Oscar Wilde

He was both, but it was the plays that solidified his reputation during his lifetime and those are what most people still read today. His poetry — including *The Ballad of Reading Gaol* — is profound and worth your time, but if you only know him from one form, it’s likely the stage comedies or *The Picture of Dorian Gray*.

Aestheticism emerged in the late 19th century, centered on the belief that art is valuable in itself — not meant to convey a message or enhance society, but purely to be beautiful. Wilde stood out as its most prominent advocate in Britain, embodying the philosophy as much as he articulated it. His well-known phrase 'art for art's sake' became a popular way to encapsulate the essence of the movement.

He was found guilty of gross indecency — the legal term then used to prosecute homosexual acts — and sentenced to two years of hard labor. The trial became a public spectacle. Interestingly, he had started the legal proceedings himself by suing the Marquess of Queensberry for libel, a move that backfired when Queensberry's lawyers presented evidence that shifted the situation in their favor.

*The Ballad of Reading Gaol* (1898) stands out as Wilde's major work from that time. This lengthy narrative poem tells the story of a fellow prisoner’s execution and delves into the harsh realities of the prison system. He also penned *De Profundis*, a heartfelt letter to Lord Alfred Douglas written during his imprisonment, which was published after his death. Both works are quite different from the witty Wilde that many are familiar with.

Most of the lines that people often quote — 'I can resist everything except temptation,' 'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars' — actually come from his plays rather than his poems. His poetry is usually more sincere and emotionally direct compared to the plays, which might catch you off guard if you approach the poems expecting the same witty detachment.

It provided him with a unique outsider's perspective on English society. Growing up in Dublin and partly educated in the Irish tradition, he felt a sense of not entirely fitting in with the English establishment that he both admired and ridiculed. His mother's nationalist politics also introduced him to the notion that writing could serve as a means of resistance, even if Wilde's own form of resistance manifested in a different way.

The 1895 conviction brought a public scandal to his name during an era when such scandals carried significant shame. Publishers were wary, theaters steered clear of his plays, and for decades, his biography loomed larger than his work. It wasn't until the latter half of the 20th century, as views on homosexuality began to change, that critics and readers could once more appreciate his writing for what it truly was.

Most people consider the plays the easiest way in — *The Importance of Being Earnest* is especially funny and can easily be read in a single afternoon. If poetry is more your style, *The Ballad of Reading Gaol* is the most powerful and emotionally charged piece. *The Picture of Dorian Gray* falls somewhere in the middle: it reads like a novel but is rich with the same themes about beauty and art that permeate all of his work.