The Author Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin on 16 October 1854. His father was a prominent1 surgeon, philanthropist and expert in archaeology and folklore, and his mother was an eccentric and popular patriotic poet. The context he lived in was quite wealthy and prestigious and, ever since he was a child, he was used to taking part in his parents parties and social gatherings to train his ears as to what society was about and wanted. His mother taught him that facts should not get in the way of a good story and that he could do whatever he wanted for the sake of entertaining people. What he had learned in his youth from his family, combined with what he learned at Trinity College in Dublin and at Oxford University in England, and especially with the teachings and ideas of the aesthetic theories of Pater and Ruskin and their cult of art for art s sake , contributed to forming the essence of Oscar Wilde and the eccentric and flamboyant2 character he became famous for. By the time he moved to London in 1878, in fact, he had turned into quite a dandy, and he soon became well known in most social circles, where his elegant and unconventional style, together with his witty and brilliant conversation, were always sought after. He began writing reviews and poems and, when he came back to London after a year-long tour lecturing in the US, he got married and had two children. His children s stories (like, for example, The Happy Prince and Other Tales and The House of Pomegranates) and, later, his plays (Lady Windermere s Fan, A Woman of No Importance), provided him with a very good income, which he used to keep up his very expensive lifestyle and, also, his double life. In 1891, in fact, he met lord Alfred Douglas 1. prominent: important and wellknown. 2. flamboyant: different, confident, noticeable and exciting in a way that attracts attention. 4