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In 1845 Oscar Fingall O´Flahertie Wills Wide was born in Dublin,the son of an eminent surgeon. He went to Trinity College, Dublin and to the Magdalen College, Oxford, where, he started the cult of ´´Aestheticism´´ of making an art of life. His first book, Poems, was published in 1881, and in 1882 he went to lecture in Amerika. After his marriage to Constance Lloyd in 1884 he published several books of stories for children, then followed The Picture of Dorian Gray ( 1891 )
Wilde´s first success on stage was when George Alexander produced Lady Windermere´s Fan in 1892. This was followed by Tree´s production of A Woman of no Importance in the next year, and in 1895 by An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest running at one time. Salome was refused a licence in England but was published in France in 1893.
In 1895 Wilde brought a libel action against the Marquis of Queensbury; he lost the case and was himself sentenced to two years´ imprisoment with hard labour. As a result of this experiecnce he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol. He was released from prison, bankrupt, in 1897 and went to Paris, where he lived until his death in 1900.
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