Picture of Dorian Gray, The
About the Story
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish author who wrote plays, poems, essays, and the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. An impeccably dressed dandy, Wilde was known as a lively conversationalist with a sharp wit. Wilde married Constance Lloyd on May 29, 1884 and had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan Holland. Wilde also had several romantic relationships with men, which eventually led to his imprisonment from 1895-1897. The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published as a serial novella in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890. Wilde revised the story and published it as a novel in 1891 in which he added a preface arguing the importance of “art for art’s sake.” Considered one of England’s finest playwrights, Wilde is best known for his play The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde died from meningitis in 1900. Buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, Wilde’s epitaph reads:
“And alien tears will fill for him
Pity’s long-broken urn,
For his mourners will be outcast men,
And outcasts always mourn.”
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