作者
(
1854年10月16日～
1900年11月30日)
奥斯卡·王尔德
王尔德生于都柏林的一个家世卓越的家庭，是家中的次子，全名为：奥斯卡·芬葛·欧佛雷泰·威尔斯·王尔德（Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde）。他的父亲威廉姆·王尔德爵士是一个外科医生，他的母亲是一位诗人与作家。王尔德是一个优秀的学生，他获得了都柏林圣三一学院（Trinity College）的奖学金，1874年，他进入牛津大学迈格德林学院（Magdalen College）学习。在牛津，王尔德受到了沃尔特·佩特及约翰·拉斯金的审美影响，并接触了新黑格尔派哲学、达尔文进化论和拉斐尔前派的作品，这为他之后成为唯美主义先锋作家确立了方向。当时，虽然年轻的王尔德还没有获得一个文学奖项，但服装惹眼、谈吐机智、特立独行的他在社会上已经小有名气，一些杂志甚至刊登着讽刺他的文章。
1882年，王尔德在美国作了一个精彩的巡回讲座，两年后他与 Constance Lloyd 成婚，两名儿子 Cyril 与 Vyvyan 亦分别在1885年与1886年出生。1887年王尔德成为一家妇女杂志的执行总编辑，那上面发表着他的一些小说、评论和诗。王尔德的作品以其词藻华美、立意新颖和观点鲜明闻名，他的第一本小说道林·格雷的画像发表于1891年，之后他又发表了散文《社会主义下人的灵魂》，这两部作品都十分成功，但真正为王尔德赢得名誉的是他的戏剧作品。可以说他的每一部戏剧作品都受着热烈的欢迎，有一个时期，伦敦的舞台上竟同时上演着他的三部作品。
维多利亚女王时代的英国上流社会市侩腐朽，新旧风尚的冲突激烈，王尔德的自由作风和大胆的作风很快使他成为了这场冲突的牺牲品。1895年，昆斯拜瑞侯爵（Marquess of Queensberry）因儿子阿尔弗瑞德·道格拉斯（Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas）与王尔德交往而令到父子不和，并公然斥责王尔德是一个 "sodomite"。对此，愤怒的阿尔弗瑞德叫王尔德立刻上诉告侯爵败坏他的名誉，可惜王尔德不但上诉失败，更被反告曾“commit acts of gross indecency”。根据当时英国苛刻的刑事法，王尔德被判有罪，在瑞丁和本顿维尔监狱服了两年苦役。这两年，王尔德停止了戏剧创作，而构思了诗作《瑞丁监狱之歌》和忏悔录《深渊书简》，在这两部作品中已很难寻得唯美主义的影响。在王尔德服刑期间，Constance 与两个孩子改姓为 Holland 兼移居意大利，而他大多数的朋友则对他避之唯恐不及，当中只有寥寥数人如戏剧作家萧伯纳仍挺身维护他。
1897年获释后，王尔德立刻动身前往巴黎，对于英国他失望透顶，不再有丝毫留恋。其后他为了两名孩子曾尝试与 Constance 复合，但阿尔弗瑞德亦同时表示想与王尔德重归如好，最后王尔德放弃两名孩子而选择了阿尔弗瑞德。王尔德在以假名居住法国期间完成并出版了《瑞丁监狱之歌》，之后与阿尔弗瑞德同游意大利，但几个月后，两人再次分手。1900年王尔德终于在好友 Robert 'Robbie' Ross 帮助下改信天主教，在同年11月30日因病于巴黎的亚尔沙斯旅馆（Hotel d’Alsace）去世，享年46岁，死时只有 Robbie 与另一朋友陪伴。
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish writer, poet, and prominent aesthete. His parents were successful Dublin intellectuals, and from an early age he was tutored at home, where he showed his intelligence, becoming fluent in French and German. He attended boarding school for six years, then matriculated to university at seventeen years of age. Reading Greats, Wilde proved himself to be an outstanding classicist, first at Trinity College, Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. After university, Wilde moved around trying his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems and toured America lecturing extensively on aestheticism. He then returned to London, where he worked prolifically as a journalist for four years. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress, and glittering conversation, Wilde was one of the most well-known personalities of his day. He next produced a series of dialogues and essays that developed his ideas about the supremacy of art. However, it was his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray – still widely read – that brought him more lasting recognition. He became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London with a series of social satires which continue to be performed, especially his masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest.
At the height of his fame and success, Wilde suffered a dramatic downfall in a sensational series of trials. He sued his lover's father for libel, though the case was dropped at trial. After two subsequent trials, Wilde was imprisoned for two years' hard labour, having been convicted of "gross indecency" with other men. In prison he wrote De Profundis, a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. 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, a long, terse poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. He died destitute in Paris at the age of forty-six.