Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (born in Dublin in 1854 and died in 1900 in Paris) is a famous Irish writer, dramatist and poet born in a Protestant middle class. He is known as the spokesman of the new “English Renaissance in Art”. In the Portrait of Dorian Gray, published in 1890, he precises his theorie about aesthetics. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art, beauty, and taste, with the creation and appreciation of beauty. In this book, Oscar Wilde explored the links sustained by beauty, decadence and duplicity. The magazine's editors feared the story was indecent, so they censored about 500 words, without Oscar Wilde's knowledge, before publication. Nevertheless, the novel was a success and it allowed him to get some renown.

He published in 1891 Salome and then four comedies of manners, which made him one of the most prominent dramatists in London. His masterpiece is The Importance of Being Earnest published in 1895, where he describes with humor and criticism the British society in Victorian times and where he highlights all the superficiality and hypocrisy.

One of his most famous quote is “The best way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it”

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