Oscar Wilde

Legacy: the Artists Behind the Legends

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was an immensely popular Irish poet, playwright, and novelist active during the end of the 19th century. Oscar is one of those characters in history I have been eagerly waiting to cover, perhaps because what Oscar is most remembered for is that at the height (or some may say the beginning) of his career, the rug was sharply tugged out from underneath his feet, casting him into the abyss of unknown for the rest of his life. After writing successfully in various forms throughout the 1880s, his playwright career erupted in the 1890s, and he was beloved by almost everyone in England – and Oscar of course chose to start a war with someone he should have left alone…for his own sake. Still, rather than solely focusing on his being ostracized from society, I want to discuss the incredible, witty, eccentric, and hilarious person that was Mr. Wilde, a man who was a lifelong spokesman for aestheticism, who enjoyed entertaining and lavishing over those closest to him, and who even when faced with degradation remained poised with dignity and intelligence. He was smart, so very smart, charming, and like many before him, loved to have an audience. So, without further ado, I give you episode 24…the life of Oscar Wilde.