On October 16, 1854, the eccentric and devoutly revered Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland. Wilde's work as a playwright, novelist, and poet was marked by a controversial spirit and was often the subject of moral outrage in Europe. Much of his writing reflected his own life and his protest against 19th-century societal norms. His only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was heavily criticized for having themes of homoeroticism and was part of the story that actualized his notoriety. However, the questions posed by his work and his life are still relevant today as they were a hundred years ago (Ellmann, XVII). Wilde's interests were greatly influenced by the work of his parents during his education. His father, Sir William Wilde, worked as a leading ear and eye surgeon in Ireland and published several books on archeology and folklore ("Oscar Wilde", Encyclopedia Britannica). Wilde's mother, Jane Francesca Agnes, was a talented poet who wrote primarily myths and folklore. His work was often published under the pseudonym Speranza ("Oscar Wilde", Encyclopedia Britannica). With two strong literary and professional role models, Wilde went on to study at Trinity College, Dublin (1871-74) and Magdalen College, Oxford (1874-78). He graduated with honors and established himself as a brilliant scholar, poet and wit after receiving the Newdigate Prize (1878) for his long poem Ravenna ("Oscar Wilde", Encyclopedia Britannica). It was also around this time that Wilde began to explore his feelings of homosexuality. Wilde had several relationships with men that made him a target for blackmail. Unfortunately for Wilde, the Victorian era was polluted with homosexual ideas... middle of paper ...... transcended, into lust (Shmoop editorial team). For Wilde as for Lord Henry, renouncing temptation is a form of self-harm for which the only remedy is to recognize and give in (McKenna 125). This struggle between love and desire – between song and shadow – reigns constantly in Oscar Wilde's life, and its center is the journey of sexual self-discovery. Works Cited Ellmann, Richard. Oscar Wilde. New York: Knopf, 1988. Print. Fuller, Sophie. “Construction of musical meaning”. The Idea of ​​Music in Victorian Fiction. Aldershot, Hants, England: Burlington, Vermont, 2004. 171-96. Print.McKenna, Neil. The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde. New York: Basic, 2005. “Oscar Wilde” print. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. November 6, 2013. Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. Oscar Wilde in aesthetic dress. 1882.