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Chronology
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Chronology 1854 (16 October) Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Willis Wilde born to a Protestant family in Dublin. His father, Sir William Wilde (1815–1876), was a leading eye surgeon; his mother, Jane Francesca Wilde, née Elgee (c. 1821–1896), firmly established her reputation as a nationalist poet writing under the name of “Speranza”(Hope) in the 1840s. 1864 Attends Portora Royal School, Enniskillen. 1871 Attends Trinity College, Dublin, where he becomes closely acquainted with Rev. J. P. Mahaffy (1839–1919), professor of ancient history. 1874 (June) Sits examination at the University of Oxford, where he wins Demyship in Classics at Magdalen College. Some of his earliest poems date from this period. (October) Enters Oxford. 1875 (June–July) Travels in Italy with Mahaffy, visiting Florence, Bologna, Venice, and Milan. 1877 (March–April) Travels to Italy and Greece; his visit includes an audience with Pope Pius IX. (Late April) Attends private view at the fashionable Grosvenor Gallery, London. (May) Attends fancy-dress ball dressed as Prince Rupert. 1878 (April) Visits Rev. Sebastian Bowden at the Brompton Oratory, London, to discuss his interest in converting to Roman Catholicism, which both Sir William and Mahaffy had discouraged. (June) Sits his final examinations in literæ humaniores (“Greats”); is awarded a Double First the following month. Wins prestigious Newdigate Prize for his poem “Ravenna.” (Late November) Moves to London, where he will soon share rooms with painter Frank Miles (1852–1891). 1879 Establishes himself as a fashionable literary man-about-town, publishing a poem on revered French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923) in the World. His dress, manner , and style of conversation soon capture the interest of the press. He is quickly thought to embody many of the affectations associated with the loosely defined aesthetic movement. 1880 (October) Aspects of his fashionable style treated satirically in a cartoon lampooning the aesthetic movement by George Du Maurier (1834–1896) in the popular magazine Punch. 1881 (April) Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera Patience opens at the Opera Comique, London; it partly satirizes the aesthetic style associated with Wilde. (September) Theater impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte (1844–1901) invites Wilde to undertake a tour xxxv You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. lecturing on aesthetic topics throughout North America; the tour supports the American production of Patience. (December) London production of his play Vera, on Russian nihilism,cancelled.Sets sail for NewYork City on the S.S.Arizona. 1881 (May) Poems published at his own expense; reviews mostly unfavorable, leading to more satirical jibes against him in Punch. 1882 (January) Arrives in New York City. The following month he begins a ten-month, highly profitable lecture tour. (December) Signs a contract for the production of his play The Duchess of Padua. Sails from New York City to London. 1883 (January) Agrees to terms for an American production of Vera. (Late January–May) Visits Paris, where he makes the acquaintance of his earliest biographer, Robert Harborough Sherard (1861–1943), and leading French literary figures such as Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896). (June–July) Lectures on personal impressions of America in England. (August) Travels to New York City to see opening of Vera; production closes after a week. (September) Returns to England, where he delivers lectures on a regular basis until late 1885. 1884 (May) Marries Constance Lloyd (1858–1898). (November) Begins reviewing for the Pall Mall Gazette, an influential London afternoon newspaper. 1885 (April) His poem “The Harlot’s House” appears in the Dramatic Review. (May) His first major essay,“Shakespeare and Stage Costume,”published in Nineteenth Century , later revised and reprinted as “The Truth of Masks” (1891). (June) Birth of his first son, Cyril. 1886 (November) Birth of his second son,Vyvyan.American painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) attacks Wilde’s opinions on art in the World. 1887 (April) Takes up editorship of Lady’s World, a journal published by Cassell and Co., London. He renames it Woman’s World, making it a progressive, largely feminist journal covering a wide variety of cultural, literary, and political topics. Contributes several important reviews to this periodical. Editorship lasts until sometime in 1889. 1888 (May) Publishes The Happy Prince and Other Tales, a collection of fairy tales, with David Nutt. 1889 (January) Publishes two long,intellectually ambitious essays:“Pen,Pencil,and Poison,” in...