to break from these forces.
- On returning to England, Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest opened. This play, which concerns creating alternate social postures, is viewed as Wilde’s greatest work. It carefully straddles the line of celebrating and ridiculing Victorian society. This work insured Wilde was viewed as a preeminent artist”. (Oscar Wilde - biography)
- Oscar’s ex-wife ran away to Europe and changed her name to get away from her ex-husband’s ignominious reputation.