Writers are usually immortalized through their works and the brilliant author of The Portrait Of Dorian Gray is certainly no exception. But the story of Oscar Wilde’s life itself is a brilliantly tragic and complicated one, filled with juicy details and interesting facts that are only accentuated by his vibrant and brash personality.

Oscar Wilde’s legacy has withstood through time as an (in)famous novelist, author, and activist but — probably more importantly — as a passionate person who led a colorful life, one perhaps summed up through his famous quote from Lady Windemere’s Fan: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

With so many rumors and controversy circling around the dazzling literature icon, it can be difficult to tell fact from fiction. Here are some facts that let us see Oscar Wilde’s life as sensational as any story he wrote.

 

Oscar Wilde: Early Life, Family, & Education

 

1. Oscar Wilde’s childhood home is now a part of Trinity College

Wilde was born Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde on October 16th, 1854. His birthplace in Dublin is known as the Wilde Centre of Trinity College, which is now the home of the Irish writing and creative writing departments for the School of English in Trinity College.

2. Oscar Wilde’s mother was a supporter of Irish Nationalism

Wilde’s mother was Jane Francesca Agnes Elgee, who was a large supporter of the pro-Ireland and anti-British movement. She was wholeheartedly committed to the Irish nationalism movement and a fairly accomplished poet in her right.

3. Wilde inherited his sense of dramatization from his mother

It’s generally believed that Jane planted the love for poetry, art, and literature (as she was an author of myths and folklore herself) in her son. In hindsight, it’s clear that she also planted in him the love for drama and aestheticism as well. She chose an Italian pen name of Speranza for her writings, and on some occasions, even claimed to be a descendant of Dante Aligheiri, writer of The Divine Comedy.

4. His father had a love for literature

Sir William Robert Wills Wilde was an Irish pioneer of ophthalmologic and otologic surgeries, and he also wrote folklore books as well as a published a biography of Johnathan Swift, the Anglo-Irish satirist famous for writing Gulliver’s Travels. It’s also been said that he treated the poor for free, asking for their stories as a form of payment. What a wonderful way to work.

5. Like Wilde, his sister died from meningitis

Oscar was the second of his parents’ three children. While his older brother William grew up to be a journalist, his younger sister Isola unfortunately passed of meningitis when she was only nine years old. Wilde would later also die of the same disease.

6. Oscar Wilde had three half-siblings

Oscar’s father had three children out of wedlock before his marriage to Jane: Henry Wilson, Emily, and Mary Wilde. Henry grew to study medicine and ended up assisting his father in his clinic in Dublin. Sadly, Emily and Mary tragically died when the two girls had their crinoline dresses catch on fire while dancing near a fireplace at a ball. Unfortunately, Victorian fashion could be fatally dangerous for women.

7. Oscar Wilde was homeschooled

Until he was nine years old, Wilde was educated at home by a German governess and a French nurse. This helped him learn to speak both languages until he enrolled in the Portora Royal School with his brother when he was 10.

8. Oscar Wilde won a scholarship to Trinity College

After his education at the Portora Royal School (where Samuel Beckett also attended), Wilde went on to learn further languages and won awards that led to him achieving a scholarship to Ireland’s most prestigious university. While actively presenting himself as an aesthete, Wilde received one of Trinity’s highest academic prizes, the Berkely Gold Medal for Greek. His distinctive writing style and nonconformist lifestyle had already begun to draw attention at this young age.

9. Oscar Wilde studied classic literature at the Magdalen College, Oxford University

By the time he graduated in 1878, Oscar Wilde had become a well-known classical scholar at Oxford University and grew into the personality that we know and love and admire for his humor and wit. He also won the Newdigate Prize in 1878, for his long poem, Ravenna.

The Adult Life & Times of Oscar Wilde

 

10. Oscar Wilde met the Pope Pius IX in 1877

Wilde’s interest in Roman Catholicism was sparked during his studies at Trinity College and his admiration only grew when he went to Oxford. Through his friend, he had the opportunity to meet the Pope Pius IX and it’s been said that the pope told him, “I hope that you may take a journey in life in order to arrive at the city of God.” Oscar certainly did the first part well enough!

11. In his perspective, Roman Catholicism was “the highest and the most sentimental” of religions.

As reported by his friend and traveling companion, Wilde was often disappointed at his father for failing to raise him as a Roman Catholic. He tried to convert later in 1878, but his father threatened to cut his finances.  

12. Wilde was unemployed after graduating from Oxford

Wilde moved to London after graduating and living off his inheritance after his father’s death. He reached out to his contacts at Oxford and Cambridge and tried to find a position in the classics but had no luck. He wrote poetry for a couple of years before getting his first job as an art reviewer, which he ended up leaving to go on a lecture tour in the States.

13. Oscar Wilde’s lecture tour of the states was originally planned for 4 months but was extended for almost a year

Upon Oscar Wilde’s arrival to the customs in New York, he famously stated that he had “nothing to declare but his genius.” This witty remark would be later proven true as he delivered more than 140 lectures and gained the public’s admiration. While the press and critics were triggered by his flamboyant persona and harsh on him, the public fell in love and his lectures (mostly on aestheticism) were a success.

14. His first love married the author of Dracula

Wilde’s childhood sweetheart was Florence Balcombe, to whom he returned after finishing his education in Oxford. However, by the time Wilde returned to Ireland, she was already engaged to Bram Stoker, the famous author of Dracula.

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15. Oscar Wilde’s wife was a famous children story writer

Constance Lloyd married Wilde in 1884 and the couple had two children: Cyril in 1885 and Vyvyan in 1886. Constance was an accomplished writer on her own and published a collection of short stories called There Was Once.

16. Oscar Wilde and Constance Lloyd never actually divorced

Despite all the colorful rumors, Wilde’s scandal, and the prison time that followed, Constance and Oscar never had a legal divorce. However, she did change the last name of her and her sons to escape persecution and be able to lead a normal life out of the spotlight after the scandal.

17. Oscar Wilde’s elder son was sadly killed by a German sniper

When World War I broke out, Cyril Holland took part in the battle for Neuve-Chapelle in 1915 as a captain in the Royal Field Artillery. He was killed by a German sniper during the Battle of Festubert when he was only 29 years old.

18. Oscar Wilde’s second son grew up to become a writer

Vyvyan Holland followed his father’s passion for literature and became an author and translator, including working for the BBC for six years. He was deeply influenced by his father’s legacy and he even had gone with his father’s friend Robert Ross to relocate Oscar’s remains from Bagneux Cemetery to Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

19. His only grandson is Merlin Holland, who is deeply influenced by Oscar Wilde’s life

The son of Vyvyan Holland has spent the last decades of his life researching the details of his grandfather’s life and learning his works thoroughly. He has published books about his gramps, including The Wilde Album (1997) and Irish Peacock and Scarlet Marquess: The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde (2003), and still holds regular lectures on Oscar Wilde’s life.

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Oscar Wilde: Work & Career

 

20. The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published in Lippincott Monthly Magazine in 1890

J.M. Stoddart, the magazine editor of Lippincott Monthly Magazine, met with Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle for dinner and announced that he was seeking stories to publish, and Oscar presented The Picture of Dorian Gray. Stoddart cut out around 500 words from the book to tone down some of its homosexual themes and despite Stoddart’s best efforts, W.H. Smith & Son (Britain’s largest bookseller at the time) refused to stock the magazine that month.

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21. Wilde originally planned to send a different story to Stoddart

Originally, Oscar Wilde sent Stoddart a fairytale titled “The Fisherman and His Soul,” which was eventually included in A House of Pomegranates (1891). However, Stoddart pointed out that the novel was too short and he was aiming for a story twice as long. That’s when Wilde began writing The Picture of Dorian Gray.

22. Oscar Wilde wrote and published a lot of children’s stories

Wilde published short story collections for not only adults but children as well. The Happy Prince and Other Tales was published in 1888, and included many tales that grew in popularity, especially “The Nightingale and the Rose,” which has been adapted into numerous ballets and operas since its publication.

23. Wilde was the editor of The Lady’s World Magazine

Under his editorship, the magazine was given a new name, The Woman’s World, and with it came a new direction and vision. It expanded from covering news on fashion, society, and gossip to including more serious topics that challenged society’s norms — such as women’s rights and female emancipation. Contributors included Elisabeth of Wied (the Queen of Romania) and Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert).

24. One of Oscar Wilde’s essays theorized that Shakespeare’s sonnets were written for a man, not a woman

First published in Blackwood’s Endinburgh Magazine, “The Portrait of Mr. W.H.” (1889) was an essay that was later published as part of Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories. The essay hypothesized that the Bard’s Sonnets were about a play-actor in Shakespeare’s company named Willie Hughes, and the implications of connecting the great iconic William Shakespeare to homosexuality enraged the Victorians in a time when being gay wasn’t just controversial — it was a crime.

25. In 1891, The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published as a single-volume book

This novella-length version had a lot of extra content: six additional chapters than the version published in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890 and a newly added preface by Wilde where he sheds light on the importance of separating art from moral views.

26. Oscar Wilde’s most memorable literary achievement was his last play

After the success that Wilde had gained upon his earlier plays (such as Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband, and A Woman of No Importance), he began writing The Importance of Being Earnest in the summer of 1894 with his family at Worthing. The comedy was applauded and so well-received by the audience that it ended up being revived for 86 performances at the St. James’s Theatre, London. However, Wilde’s legal issues caused the play to be closed. It wasn’t until after he was released from prison that Wilde published the play from his exile in Paris.

Bonus fun fact: The Importance of Being Earnest was made into a 2002 film directed by Oliver Parker. It starred Judi Dench, Frances O’Conner, Colin Firth, and Rupert Everett. It also starred Reese Witherspoon, who was even nominated for the prestigious Teen Choice Award for her role!

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27. Oscar Wilde’s poems were not a hit

Like many great artists ahead of their time, not everything Oscar did was well-received in his day. In the period that Wilde spent in London after graduating, he self-published a collection of poems in 1881. Despite already being a Newdigate Prize winner, the response was largely negative and Victorian critics were bothered by the sensual content of his poems that were considered obscene and unmanly.

28. Accusations of plagiarism followed Oscar Wilde around

Perhaps one of the most serious accusations was regarding his collection of poetry when he gifted a copy to the Oxford Union Library and it was rejected. Literary historian Oliver Elton claimed that the poems were “not by their putative father at all, but by a number of better-known and more deservedly reputed authors.” Whether these accusations were true or if Elton was being a hater is unknown. However, the rumors of plagiarism remained to hover around Wilde’s career.

29. The father of Wilde’s lover Lord Alfred Douglas planned on ruining the premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest

Lord Alfred Douglas — affectionately known as Bosie — happened to be the son of the Marquess of Queensberry, who planned on vandalizing the play’s premiere and throw rotten vegetables at Wilde when he took his bow at the end of the play. However, Wilde learned of his intentions beforehand, canceled his ticket, and arranged with security to prevent his entrance.

30. Oscar Wilde wrote De Profundis after he was transferred from Wandsworth prison to Reading Gaol

The Wandsworth prison was a terrible experience for Wilde with its unsanitary living conditions and the extreme physical labor he was forced to do — not to mention the affect shitty prison food had on his health. It wasn’t until he was transferred to Reading Gaol that he had a chance to write, even though he was given a very limited opportunity to do so. Still, he was able to write De Profundis, which basically serves as a love letter to Bosie.

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31. De Profundis is the closest thing to an Oscar Wilde autobiography

Although it wasn’t a typical autobiography, it was where Wilde wrote in depth about his relationship with Lord Douglas and what suffered through it. He also wrote about his career, society, and described his time in prison, including the spiritual journey that prison led to. An abbreviated version of this letter was published five years after Oscar’s death in 1905, but the full version wasn’t released until 1962.

32. Oscar Wilde compared himself to Jesus Christ in De Profundis

This comparison was not taken lightly by critics and readers. In De Profundis, Wilde spoke of his spiritual awakening in prison and how he coped by imagining himself as Jesus Christ, who he described as a tortured artist like himself.

The Trial, Punishment, Exile, & Death of Oscar Wilde

33. Oscar Wilde’s relationship with Bosie enraged the Lord’s father

Lord Alfred Douglas, who was often described as a hostile and unstable man — and even more outwardly flamboyant than Oscar was — had a complex strained relationship with his father, The Marquess of Queensberry. In 1895, Queensberry sent a public notice to Wilde at his club saying that he was “posing as a sodomite” and publicly humiliating him.

34. Wilde went against his friends’ advice and sued The Marquess of Queensberry

Wilde basically did not have much of a choice in the matter, due to the publicity of Queensberry’s humiliation. His friends advised him to flee England to escape imprisonment but not ready to end his legacy quite yet, Oscar refused. In hindsight, this ultimately led to Wilde’s downfall as Queensberry was able to legally prove that his claims were justified.  

35. Wilde remained stoic and was not stripped of his trademark wit in the trials

Wilde testified with wit and charm in his first trials and did not spare the jury his beguiling charisma. It was reported that he was even hesitant to share his real age, claiming to be younger than he was. While the first jury failed to reach a verdict, Wilde was sentenced to two years in prison (the maximum permitted punishment under the Criminal Law Amendment Act) in his retrial in 1895.

36. Oscar Wilde was bankrupt upon his release from prison

The trials had heavy legal costs and ended in Wilde’s bankruptcy.  However, despite his challenging financial situation he maintained his resilient soul and was even reunited with Douglas and supported by his few close friends. His wife sent him financial aid from her annual allowance despite refusing to meet with him and he traveled to France, hoping to return to writing.

37. Robert Baldwin Ross was Wilde’s first lover, his literature executor, and one of his few friends at the end

It’s reported that Wilde and Robert Baldwin Ross initiated a romance when Oscar’s wife was pregnant with their second child. Openly homosexual in a time when it was much more dangerous to be so, Ross was one of Wilde’s friends who remained loyal to him until the very end and eventually became his literature executor. Though Ross rivaled Bosie for Oscar’s affections, he nonetheless arranged for the publication of De Profundis after Oscar’s death.

38. Oscar Wilde died from an ear wound

At one point during his imprisonment, Oscar Wilde was so ill and starved that he collapsed and injured with an ear wound. This developed into a severe ear infection that eventually led to his death from acute meningitis at the Hotel d’Alsace in Paris in 1900.

39. Wilde kept his humor during his illness

It was reported that Wilde continue to engage in his oft-inappropriate sense of humor up to his tragic death. He joked about “dying beyond his means,” and criticized the hotel room’s décor. His last words are believed to be “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or other of us has got to go.”

40. There is a tradition where people leave lipstick kisses on Oscar Wilde’s tomb

This tradition started in the 1990s, where visitors began to leave lipstick kisses and hearts on Wilde’s tombstone along with love letters such as: “Keep looking at the stars.” A €9,000 fine (more than $10,000 American) was introduced to end the damage of the monument but it failed to keep the visitors away. Eventually, the government put up a glass barrier to prevent further damage.Bonus fun fact: Oscar is buried in the same cemetery as Édith Piaf, Frédéric Chopin, Jim Morrison, Marcel Proust, and dozens of other famous artists, writers, musicians, and statesmen.

Final Thoughts About Oscar Wilde

These 40 wild facts about Oscar Wilde’s life often reflect the extravagant, stylish lifestyle Wilde led and the colorful, flamboyant character that he was. There’s a lot of great material here for a movie — and in fact, several movies have been made about Oscar Wilde. Not only will he continue to be immortalized through his writing, he will also be remembered for his influence on LGBTQ+ culture and his endlessly quotable clever witticisms that still apply today.

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Looking for more content about books and literature? Check out our series of fun facts about literature superstars, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Bram Stoker, Philip K. Dick, Ernest Hemingway, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Mary Shelley.

Image Credit: Image by Napoleon Sarony, courtesy of Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

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