Oscar Wilde (real name Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde) was born on
October 16th, 1854 in Dublin. His father, William Robert Wilde, was an eminent eye
doctor, with an interest in myths and folklore. He was the founder of the first eye and ear
hospital in Great Britain, as well as the appointed Surgeon Occultist to the Queen, who
knighted him. His mother, Jane Francesca Elgee Wilde, was a poet who wrote patriotic
Irish verse under the pen name Speranza, and had a considerable following. As a
youngster, Wilde was exposed to the brilliant literary talk of the day at his mother's Du…
