Oscar Wilde Baptised at St. Mark's Church, Dublin

Wilde was baptised at St. Mark's church, with the records later being moved to the nearby St. Ann's church. His mother was not necessarily a Catholic herself, but nonetheless felt that her boys should be baptised into the church. Wilde's relationship with religion was off and on: during his time at Oxford, he considered becoming a Catholic priest, but obviously didn't go through with it. In 1877, he reports a meeting with Pope Pius IX that thoroughly impressed him. Perhaps most vitally, just before his death, he saw a Catholic priest and requested to be recieved into the church. His feelings about the Catholic church are especially interesting considering his sexuality, which would have been demonized by that same religion.

Wilde attends Trinity College in Dublin

In 1871, Oscar Wilde was awarded the Royal School Scholarship allowing him to begin his studies at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland after graduating from Portora Royal School.  While not notably active in the social scene or clubs at the school, Wilde did contribute to the The Journal of Hellenic Studies, that being a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research done on ancient Greek culture. Here Wilde befriended John Pentland Mahaffy, Trinity College's leading Greek scholar. Mahaffey would prove to be where Wilde gained his interest in "The Greek ideal". "The Greek Ideal" being defined by The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine as: "A philosophical ideal of ancient Greeks who believed that each person should have a harmonious blend (sometimes called balance) of physical, mental, and spiritual aspects." Much like Wilde, Mahaffy proved  himself an accomplished writer, pushing works such as Rambles and Studies in Greece (1876), Social Life of Greece from Homer to Menander (1874; 3rd edn. 1877),  and Descartes (1880).

After three years of study, Wilde would then transfer to Oxford University on a scholarship in 1874.

Sources:

 http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/wilde/wildebio.html#2

https://poets.org/poet/oscar-wilde

http://www.ricorso.net/rx/az-data/authors/m/Mahaffy_JP/life.htm

https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/85660?redirectedFrom=Hellenistic#eid

Wilde Graduates Trinity & Is Awarded

While attending Trinity College, Wilde impressed his professors and his peers with his talent. Upon his graduation, he won many awards which included most notably the Berkley Gold Medal for Greek. He was also granted the Demyship scholarship to continue his studies at Magdalen College in Oxford. 

Wilde Meets with Pope Pius IX

While studying at Trinity College in Dublin, Wilde developed an interest in Roman Catholicism. In a letter to Wilde's father, George MacMillan (Wilde’s friend and traveling companion) noted that Wilde viewed Roman Catholicism as "the highest and the most sentimental" of religions. Wilde's tutor disapproved of this fascination, and attempted to bring his focus to Greece. Wilde was not deterred and this interest just increased when he went to Oxford, where he began to contemplate conversion. Through his friend David Hunter-Blair, he got an audience with Pope Pius IX in 1877. During this meeting, it is said that Pope Pius IX said to Wilde, “I hope that you may take a journey in life in order to arrive at the city of God”. It is noted that the encounter had a big impact on Wilde and left him speechless. He was angry that his father had refused to let him convert as a child and reportedly said, “Catholicism is the only religion to die in”. At this meeting, Wilde did not convert as he had discussed with clergy. He tried again to convert in 1878, but decided against it because his father threatened to financially disown him. Wilde ended up joining the Catholic Church shortly before his death. 

Source:  

Alvarez, Inma. “The Catholicism of Oscar Wilde.” Aleteia, 6 Oct. 2016, aleteia.org/2016/10/06/the-catholicism-of-oscar-wilde/. 

Ellmann, Richard. Oscar Wilde. New York: Vintage Books, 1988. 

Malik, Shushma. “All Roads Lead to Rome?: Decadence, Paganism, Catholicism and the Later Life of Oscar Wilde.” Cahiers victoriens & édouardiens 80 Automne (2014): 2–. Web. 

Ross, Iain. “Oscar Wilde in Greece: Topography and the Hellenist Imagination.” International Journal of the Classical Tradition, vol. 16, no. 2, 2009, pp. 176–196. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40388893. Accessed 6 Apr. 2021.

"An Aesthetic Midday Meal" is published in Punch Magazine

Cartoonist George du Maurier draws "An Aesthetic Midday Meal" for Punch Magazine, a British magazine of humor and satire. This cartoon satirizes Oscar Wilde's lifestyle, as the unconventional customer, Jellaby Postlethwaite, is seen sitting in a feminine manner with his legs crossed and hands clasped.
Jellaby was a recurring character in Punch articles, a clear jab at Wilde's beliefs and actions. The cartoon suggests that Jellaby will dine on just a lily flower as "aesthetic food" rather than food of any real substance. These cartoons were widely read and led to the ridicule of Wilde on his future tours.

Sources

George du Maurier, "An Aesthetic Midday Meal"

Snider, Rose. “Oscar Wilde's Progress down East.” The New England Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 1, 1940, pp. 7–23. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/360678.

Oscar Wilde Lecture Tour: Boston

Photographed in New York (1882)

At 27-years-old, Wilde agreed to a year-long lecture tour throughout the United States. It was proposed to him as a publicity strategy for Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical comic opera named Patience. His friend, George Grossmith, was an actor of the company, which is how he gained the opportunity. Grossmith played the main character––a poet dedicated to sensuous beauty, thus Wilde was the perfect poster boy. Wilde’s skill for publicity assisted the company; however, his true motive was to grow strong roots for the aesthetic movement and himself in the States. His controversial, feminine fashion and hair in photos gained him notoriety across the United States, including negative criticism. For example, sixty Harvard students dressed in caricatures of Wilde while sitting front-row at a Boston lecture. In contrast to this small incident, Boston is considered the most prominent American city for the aesthetic movement. A group called the Visionists, consisting of prominent artists and writers in Boston, aligned with Wilde and worked to spread the ideologies of aestheticism. His aesthetic lectures in Boston led him to be known for the quote: “The supreme object of life is to live. Few people live. It is true life only to realize one’s own perfection, to make one’s every dream a reality. Even this is possible.” By the time the lecture tour was over, he was an international celebrity.

Articles

FRIGO, NICK. “Posing and Posters: Oscar Wilde in America - 1882.” The Wildean, no. 30, 2007, pp. 73–85. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/45269065. 

Morgan, Benjamin. “Oscar Wilde's Un-American Tour: Aestheticism, Mormonism, and Transnational Resonance.” American Literary History, vol. 26, no. 4, 2014, pp. 664–692., www.jstor.org/stable/43818715.

“Oscar Wilde.” Broadview Anthology of British Literature, third ed., B, Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario, 2019, pp. 1157–1159. 

“Oscar Wilde Stirs Up Boston.” New England Historical Society, 18 Aug. 2019, www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/oscar-wilde-stirs-up-boston/.

Wilde Marries Constance Lloyd

Constance Lloyd shortly before her marriage to Oscar Wilde.

Wilde met Lloyd in 1881, and they married on May 29, 1884 at St. James Church in Paddington. Constance Lloyd was wealthy, intelligent, and forward-thinking, and was a liberal author like her husband. They had 2 children together, named Cyril and Vyvyan. Both Oscar and Constance found independence within their marriage, as they were each allowed different ideas and devotions, and Constance chose to focus on womens' rights. She was eventually forced to flee the area with her children and change their last names to Holland, after Oscar Wilde was convicted of gross indecency in 1895. Constance died at the young age of 39 in 1898. 

Sources:

https://worldhistoryproject.org/1884/5/29/oscar-wilde-marries-constance-...

https://go-gale-com.colum.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&u=uiuc_columbia&i...  (Margaret Sullivan's summary of Franny Moyle's piece, 'The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs. Oscar Wilde')

Wilde Reviews Pater's "Imaginary Portraits"

Wilde began to adopt more of Pater's aesthetic views in his own writing towards the late 1880's, with a few key differences. Pater's thoughts on aesthetics are transformed with wit in the preface to Dorian Gray: "It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors" (3). Pater's ruminations on art and its subject can be seen as an influece, only Wilde presents this dense notion through witty and succint prose. 

At this same time, Wilde wrote highly complimentary reviews of Pater's newly published works, including "Imaginary Portraits" (1887) and "Appreciations With An Essay on Style" (1889). In his review entitled "Mr. Pater's Imaginary Portraits," Wilde concludes that "On the whole, then, this is a singularly attractive book. Mr. Pater is an intellectual impressionist." Pater incorporates the use of many forms, including scholarly essay, brief life, short story, allegory, lyrical ekphrasis, historical vignette, myth, and diary, to create imaginative written pictures, solidifying a relationship between life and art. "Each portrait typically focuses on an individual who is deeply solitary, an enigma to the world around him, yet inhabits a historical moment in which his peculiar desires become harbingers of epochal cultural transition." Three years later, Wilde would publish The Picture of Dorian Gray in Lippincott's Magazine, which echos greatly the idea of a portrait solidying the relationship between life and art. 

https://victorianweb.org/authors/wilde/essays/5.html

https://victorianweb.org/authors/pater/hext2.html

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4038/4038-h/4038-h.htm

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4037/4037-h/4037-h.htm

Wilde, Oscar, and Joseph Bristow. “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 3.

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/603462

Oscar Wilde publishes children's book collection "The Happy Prince and Other Tales.

Oscar Wilde, known most notably for titles such as The Picture of Dorian Grey and The Canterville Ghost,  was also a successful children's book author whose work includes short story collection The Happy Prince and Other Tales. The Happy Prince and Other Tales was first published in May of 1888 by Alfred Nutt. Notable illustrations within the book including the cover, The Selifsh Giant, and The Remarkable Rocket  were created by artist and illustrator Walter Crane. The book includes titles The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Selfish Giant, The Devoted Friend, and The Remarkable Rocket. Librivox.org describes the stories as being "sometimes sweet and uplifting, sometimes caustic and pointed." In a literary analysis published by the International Journal of Arts and Sciences, authors Nino Kirvalidze and Nino Samnidze describe the children's stories as "a cycle of thematically interconnected texts, where imagination/fantasy merges into reality thus aesthetically depicting the bipolar morality of the late 19-th century English society with its virtues and vices."

Image credit and access to the stories comes from gutenberg.org

https://librivox.org/the-happy-prince-and-other-tales-by-oscar-wilde-2/

http://universitypublications.net/ijas/1101/pdf/M8K603.pdf

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/902/902-h/902-h.htm

Cleveland Street Scandal

The Cleveland Street Scandal started in 1889, when police discovered a homosexual male brothel on Cleveland Street in London's West Side, made up of largely underage, lower-class male sex workers. The government was accused of covering up the names of aristocrats and other prominent figures that frequented the brothel. The rumors went as high up as Prince Albert Victor, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and second in-line to the throne. This was never directly proven , but has remained a conspiracy. Lord Arthur Somerset, a major in the Royal Horse Guards and equerry to the Prince of Wales, was also named. He fled to Hamburg, Germany before charges could be brought against him. 

It's important to note that sexual acts between men were illegal at this time in Britain. Oscar Wilde was accused of being tied up in this scandal, but no evidence or proof suggests he partook. One figure that is relevant to the novel did, however. Lord Ronald Gower was well known in the homosexual community at the time, and was publicly implicated in the Cleveland Street Scandal. Gower was a close friend of Wilde's and is portrayed in The Picture Dorian Gray through the character of Lord Henry Wotton. 

Although this scandal did not directly involve Wilde, it did largely influence the conversation surrounding male homosexuality at the time. The scandal was still fresh in the minds of readers by the time The Picture of Dorian Gray was published just one year later, further fueling the idea that male homosexuality was an aristocratic vice that corrupted young, lower-class boys. 

Sources: 

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, ed. Joseph Bristow (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).

“The London Scandals .” The Press, 9 Dec. 1889, p. 6, paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP18891209.2.40.2.

“The West End Scandal .” Evening News , 14 Jan. 1890, p. 4, trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/108795706?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Ftitle%2FE%2Ftitle%2F508%2F1890%2F01%2F14%2Fpage%2F11932216%2Farticle%2F108795706.

Kaczorowski, Craig. “Cleveland Street Scandal .” Glbtq, 2015, www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/cleveland_street_scandal_S.pdf.

Oscar Wilde and Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas meet

Lord Alfred Douglas was a young aristocrat and poet. His cousin lent him a copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Bosie insisted on being introduced to the author after reading it. Bosie, who got that nickname because he was his mother's favorite child and called him Bosie (a derivative of "boysie") was infatuated with the book and told Wilde that he had read it fourteen times in a row. Soon after, they became lovers and where only parted when Wilde was arrested four years later. Wilde was even introduced to Bosie's mother, Lady Bracknell, and he made her a character in his most popular comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest. Ultimately, Bosie is said to have played a major involvement in the arrest of Wilde because of his erratic behavior and habits that influenced Oscar. 

Wilde was on trial three times, and Bosie testified for one of them, and then was out of the country for the other two. Bosie's father, John Sholto Douglas drove Wilde to take legal action after Douglas's behavior. After learning of their relationship, John Douglas would visit Wilde's home in fits of rage, attempted to disrupt a performance of Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest, and would leave cards for Wilde stating "for Oscar Wilde / posing Somdomite".https://www.branchcollective.org/?ps_articles=andrew-elfenbein-on-the-trials-of-oscar-wilde-myths-and-realities

Salome is Published

     Salome was already in rehearsals for a 1892 London premiere, but was banned by the Lord Chamberlain's Office for its portrayal of BIblical figures on stage (these laws would not change for 40 more years). In 1893, however, the play was published in its original French. In regards to this language choice, Wilde is quoted as having said to an interviewer with the Pall Mall Gazette in 1892, "My idea of writing the play was simply this: I have one instrument that I know I can command, and that is the English language. There was another instrument to which I had listened all my life, and I wanted once to touch this new instrument to see whether I could make any beautiful thing out of it". Salome follows the step-daughter of King Herod (named Salome, if you couldn't guess) after she requests the head of John the Bapitist on a silver platter. The main focus of the play was a dance, performed by the actress who played Salome, in which they would dance with seven silk scarves. The sexuality of Wilde's version of Salome's dance differs greatly from that mentioned in the New Testament. An illustrated English translation of the play would be released in 1894, but Salome would remain illegal to produce in England until 1931. Aubrey Beardsley, a prominent aestheticist, did the illustrations for the 1894 edition. Beardsley's work in the Art Nouveau movement had made him a similarly controversial subject to Wilde, as his drawings were largely very graphic erotica.

Sources:

-Peter Raby, Introduction, p. xiii The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays, Oxford, Worlds Classics, 2008 ISBN 978-0-19-953597-2

-“The Censure and Salomé: An Interview with Mr Oscar Wilde,” Pall Mall Budget, 30 June 1892, p. 947. 

-“Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent (1872–1898), Illustrator.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780....

"The Importance of Being Earnest" debuts on Valentine's Day 1895

"The Importance of Being Earnest" is first performed on Valentine's Day at St. James' Theater in London. This is Wilde's fourth West End hit in the short span of three years. After Wilde is arrested in April for gross indecency, actor-manager George Alexander removes Wilde's name from all advertising and programs in the hopes of saving the shows. This tactic was unsuccessful and the box office collapsed, closing the play on May 8, 1895. The play only ran for 83 performances and would not be revived until 1901, after Wilde's death.

Sources

Victoria and Albert Museum, "'The Importance of Being Earnest': The first stage production, 1895"

Wilde Sues the Marquis of Queensberry

Wilde's trials, mentioned in another timeline event, are spurred when he sues the Marquis of Queensberry for libel. The Marquis of Queensberry, the father of his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, had left a card at Wilde's club reading "For Oscar Wilde / Posing Somdomite". The phrasing of the card is a key point of the trial. There is a wide variety of meanings that one could take from this especially since there is some debate on whether the verb is meant to be transitive or intransitive, but the Marquis clarified in court that he meant it to read "posing as a sodomite". He is quoted, saying, “If I was quite certain of the thing I would shoot the fellow on sight, but I can only accuse him of posing”. The Marquis was taken to court and never testified, despite being the one on trial. The trial instead focused on Wilde and proving he had a propensity for those types of activities. The defense subjected Wilde to hours of grueling examining, focusing first on Wilde's writing and having no success there, then on the men he had real relations with. Ultimately, Wilde lost the case, but the information discovered was what spurred his later two trials for "sodomy" and "gross indecency."

Wilde is released from prison

Oscar Wilde was released from prison after serving almost exactly two years in several facilities. As a part of his sentence, Wilde was expected to perform grueling manual labor for the prison. This constant tension placed on his body had chronic effects on Wilde's life after he was released. His time in prison was a central source of inspiration for his last piece of writing, The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

Ultimately, Wilde spent two years occupying three different prisons: he was processed in Newgate Prison in London, moved to Pentonville Prison (where he first ecperienced hard labor), and eventually ended up in Wandsworth Prison (where the hard labor continued). The labor was so intense that Wilde was said to have collapsed at one point, rupturing his ear drum in the process. This injury was never resolved in his lifetime.

The quality of life in prison was said to have damaged Wilde's spirit and physical health so much that there is strong evidence his time there contributed to his untimely death three years later.

Composed “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”

The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Despite the financial and emotional turmoil of prison, Wilde composed “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” upon his release. It was originally published by Leonard Smithers under Wilde's prison identification and cell number, C.3-3. Smithers was notably Wilde's publisher of choice; he gained a reputation for publishing for Decadents and upscale pornography. The poem condemns late-Victorian prison life, the prison system, and capital punishment (death penalty). Wilde was subject to a poor diet, enforced silence, and enslaved labor. All of these hardships subjected him to deep thoughts on universal human nature and morality, which he wrote about in the poem as well; therefore, it is often considered to be an indictment and a revelation.

Articles

Harrington, Peter. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3. www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30841725795&searchurl=an%3Dosc....

Nelson, James G. “Publisher to the Decadents: Leonard Smithers in the Careers of Beardsley, Wilde, and Dowson By James G. Nelson.” The Pennsylvania State University Press, Penn State University Press, www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-01974-3.html.

“Oscar Wilde.” Broadview Anthology of British Literature, third ed., B, Broadview Press, Peterborough, Ontario, 2019, pp. 1157–1159.

Rumens, Carol. “Poem of the Week: The Ballad of Reading Gaol.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 23 Mar. 2009, www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/mar/23/oscar-wilde-ballad-readi....

Wilde Undergoes An Operation

On October 10 of 1900, Wilde underwent an operation that was likely to do with his flaring ear infections which came and went and only seemed to grow worse. After the operation, he still suffered and went through a great deal of pain and the infection only worsened -- by late November he experienced delirium and fell into a coma, which then led to his death -- not syphilis like it was previously believed and published in a biography of Oscar Wilde in 1988 by Richard Ellmann.  

"De Profundis" is published posthumously.

While imprisoned at Reading Gaol in 1897, Oscar Wilde wrote a 50,000 word letter titled De Profundis  to Lord Alfred Douglas.

De Profundis, originally titled Epistola: In Carcere et Vinculis, or Letter: In Prison and in Chains, was written between January and March of 1897. Wilde was unable to send the letter during his time incarcerated, though he was allowed to carry the letter with him once freed. 

Worldhistoryproject.org writes that, in reference to the contents of the letter, 

"He repudiates Lord Douglas for what Wilde finally sees as his arrogance and vanity; he hadn't forgotten Douglas's remark, when he was ill, 'When you are not on your pedestal you are not interesting.' He also felt redemption and fulfilment in his ordeal, realising that his hardship had filled the soul with the fruit of experience, however bitter it tasted at the time."

Robert Ross, a Canadian-British journalist, art critic, and dear friend and lover of Oscar Wilde, published De Profundis on February 11th, 1905 after renaming it from Epistola: In Carcere et Vinculis. While at Reading Gaol, Wilde gave Ross the title of personal literary executor. Upon Wilde's death in 1900, the manuscript for De Profundis was entrusted to Ross. 

While it is rumored that a copy was sent to Douglas, he refused any association, knowledge, or connection to the letter. The finalized title, De Profundis, translates to From the Depths and serves as an allusion to Psalm 130. 

https://worldhistoryproject.org/1905/de-profundis-is-published

Psalm 130 - 

"

Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

"The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray" is published

120 years after The Picture of Dorian Gray was submitted for publication in Lippincott"s Magazine, the uncensored version was published in paperback. It restores 500 words to the 1890 edition, and many of those words revolved around the subject of same-sex love. Wilde's publisher censored these words with a pencil when he first read the tyescript for fears that the readers would find it "offensive".

A sample cut: “There was something tragic in a friendship so colored by romance, something infinitely tragic in a romance that was at once so passionate and so sterile.”  (100)

A sample change: Hallward worshipped Dorian “with far more romance of feeling than a man should ever give to usually gives to a friend.” (147)

A sample deletion: “There was love in every line, and in every touch there was passion. 

"He  [Stoddart] took out the entire line about Hallward worshipping Dorian and several sentences that followed, including: “Somehow, I had never loved a woman. I suppose I never had time.” He took out a line that read, “I quite admit that I adored you madly, extravagantly, absurdly,” and replaced it with, “I was dominated, soul, brain and power by you. You became to me the visible incarnation of that unseen ideal whose memory haunts us artists like an exquisite dream.” 

- Ruth Franklin's review in the New Republic

https://newrepublic.com/article/85609/oscar-wilde-dorian-gray