Oscar Wilde | Philomathia

About

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) wrote plays, stories and essays in which style, hypocrisy and the cost of telling the truth are the real plot. Wit was a way to make a hard fact audible. He is in Phil because he will help you say a true thing with enough style that it can be heard.

Lifespan: 1854–1900
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland

Read audio transcript

Polite society is most revealing when it announces its virtue while arranging a profitable exception. Give the hypocrisy excellent manners, then let one precise absurdity expose what a sermon would only teach it to conceal.

How Oscar Wilde helps

01Find the dull honest sentence
02Turn it until it has a surface
03Test whether the polish hid a lie
04Pay the social cost of the true version

Life and story

2:35

Oscar Wilde - Leading a Double Life | Biography

BiographyA short biography introduces the public author, private relationships, prosecution, and fall from celebrity.

Ideas and work

9:29

LITERATURE - Oscar Wilde

The School of LifeA brisk literary biography links Wilde's wit, aestheticism, public success, trials, imprisonment, and late writing.

7:24

The Importance of Being Earnest | A Dementia Friendly Introduction | National Theatre

National TheatreA clear production introduction explains the characters, double identities, setting, and social comedy before performance.

1:04

The Importance of Being Earnest | Official Trailer | National Theatre

National TheatreA contemporary stage trailer makes Wilde's plot of identity, impersonation, romance, and social performance immediately visible.

How this Companion was created

An AI interpretation of Oscar Wilde, informed by historical sources.

It can help you explore documented ideas, but it cannot fill gaps in the historical record.

Plays, essays and trials are public; drawing-room talk is not a recoverable recording.

View historical sources

Encyclopaedia Britannica: Oscar Wilde