Every day brings a new story. And each day contributes to story telling -- in prose and in poetry, in art and in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books.
Today is the story of Oct. 16th
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It is the 288th day of the year, leaving 77 days remaining in 2022.
On this date in 1854, the Irish writer and bon vivant, Oscar Wilde, was born in Dublin.
As a writer, Wilde professed a form of aestheticism, the literary style that favored the aesthetic value of the play house and the written word over whatever its political, moral, or societal leanings were. But he also managed to annoy that society with his lifestyle, and critique and outrage it with his writings and dramas.
His sole novel, A Picture of Dorian Gray, tells the story of a high society man who hides his moral degradation not in himself, but in a drawing of himself hidden in his house. Critics said it offended moral sensibilities, and many booksellers pulled it from their shelves.
While Wilde wrote more stories as a playwright, particularly A Woman of No Importance and The Importance of Being Ernest, his accusers lodged many of the same criticisms against him. Still, they played in sold out theaters despite their underlying subversion of societal rules.
But as the latter play premiered in 1895, it became caught in a feud between Wilde and the Marquess of Queensbury over Wilde's relationship with the man's adult son, Lord Alfred Douglas. Queensbury called Wilde a sodomite; Wilde, at Douglas' urging, sued Marquess, who won the case, and had Wilde arrested for sodomy. He was convicted and served two years in prison.
Wilde was released from jail in 1897 and fled to France. He was bankrupt, lived in exile, and contracted meningitis. He died in 1900 in Paris.
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