OSCAR WILDE

Oscar Wilde is one of the most outrageous writers the world has ever seen. He is most well known for being London’s most popular playwright during the 1890’s (he authored The Importance of being Earnest), his novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” and his desire to engage with socially rejected members of society.

At the height of Wilde’s success, and while his masterpiece, “The Importance of Being Earnest” was still on stage in London, Wilde sued his lover’s father for libel. On April 3, 1895 after being accused of Sodomy by Lord Alfred’s father John Douglas, (The Marquess of Queensbury) Wilde began an insanely self-detrimental court case against Queensbury for criminal libel. Queensbury’s defense claimed that the accusations were true under the Libel Act if 1843, and the defense reported that they had several male prostitutes prepared to testify that Wilde had rendered their services. At the advice of his lawyers, Wilde dropped the case. Queensbury’s acquittal made Wilde liable for all of Queensberry’s expenses that occurred during the trial. These costs left Wilde nearly penniless.

Soon after the media crazed case with Queensberry, Wilde was arrested by the Crown for “Gross Indecency” under section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885. Wilde was released from prison in 1897.

Upon release Wilde was broke and soon exiled from England. He spent the majority of the last 3 years of life alone in his hotel room, and drinking heavily. Oscar Wilde died of Cerebral Meningitis on November 30, 1900 at age 46. On Wilde’s last trip outside before his death he was quoted as saying, “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death, one of us has got to go.”

WILDE’S TOMB

Although Wilde is originally from Ireland, and achieved most of his recognition while in London, he is buried in Paris, France at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. The tomb has become a monument for Wilde fans who have poured in by the thousands to show their respects, and in many cases to give the author’s tomb a kiss. The tradition of kissing Wilde’s grave is rumored to be an homage to his poem, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” A passage from the poem reads:

Yet each man kills the thing he loves

By each let this be heard.

Some do it with a bitter look,

Some with a flattering word.

The coward does it with a kiss,

The brave man with a sword!

In 2011, Wilde’s family had the tomb cleaned, wiping away all of the lipstick marks. Today, anyone attempting to kiss the tomb with lipstick on can be fined for Vandalism.