Oscar Wilde Biography
"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all."(BrainyQuote.com) a quote by Oscar Wilde, also known as Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, who was born in Dublin, Ireland on October 16th 1854. His parents were William Wilde and Jane Francesca Elgee, a renowned and knighted doctor and a poet associated with the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848, respectively. (Online-Literature.com) Wilde's mother translated Wilhelm Meinhold's Sidonia the Sorceress which had a great influence on Wilde's works. Wilde had an older brother, William, and a younger sister, Isola. Wilde, a bookish child, was homeschooled until he was allowed to attend the Portora Royal School in Enniskillen. It was there that he fell in love with Geek and Roman studies, often winning prizes for top student of the classics. (Biography.com)
When he graduated in 1871 he was awarded the R.S.S, Royal School Scholarship, which allowed him to attend Trinity College in his hometown of Dublin. At the end of his first year he was awarded the Foundation Scholarship, the highest honor an undergraduate could receive. Upon graduating in 1874 he was awarded the Berkeley Gold Medal for being the top student in Greek studies along with the Demyship Scholarship which gave him the right to attend Magdalen College in Oxford. Here he excelled academically, receiving top marks from his professors in both Classics and Classical Moderations. It was here that he first attempted creative writing winning the Newdigate Prize for the best English verse composition by an Oxford undergraduate for his poem Ravenna (biography.com) "Adieu! Adieu! yon silver lamp, the moon, Which turns our midnight into perfect noon, Doth surely light thy towers, guarding well Where Dante sleeps, where Byron loved to dwell." (online-literature.com) in 1878 the year of his graduation. After graduating Wilde moved to London with Frank Miles, a popular artist and friend of his. In London Wilde focused greatly on his poetry, publishing his first collection titled Poems in 1881. In 1882 while touring in America Wilde met Henry Longfellow Walt Whitman and Oliver Wendell Holmes. "There is no one in this wide great world of America whom I love and honor so much,''(online-literature.com) he later wrote to his idol Whitman. On May 29th 1884 Wilde married Constance Lloyd, having two sons Cyril and Vyvyan born in '85 and '86 respectively. The same year Cyril was born Wilde was hired to run Lady's World a magazine that he thought "should be made the