The Nightingale and the Rose《Notes》

Oscar Wilde(1854-1900) was an Irish author famous for his sophisticated brilliantly witty plays.He studied at Trinity College at Dublin where he was bornand then at Oxford where he distinguished himself for his scholarship and wit and also for his eccentricity in dress tastes and manners.Influenced by the aesthetic teachings of John Ruskin he became the centre of a group glorifying beauty for itself alone and he was satirized or his belief in "art for art's sake."In 1882he got married .In 1891 he began writing for and editing periodicals. And during these years he wrote poems fairy tales and stories. His stores and essays were well received.But his creative genius found it highest expression in his plays-Lady Winderemere's fan(1892)A Woman of No Importance('93)An Ideal Husband('95)and his masterpiece:The Importance of Being Ernest('95)which was extremely clever and filled with pithy epigrams and paradoxes.Not long after that he was accused of homosexual practices.Found guiltyhe was sentenced to two years in prison.Upon his release he went to Francewhere he lived till his death plagued by ill health and bankruptcy.