Oscar Wilde
(1854–1900)

Oscar WildeAnecdote...

Wilde died of cerebral meningitis in a hotel in Paris. He was offered and accepted a drink of champagne, remarking as he did so, "I am dying beyond my means."

[Another version of this quip is "I suppose I shall have to die beyond my means," spoken to a doctor who mentioned an exorbitant fee for an operation.]

Anecdote 2...

Still another version of Wilde's last words has him staring at his shabby Paris bedroom. He is reputed to have said, "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."

 

Quote-worthy...

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. —Oscar Wilde


Biographical Note...

British aesthete, writer, and wit. He wrote a number of brilliant comedies, including Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), as well as poetry and a novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891). His affair with Lord Alfred Douglas resulted in a sensational court case in 1895, ending in a two-year prison sentence for Wilde. From 1897 he lived in France under an assumed name.


More Information...

Read the Wikipedia entry for Oscar Wilde. Visit the official website of Oscar Wilde.