Oscar Wilde
Born 1854 · Age 171
Irish author, poet and playwright; leading figure of the Aesthetic and Decadent movements. Best known for The Picture of Dorian Gray and plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest; convicted for gross indecency in 1895 and imprisoned 1895–1897.
Compare Your Trajectory
See how your career milestones stack up against Oscar Wilde and other industry leaders.
Life & Career Timeline
Birth of Oscar Wilde
Born at 21 Westland Row, Dublin, second of three children of Sir William Wilde and Jane (Speranza) Wilde.
Family moves to No 1 Merrion Square, Dublin
Wilde family home on Merrion Square becomes a notable salon for medical and literary figures.
Birth of sister Isola Francesca Emily Wilde
Isola born; named in tribute to Iseult of Ireland. Wilde later wrote the poem 'Requiescat' for her after her death.
Father Sir William Wilde knighted
Sir William Wilde is knighted (1864) for census work and medical services; family's social standing rises.
Enters Portora Royal School (Enniskillen)
Attended Portora Royal School from 1864 to 1871; excelled in classics and won prizes (e.g., Carpenter Prize for Greek Testament).
Ranks 4th in school; wins classical prizes
At Portora he ranked fourth in 1869 and won prizes for classical translations and the Carpenter Prize for Greek Testament.
Royal School scholarship to Trinity College Dublin
One of three Portora students to win a Royal School scholarship and proceed to Trinity College, Dublin (1871–1874).
Influenced by Walter Pater's Studies in the History of the Renaissance
Pater's 1873 book became formative for Wilde's aestheticism; Wilde memorized passages and adopted aesthetic ideals.
Graduates Trinity; awarded Berkeley Gold Medal in Greek
Finished at Trinity (B.A. 1874); won the university's highest classical award and obtained a Magdalen College (Oxford) demyship (half-scholarship).
Wins demyship at Magdalen College, Oxford (half‑scholarship)
Awarded a demyship worth £95 per year (contemporary text notes this was ~£95 then; cited equivalent c. £11,100 in 2023).
Joins Apollo University Lodge (Freemasonry) at Oxford
Petitioned the Apollo Masonic Lodge and was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason while at Oxford.
Rusticated at Oxford for one term
Temporarily suspended (rusticated) for returning late to college from a trip to Greece with Professor J. P. Mahaffy.
Audience with Pope Pius IX in Rome
Met Pope Pius IX in 1877; Catholicism strongly appealed to him though he did not convert.
Wins the Newdigate Prize for 'Ravenna'
Awarded Oxford's Newdigate Prize in 1878 for his poem 'Ravenna'; read it at Encaenia — important public recognition.
Completes first play, Vera; or, The Nihilists
Wrote his first play (tragic melodrama) ca.1880; a London performance was advertised in Nov 1881 but withdrawn.
Publishes Poems (first collection)
Poems (1881) first edition printed 750 copies; received mixed reviews and satirical attacks (e.g., Punch).
Arrives in New York to begin North American lecture tour
Invited by Richard D'Oyly Carte, Wilde's planned 4-month lecture tour of the US and Canada extended to nearly a year due to success.
Lives in Paris briefly; meets Robert Sherard
Used earnings including from The Duchess of Padua rights to move to Paris Feb–May 1883 and entertain literary friends.
Marries Constance Lloyd
Married at St James's Church, Paddington. Constance had an annual allowance of £250 (noted as generous at the time).
Birth of son Cyril Wilde
First son, Cyril, (Cyril Holland) born in 1885.
Birth of son Vyvyan Wilde
Second son, Vyvyan, born in 1886 (later Vyvyan Holland).
Meets Robert Ross
Became close to Robert (Robbie) Ross around 1886; Ross later became an important friend, executor and early homosexual confidant.
Becomes editor of The Lady's World (renamed The Woman's World)
Appointed editor in mid-1887; rebranded it and introduced articles on culture, parenting and politics; served until 1889.
Publishes The Happy Prince and Other Tales
Collection of fairy tales for children (Duckworth & Co., 1888), demonstrating his talent for romantic allegory.
Publishes essays: The Decay of Lying; Pen, Pencil and Poison
Longer prose pieces on aesthetics and art begin to appear in major journals (e.g., The Nineteenth Century, The Fortnightly Review).
Publishes 'The Portrait of Mr. W. H.' (Blackwood's)
Short story/essay first published July 1889 in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine; explores 'Willie Hughes' theory of Shakespeare's sonnets.
First publication of The Picture of Dorian Gray (Lippincott's Monthly Magazine)
First version (13 chapters) published July 1890 in Lippincott's; immediately criticized for decadence and homoerotic undertones.
Releases revised book edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray; publishes Intentions and two story collections
1891 book version added six chapters and a famous preface of 22 epigrams; also published Intentions, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and A House of Pomegranates.
Meets and begins relationship with Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas
Began close, tempestuous friendship/relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas in 1891, which later precipitated the 1895 trials.
Writes Salomé in French
Wrote Salomé (in French) while in Paris; later refused a licence for performance in England on grounds of Biblical portrayal.
Lady Windermere's Fan premieres
First major theatrical success; a society comedy that established Wilde as a leading playwright in London.
A Woman of No Importance produced
Second society comedy produced in 1893; consolidated Wilde's theatrical success.
Salomé published (French) and English translation with Aubrey Beardsley illustrations (1894)
Salomé published in 1893 (French) and English translation with Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations published 1894; the play was censored on stage in England.
Wilde sues Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel (civil writ)
Wilde initiated a libel suit against Queensberry, father of Lord Alfred Douglas; litigation ultimately exposed evidence of Wilde's relationships with men.
Premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest
Premiered at St. James's Theatre on 14 Feb 1895; regarded as Wilde's comic masterpiece.
Queensberry calling card incident (sodomite accusation)
John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, left a calling card at Wilde's home reading 'For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite' (misspelling), precipitating legal action.
Libel case collapses; Wilde drops suit and is arrested
Evidence produced during the libel hearings turned against Wilde; he dropped the libel claim and was subsequently arrested and charged with gross indecency.
Convicted of gross indecency; sentenced to two years' hard labour
After a retrial Wilde was convicted on 25 May 1895 and given the maximum sentence of two years' hard labour under the Criminal Law Amendment Act (1885).
Transferred to Reading Gaol (serving most of sentence)
Wilde served most of his sentence at Reading Gaol (officially HM Prison Reading). Specific transfer recorded as 23 Nov 1895 in some records.
Death of Wilde's mother while he was imprisoned
Wilde's mother died in 1896; Constance visited him in prison after her death.
Begins writing De Profundis in prison
Wrote the long letter to Lord Alfred Douglas while incarcerated; composed Dec 1896–Mar 1897 (published posthumously, abridged 1905).
Released from prison and exiled to France
Released May 1897 after serving sentence; left immediately for France and never returned to Britain or Ireland.
Brief reunion with Lord Alfred Douglas in Rouen
Reunited with Douglas in August 1897 in Rouen; relationship later ended permanently a few months after.
Constance Wilde emigrates with sons and legally changes family name to Holland; later dies
Constance fled to continental Europe with their children for privacy and changed the family surname to Holland. She died in Genoa in 1898 after a botched operation.
Publishes The Ballad of Reading Gaol (as 'C.3.3.')
Long poem about prison life, published 13 Feb 1898 by Leonard Smithers under the prison-cell‑style pseudonym 'C.3.3.' (cell block C, landing 3, cell 3).
Death in Paris
Died of meningitis (after an ear infection) at the Hôtel d'Alsace in the Latin Quarter, Paris on 30 Nov 1900 at age 46.
Posthumous publication: De Profundis (abridged, 1905)
De Profundis — Wilde's long prison letter to Lord Alfred Douglas — released posthumously in an abridged form (1905).
Charles Ricketts completes 'Silence' (memorial to Wilde)
Small bronze statue 'Silence' completed as a memorial to Wilde (September 1905).
Commission announced for Wilde's tomb (Jacob Epstein)
December 1908 announcement that Jacob Epstein would sculpt a tomb for Wilde at Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.
Installation of Wilde's tomb at Père Lachaise
Jacob Epstein's limestone funerary monument (tomb of Oscar Wilde) installed June 1912 at Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.
Posthumous pardon under the 'Turing Law'
In January 2017 Oscar Wilde was among tens of thousands posthumously pardoned under UK 'Turing Law' for historical convictions of homosexuality.
Key Achievement Ages
Explore what Oscar Wilde and others achieved at these notable ages:
Similar Trajectories
Ida Tarbell
Born 1857 · Age 168
American writer, investigative journalist, biographer, and lecturer; leading muckraker of the Progressive Era best known for The History of the Standard Oil Company.
Clarence Darrow
Born 1857 · Age 168
American lawyer and civil libertarian known for landmark criminal defenses (Leopold & Loeb, Scopes, Ossian Sweet), labor law advocacy, opposition to the death penalty, prolific public speaking and writing.
Nikola Tesla
Born 1856 · Age 169
Serbian-American engineer, inventor and futurist best known for development of alternating current (AC) electrical systems, the induction motor and the Tesla coil.
Paul Ehrlich
Born 1854 · Age 171
German physician and scientist (1854–1915). Pioneer in hematology, immunology and chemotherapy; discovered Salvarsan (arsphenamine) for syphilis, introduced the 'magic bullet' concept, and won the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
William Osler
Born 1849 · Age 176
Canadian physician, founding professor of Johns Hopkins Hospital, creator of the modern medical residency system, prolific author, bibliophile and Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford.