Born in Dublin, Ireland, on October 16, 1954, Oscar Wilde's life and work are nothing short of extraordinary. Fascinated by everything beautiful, he preached the aesthetic philosophy in art and life.
His only novel, 'The Picture of Dorian Grey,' is a highly aesthetic endeavour in both content and form. The language enchants. Both the melody of consecutive phrases and the images that they describe are sublimely sensual. The story asks questions about morality, religion, and the nature of art itself, but it doesn't give easy answers. Writing under the banner of 'art for art's sake,' Wilde leaves the worldly concerns on the side in an effort to find beauty in and with (exclusively) words. There is also an aspect of Gothic eeriness and Victorian dress to his work which is a stunning combination for an author with such pioneering ideas as that of divorcing art from reality.
In this case, the author's life, which he proclaimed he would make into 'a work of art,' is as fascinating as his work. After studying Greek and Latin at University, young Oscar published a collection of poems, became a fashion critic (and a scathing one at that!), toured the world with lectures on home decor, and spread ideas about aestheticism, before he even began writing some of the best plays theatre has ever seen, or published the novel that made him so controversial he could never be forgotten.
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