Oscar Wilde Ellmann, Richard 1918-1987 creator author. text bibliography biography collective biographies. Biographies. Biographies. Biographies. nyu 1988 1987 First Vintage books edition, November, 1988. monographic eng print xvii, 680 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 21 cm In this biography, Wilde the legendary Victorian--brilliant writer and conversationalist, reckless flouter of social and sexual conventions--is brought to life. More astute and forbearing, yet more fallible than legend has allowed, Wilde is given here the dimensions of a modern hero. The author depicts Wilde's comet-like ascent on the Victorian scene and his equally dramatic sudden eclipse. He presents Wilde's Irish background, the actresses to whom he paid court, his unfortunate wife and lovers, his clothes, coiffures, and the decor of his rooms. The saga of his 1882 American tour is recounted with a wealth of new details; also his later impact on the bastions of the French literary establishment. The London of the Nineties, of Whistler and the Pre-Raphaelites, Lillie Langtry and the Prince of Wales, is evoked alongside Paris of the "belle époque" and the Greece, Italy and North Africa of Wilde's travels. This critical account of Wilde's entire oeuvre shows him as the proponent of a radical new aesthetic who was perilously at odds with Victorian society. After his period of success and daring, the fatal love affair with Lord Alfred Douglas is followed by exposure, imprisonment, a few wretched years abroad and death in exile. The tragic end of Wilde's life leaves the reader with a sense of compassion and grief for the protagonist. Beginnings -- Toil of growing up -- Wilde at Oxford -- Rome and Greece -- An incomplete aesthete -- Advances -- Setting sail -- Declaring his genius -- Indoctrinating America -- Countering the renaissance -- Two kinds of stage -- Mr. and Mrs. Wilde -- Exaltations -- Disciple to master -- The age of Dorian -- Hellenizing Paris -- A good woman, and others -- A late victorian love affair -- Sailing into the wind -- Disgrace -- 'I am the prosecutor in this case' -- Doom deferred -- Pentonville, Wandsworth, and Reading -- Escape from Reading -- Exile -- Prisoner at large -- The leftover years. Richard Ellmann. The Cushing Library/Women & Gender Studies copy was acquired as part of The Don Kelly Research Collection of Gay Literature and Culture. Includes bibliographical references (pages 623-624) and index. Pulitzer Prize for Biography, 1989. e-ie--- Wilde, Oscar 1854-1900 Authors, Irish 19th century Biography Écrivains irlandais 19e siècle Biographies Wilde, Oscar 1854-1900 Authors, Irish Wilde, Oscar 1800-1899 fast PR5823 .E38 1988b 0394759842 9780394759845 88040040 http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/description/random044/88040040.html http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/description/random044/88040040.html DLC 880523 20221220223739.4 in00004633342 eng