Oscar Wilde (born October 16, 1854, Dublin, Ireland—died November 30, 1900, Paris, France) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest playwrights of the Victorian Era. In his lifetime he wrote nine plays, one novel, and numerous poems, short stories, and essays. Wilde was a proponent of the Aesthetic movement, which emphasized aesthetic values more than moral or social themes. This doctrine is most clearly summarized in the phrase 'art for art's sake'. Besides literary accomplishments, he is also famous, or perhaps infamous, for his wit, flamboyance, and affairs with men. He was tried and imprisoned for his homosexual relationship (then considered a crime) with the son of an aristocrat. Among his best-known works are: The Portrait of Dorian Gray or The Importance of being called Ernest. In 1900, Wilde's health began to develop cerebral meningitis. When he realized that the writer could die, Robert "Robbi" Ross, his homosexual lover friend and president, asked for a priest. When the priest arrived, Wilde asked to be baptized in the Catholic Church. Oscar converted to Catholicism on his deathbed, in his last moments of life.

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