Cartoon of Mr Oscar Wilde by APE. 24 th May 1884 Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Irish dramatist, novelist, poet, and wit; wrote novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" 1891 (initially published in shorter form in "Lippincott's Magazine" 1890), plays "Lady Windermere's Fan" 1892, "A Woman of No Importance" 1893, "An Ideal Husband" 1895, "The Importance of Being Earnest" 1895, "Salome" 1896; sued John Sholto Douglas for libel over Douglas' allegations of Wilde's homosexuality, but lost case and was sentenced to prison; imprisoned on charges of sodomy 1895-1897, primarily at Reading Gaol; while imprisoned, wrote critical letter to Lord Alfred Douglas 1897, posthumously published in edited form as apologia "De Profundis" 1905; wrote poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" 1898 (under pseudonym C.3.3); after release from jail, moved to Paris and lived under alias Sebastian Melmoth _1854-1900