On October 16, 1854, the eccentric and revered Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland. Wilde's work as a playwright, novelist, and poet was characterized by a controversial spirit and was often the subject of moral indignation in Europe. Much of his writings reflected his life and protest against the social norms in place during the nineteenth century. His only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was heavily attacked for its homoerotic themes and was part of the story that made his notoriety. However, the questions posed by his work and life are still as relevant as they were a hundred years ago (Ellmann, xvii). Wilde's interests were greatly influenced by his parents' work during his upbringing. His father, Sir William Wilde, worked as Ireland's leading ENT surgeon and published numerous books on archeology and folklore ("Oscar Wilde", Encyclopedia Britannica). Wilde's mother, Jane Francesca Agnes, was a gifted 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 during this period that Wilde began to explore his feelings of homosexuality. Wilde had several affairs with men who turned him into a target for blackmail. Unfortunately for Wilde, the Victorian era was tainted by ideas of homosexuality... at the center of the paper... transcended, to the point of lust (Shmoop Editorial Team). For both Wilde and Lord Henry, the abnegation of temptation is a form of self-mutilation, the only cure for which is to acknowledge and give in (McKenna 125). This struggle between love and lust – between song and shadow – is consistently dominant in Oscar Wilde's life, and at its center is the journey of sexual self-discovery. Works Cited Ellmann, Richard. Oscar Wilde. New York: Knopf, 1988. Print.Fuller, Sophie. “Constructing Musical Meaning.” The idea of ​​music in Victorian fiction. Aldershot, Hants, England: Burlington, VT, 2004. 171-96. Print.McKenna, Neil. The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde. New York: Basic, 2005. Print."Oscar Wilde." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online academic edition. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 6 November 2013.Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. Oscar Wilde in aesthetic dress. 1882.