Oscar Wilde was born and brought up in the city of Dublin, in Ireland. He embarked on a journey of his advanced education at Trinity College, in Dublin preceding which he had an exceptional academic career at Oxford. Oscar Wilde was known to be a self-described antinomian, one for whom the customary regulations for society didn’t pertain.
Oscar Wilde’s liberal as well as anarchial views astonished the Victorian society. Sad as it seemed, this was to be his downfall.
Quotes by Oscar Wilde about marriage and love
“One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.”
“In married life three is company and two none.”“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.”
Oscar Wilde’s Marriage, Wife and Kids
Oscar Wilde married his wife, Constance Lloyd in the year 1884. Constance was 4 years younger to him. She was known to be the daughter of Horace Lloyd who was a popular barrister of the time. Her mother’s name was Adelaide Atkinson Lloyd. Her father had died when she was just 16 years of age.
Constance Lloyd was intelligent, educated, well-read and had mastered several European languages. She was an outspoken young woman at a time when that was not well accepted. The couple had two sons within two years of marriage. Afterwards, there were no more children. Constance published a book based on the stories her grandmother had narrated to her- There Was Once. Both, Constance and her husband were involved in the dress reform movement.
It is not clear just when Constance became conscious of her husband’s sexual proclivities. Since there were no more children after Vivian was born, she may have discovered something at this time. She actually came across Lord Alfred Douglas when her husband, Wilde brought Douglas to their home; Oscar began living more in hotels than their Tite Street home.
This would have also meant that he was spending less time with the boys. One particular source claims that during a visit, Wilde threatened the boys asking what would happen to such naughty boys who made their mamas cry.
The boys countered back by asking what happened to absent papas who made mamas cry. Just what went on between the couple will never be known. Both were eccentric and behaved unusually and this seems to have been the key factor. There were no bitter accusations. The two clearly respected each other and remained friendly.
The impractical romantic relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas was Oscar Wilde‘s fall. The relationship left him defenceless and frail and ultimately effected in charges of homosexuality. He was sentenced to two years of hard labour.
