<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper" id="block-c286ace8-8c4b-4402-a799-f8b91f68185c">Olive Smith, Westcliff High School for Girls</h2>

This Celebration Day I would like to highlight my personal idol, Oscar Wilde. 

His life was a mixture of decadence and tragedy, a bright flame extinguished by the prejudices of his time.

Born in Dublin in 1854, his childhood instilled in him a deep love for academia and

literature. 

He was homeschooled for his early childhood before attending Trinity College

Dublin and Magdalen College Oxford in his young adulthood. 

Wilde was an aesthete, obsessed with beauty and grandeur which was reflected in not only his writing, but in the way he carried himself. 

Being true to himself was the most important virtue to him and he was a very proud man. 

Settling in London in the mid 1880s, he dedicated himself to his craft of playwright, poet and author. 

He published many collections of short stories between 1888 and 1895, establishing himself in the literary field. 

Amongst the fans there were also his critics however. 

Wilde's pride, dress and overall personality were disliked by many. 

The criticism continued after the publication of his only novel 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. 

The book was published in Lippincott's Magazine in 1890, but was censored, revised and republished in 1891. 

The issue with the original text was the theme of male beauty and homoeroticism prevalent throughout the text. 

Many stores such as W.H.Smith even pulled the magazine from their shelves. 

The failure of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' marked a clear turning point in Wilde's life. 

Oscar Wilde being gay is of course not a secret to anyone, but back in the 1800s it was a crime to show attraction to the same sex. 

He was happily married to his wife Constance Llloyd and had two children with her who he loved dearly, but he continued to have secret relationships with male lovers. 

The most notorious of these romances would be Lord Alfred Douglas more commonly known by his nickname Bosie. 

He was son of the Duke of Queensbury and this relationship would end up being the main cause of Wilde's fall from grace. 

Bosie's father heavily disapproved of the relationship and slandered Wilde's name, Wilde taking him to court in 1895 for libel despite the guidance of his friends. 

Using evidence from many testimonies as well as his own book, Oscar Wilde was proved of being a sodomite and sentenced to hard labour in prison. 

This drastically affected his mental and physical health and he died in exile in France

in 1900. 

I think Oscar Wilde should be celebrated as his life is a great lesson in self confidence and opposing prejudice. 

He knew that his work and his actions could land him in controversy and possibly prison and yet he felt compelled to still be himself. 

From celebrating Oscar Wilde we are not only celebrating a wonderful and talented academic and writer, but also a man who was a victim of the prejudices of his time and yet still believed in simply being himself.