Author: Oscar Wilde / Year: 1854-1900 / Genre: Humor Written in 1894, this was Wilde's last play. It went on stage on Valentine's Day 1895 and received the
most whole hearted and fulsome applause that had ever greeted a contemporary play. Reviewers
complained that there was hardly a moment where the audience could stop laughing! It was seen
as a wonderful triumph, the work of a master craftsman working at the height of his powers.
However, in fifteen weeks Oscar Wilde was in jail. The sensational trial and the humiliating
personal exposure of his private life, the loss of his reputation and his final bankruptcy are
all part of literary history.
