Oscar was overprotected throughout his childhood by his mother who was a constant worrier. Although, as Wilde recalled, poverty surrounded him on a grand scale his mother was careful to ensure he had no contact with it whatsoever. From an early age Oscar could relate to and often felt compassion for societies forgotten. It is somewhat ironic that Wilde himself, like a character in a play, would fall from grace many points during his lifetime and live amongst society's forgotten souls.
Wilde's parents had a healthy interest in superstition and the supernatural. This rubbed off on Wilde and this influenced many of his works and also upon the way he dressed from an early age, small mementos and rings created a dress code that would be on a parallel with today's 'gothic' dressers. This eccentricity was encouraged by his mother who believed that eccentricity and genius went hand in hand.
Oscar Wilde was schooled in the fashion that was expected of the upper middle classes at that time. When he was old enough he was sent to the top public school in Ireland at that time, The Portora Royal School. His headmaster, a good friend of his father, was extremely keen on the classics and this was reflected upon in the schools syllabus. Wilde won many prizes even though he was widely regarded as sloppy and this signalled the start of a distinguished education.
Wilde then moved first to Trinity College in Dublin where he won a succession of academic awards. Wilde then prospered in his third centre of education Magdalen College, Oxford. Oscar was popular with teachers and pupils alike. He was so popular with his lecturers that he spend four months with one of the most influential lecturers touring Greece and Italy. At one point he even had a personal audience with the Pope due to Wilde's ability at writing religious sonnets. It was at Oxford that his homosexual feelings began to grow as he begins to write more frequently about the beauty of his fellow male students around him. This was the seed of the great oak of unconventional and harmful practices that would eventually fall and obliterate him.
The death of Oscar's father was a shock to him and the family. Their alarming financial situation was a shock to all family members who found themselves with substantial debts. It was a time of great emotional turmoil for Wilde. His first serious relationship was terminated without notice, the first he knew about it was her marriage to another man.
Wilde eventually married in May 1884 to one Constance Lloyd. Lloyd was at best plain and was of mediocre intelligence. Their relationship had none of the splendour and equality that Wilde's parents had. Constance hung on the lips of Wilde and was regarded by many of Wilde's friends as a mere prop. The period after his marriage led to his most productive period when he produced such works as The Importance Of Being Ernest and An Ideal Husband. He also for a short period of time was the editor of Women's World.
It was around this time that he renewed his interest in his homosexual feelings. He met the young, charming but temperamental Lord Alfred Douglas, Bosie to his friends, who was at that time an undergraduate at Oxford University. They began a long and controversial homosexual affair that led to Bosie neglecting his studies and Wilde's neglect of his family and beloved children. He also became quite cocky by all accounts due to his countrywide popular acclaim. Bosie's father, Lord Queensbury, who was the creator of the famous boxing rules that share his name, became increasingly concerned at his sons actions. He scoured London for information to prove his claim. Inexplicably during this search Wilde began liable proceedings that he was advised he would defiantly lose. Why Wilde took these actions is open to debate but I personally believe that he believed that the same cockiness and comic wit that he used in his plays so successfully could be harnessed to fight against the impressive authority of the British judicial system. Wilde crumpled after a spectacular defeat. Following the disaster he spent three years in prison
When Wilde left prison he was denied the right to see Constance his wife (which he didn't mind) and his children (which he did). He fled to Paris in France to live out his life. A short romantic reunion with Bosie collapsed after a mere three months and Wilde waited out three lonely years till death in Paris. Abandoned by his peers he died alone and arrogance free in a bare, poorly furnished hotel room in Paris.
