On May 29, 1884, Irish playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde married
Constance Lloyd at St. James Church, Paddington, London. Wilde was born on
October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. After writing in different forms throughout the
1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s.
Today he is best remembered for his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, his plays and the circumstances of his
imprisonment which was followed by his early death. After graduating from
Trinity College, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social
circles. He tried his hand at various literary activities and published a book
of poems, then embarked on a lecture tour of the United States and Canada.
Upon His return
to London he worked prolifically as a journalist. Known for his biting wit,
flamboyant dress and glittering conversation, Wilde became one of the
best-known personalities of his day. In 1881 he was introduced to Constance
Lloyd, daughter of Horace Lloyd, a wealthy lawyer. She happened to be visiting
Dublin in 1884, when Wilde was lecturing at the Gaiety Theatre. He proposed to
her, and they married on May 29, 1884 at the Anglican St. James Church in
Paddington in London. The couple had two sons.
At the height
of his fame and success, while his masterpiece, The Importance of Being Ernest (1895), was still on stage in
London, Wilde sued the Marquess of Queensberry for libel. The Marquess was the
father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The charge carried a penalty of
up to two years in prison. The trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to
drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for gross indecency with
other men. After two more trials he was convicted and sentenced to two years
hard labor. Upon his release he left immediately for France, never to return to
Ireland or Britain. There he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol
(1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. He died
destitute in Paris at the age of forty-six on November 20, 1900 and was buried at Pere Lachaise Cemetery.
Michael Thomas Barry the author of six nonfiction books that includes the award winning Literary Legends of the British Isles.
The book can be purchased from Amazon through the following links:
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