He left in 1878 and was to return to his native country only twice, for brief visits. On hearing of her engagement, Wilde wrote to her stating his intention to leave Ireland permanently.

She in turn became engaged to Bram Stoker. However, in keeping with the social mores of his day, such activities were kept secret from the straight world.Īfter graduating from Magdalen, Wilde returned to Dublin, where he met and fell in love with Florence Balcome. He graduated with a double first, the highest grade available for undergraduate degrees in the British university system.ĭuring this time, Wilde became familiar with philosophies and writings on same-sex love, and lived for several years with a male lover he had met in 1876, the society painter Frank Miles.

While at Magdalen, Wilde won the 1878 Oxford Newdigate Prize for his poem Ravenna. He was granted a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he continued his studies from 1874 to 1878. He was an outstanding student, and won the Berkeley Gold Medal, the highest award available to classics students at Trinity. Here the Wilde brothers played with the young George Moore.Īfter leaving Portora, Oscar Wilde studied classics at Trinity College, Dublin, from 1871 to 1874. He attended Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, Fermanagh from 1864 to 1871, spending the summer months with his family in rural Waterford, Wexford and at William Wilde's family home in Mayo. Oscar was educated at home up to the age of nine.

Here, Lady Wilde held a regular Saturday afternoon salon with guests including such figures as Sheridan le Fanu, Samuel Lever, George Petrie, Isaac Butt and Samuel Ferguson. In June 1855, the family moved to 1 Merrion Square, a fashionable residential area. He was a renowned philanthropist, and his dispensary for the care of the city's poor, situated in Lincoln Place at the rear of Trinity College, Dublin was the forerunner of the Dublin Eye and Ear Hospital, now located at Adelaide Road. Jane was a successful writer and an Irish nationalist, known also as 'Speranza', while Sir William was Ireland's leading ear and eye surgeon, and wrote books on archaeology and folklore. Wilde was born into a Protestant Anglo-Irish family, at 21 Westland Row, Dublin, to Sir William Wilde and his wife Jane. One of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day, known for his barbed and clever wit, he suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned after being convicted in a famous trial of 'gross indecency' for homosexual acts. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854- November 30, 1900) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and short story writer.

The Major Works by Oscar Wilde