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mods: 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 …