Ivan Ronov

Return to Great Britain

Return to Great Britain

Return to Great Britain

On his return to Great Britain, Oscar Wilde embarked on another lecture circuit across England and Ireland, which would last up to the middle of 1884. Meanwhile sometime between February and Ma 1883, he went to Paris for three months and there he completed his play, ‘The Duchess of Padua’.

Very soon Wilde was able to establish himself as a leading proponent of aesthetic movement and became famous for it. Apart from his literally pursuits, he began to contribute regularly as a reviewer in ‘Pall Mall Gazette.’

From 1887, Wilde found employment as the editor of ‘Lady’s World,’ a magazine that dealt in women’s fashion and had lost its popularity in recent years. Soon, he was able to revive the magazine by incorporating women’s viewpoints not only on art, literature and music, but also on modern life.

In 1888, while working as editor of ‘Lady’s World,’ Wilde published his first major work titled, ‘The Happy Prince and Other Tales’, a collection of children's stories. Next in 1889, he published another of his memorable works, ‘The Decay of Lying’.

In July 1889, he left his job to concentrate on his literary ambition. His only novel, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ appeared in the July 1890 edition of ‘Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.’

Although the editor of the magazine had deleted roughly 500 words it was criticized by the reviewers for decadence and homosexual allusions. However, Wilde defended his work and in 1891, he had it published in book form.

In 1891, apart from ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, he had five other major works published. Among them, ‘Intentions’ consisted of previously published essays. Others were ‘The Soul of Man under Socialism’, ‘Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories’, ‘A House of Pomegranates’ and ‘Salome’.

Wilde then continued to produce more plays, many of which satirized the upper class society. Falling in this category were ‘Lady Windermere's Fan’ (1882) and ‘A Woman of No Importance’ (1893), both of whichwere highly successful.

Contrarily, ‘An Ideal Husband’, a work which Wilde started in the summer of 1883, revolved around blackmail and political corruption. Just like ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, which he wrote in the summer of 1894, ‘An Ideal Husband’ is also considered one of his masterpieces.

Who was Oscar Wilde?

Who was Oscar Wilde?

Who was Oscar Wilde?

Oscar Wilde was a noted Irish playwright, novelist, poet and essayist, born in the middle of the nineteenth century into an intellectual family. While studying in Trinity, Dublin, he was influenced by the aesthetic movement, which advocated that art must be practiced only for the sake of art and soon became one of its ardent followers. Although his very first book, ‘Poems’ established him as an upcoming poet, he tasted real success only in the last decade of his relatively short life. But by then, despite being married with two sons, he had become entangled in a homosexual relationship and when that came into light, he was sentenced to two-year rigorous imprisonment. On coming out of prison, he went to France, where he spent the last years of his life, cut off from his family and shunned by most of his friends. By then, his books had also stopped selling and his plays were closed down. Thus he lived in poverty and ill-health till he died aged just forty-six.

Her first short story was ‘The House of Beauty’ which described the world of ‘madness and dreams.’Her first short story was ‘The House of Beauty’ which described the world of ‘madness and dreams.’ She continued writing short stories that showcased her interest in spiritualism and paranormal activities.

Agatha Christie, known as the ‘Queen of Crime,’ was a renowned English writer who wrote over 66 detective novelsAgatha Christie, known as the ‘Queen of Crime,’ was a renowned English writer who wrote over 66 detective novels. She is best known as the creator of Belgian detective ‘Hercule Poirot’ and village lady ‘Miss Marple.’ She is credited for writing the world’s longest running play ‘The Mousetrap.’ Her first successful publication was ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ which introduced her character ‘Poirot.’ According to ‘Index Translationum,’ her books have been translated into 103 different languages, and her works rank third after the works of William Shakespeare and the Bible, as the world’s most widely published books. Her novel ‘And Then There Were None’ deserves special mention as her best-selling novel. Around 100 million copies of the novel have been sold till now. For her noteworthy contribution in the field of detective stories, she received several awards, such as ‘Grand Master Award’ and ‘Edgar Award.’ A number of films, television series, video games, and comics have been made based on her stories. Her character ‘Poirot’ is the only fictional character for which ‘The New York Times’ published an obituary, which is a clear indication of the character’s popularity.

Career

Career

Career

Her first short story was ‘The House of Beauty’ which described the world of ‘madness and dreams.’ She continued writing short stories that showcased her interest in spiritualism and paranormal activities.

She wrote a novel titled ‘Snow Upon the Desert’ which she sent to some publishers under the pseudonym Monosyllaba. Unfortunately, the publishers were reluctant to publish her works.

During ‘World War I’ in 1914, Agatha joined the ‘Voluntary Aid Detachment.’ During her service there, she attended to injured soldiers at a hospital in Torquay, England.

From October 1914 to December 1916, she dedicated her time by doing 3,400 hours of unpaid work.

From December 1916 until the end of her service in September 1918, she earned £16 a year as a dispenser.

She was an avid reader of detective novels of prominent authors like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Drawing inspiration from such novels, she wrote the detective novel ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ which housed the popular character ‘Hercule Poirot.’

In October 1920, John Lane at ‘The Bodley Head’ agreed to publish ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles' on the condition of changing the climax of the novel.

Her second novel ‘The Secret Adversary,’ published in 1922 by ‘The Bodley Head,’ introduced the popular characters ‘Tommy’ and ‘Tuppence.’

Her third novel ‘Murder on the Links’ was published in 1923. This novel featured characters like ‘Hercule Poirot’ and ‘Arthur Hastings.’

During the ‘Second World War,’ the experience of working in the pharmacy at ‘University College Hospital’ in London helped her to gain knowledge about poisons. She utilized this knowledge in her post-war crime novels.

She was seen publicly for the last time during the opening night of her play ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ in 1974. The next year, she assigned the rights of this play to her grandson due to her poor health condition.