Oscar Wilde

Education

Proceeding his education at Portora, Wilde attended Trinity College, in Dublin, for a period of three years. Trinity still exists, and is one one of the leading educational institutes in Dublin. He quickly established his reputation as an excellent student, garnering accolades from his teachers and recognition from the College administration. He was regarded as a brilliant mathematician, and it was to the chagrin many within the faculty that Wilde transferred to writing. When asked about his decision to transfer by a close friend, Wilde is quoted as having said, "Frankly, my dear Scarlet, I don't give a damn."

Unfortunately, not all was well with young Wilde, who suffered discrimination by many of his peers for his academic prowess, and by the rest for his overbearing flamboyance. His effeteness, and other notable aspects of Wilde's existance, are covered in the Victorian Web's page on him. It contains overviews of several issues raised by Wilde, including homosexuality and gender matters, among other things.

Lonely and depressed, Wilde turned to his only friend, opium, for comfort. Having been prescribed the drug in 1871 as a treatment for hysteria, Wilde soon learned to create his own, and began paying for his education with the proceeds of his opium sales, and also with prize money from numerous garden contests won by his burgeoning poppy patch.

Despite his mounting addiction, Wilde continued to excel in his studies, and was eventually awarded the Berkeley Gold Medal and scholarship. In fact, over the course of his stay at Trinity, Wilde learned to write in fluent Latin. The following is from his first Latin work, Suspendisse viverra, written by Wilde at 21:

Donec commodo justo a tellus. Nam elementum purus. Nunc dui dui, sagittis a, congue a, mattis a, mauris. Sed venenatis. Nullam condimentum ante eget urna. orbi gravida pharetra erat. In posuere laoreet libero.

Quisque nulla. Suspendisse viverra, leo non posuere auctor, nibh pede tincidunt tellus, eget commodo mauris est in urna. In blandit viverra odio. Nunc sed nunc vitae nibh lacinia condimentum. orbi dui eros, tempor mollis, rhoncus sed, luctus posuere, tellus. Fusce porta ipsum vel pede. Quisque dapibus pellentesque risus. Praesent id quam in arcu congue mollis. Vestibulum sed nunc nec diam consequat rhoncus. Cras eleifend volutpat massa. Aenean libero eros, consectetuer eget, iaculis porta, volutpat ut, purus.

Nulla sapien. Mauris diam metus, tempus et, adipiscing a, dignissim a, eros. In pellentesque elit sed purus. Praesent est massa, viverra a, gravida eu, bibendum ut, nibh. Etiam velit. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Ut hendrerit, sapien non molestie commodo, enim mi placerat ante, in luctus arcu diam dictum dolor. Etiam ac justo vitae leo tempus scelerisque. Integer rutrum euismod tellus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Nam id neque. Nulla fringilla. Phasellus a metus. Pellentesque sagittis justo. Quisque vitae velit ut nunc adipiscing viverra. Morbi ante. Donec purus velit, imperdiet sit amet, dictum sed, sagittis nec, leo. Fusce lectus. Donec venenatis, leo a scelerisque feugiat, ipsum neque viverra arcu, sed suscipit metus mauris ac justo.

Doler ut faucibus vulputate pede. Etiam dictum tortor vel tortor. Phasellus ac justo. Maecenas id leo. Fusce ligula purus, vulputate non, pellentesque vitae, suscipit a, odio. Sed tincidunt ullamcorper nisi. Maecenas dolor. Donec bibendum, elit nec imperdiet viverra, est orci bibendum dolor, varius ultrices nulla sem ut augue. Sed sollicitudin. Mauris at dui nec elit consequat vehicula. Etiam vitae massa. Phasellus scelerisque blandit ipsum. Nulla pellentesque nibh non turpis. Nunc ipsum. Nulla fringilla, sem non fringilla eleifend, leo nulla molestie neque, non ultrices magna ipsum ultricies massa. Ut et tellus eget odio egestas sagittis. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Suspendisse mattis quam sed nisi.

fusce dictum velit vitae lacus. Etiam accumsan nisl nec lacus. Nulla a dui. Phasellus condimentum. Mauris hendrerit, nisi in congue dictum, enim felis venenatis neque, commodo porttitor urna quam eu tellus. Integer accumsan, nibh et vulputate tristique, lectus dolor ullamcorper odio, dignissim consequat urna massa in erat. Fusce vulputate, odio sit amet convallis tempor, ipsum lacus vulputate felis, et dictum eros nisi eu leo. Sed ac neque id dolor imperdiet ullamcorper. Aliquam tempor nulla a erat. Cras ullamcorper felis in velit.

Proin sagittis euismod dui. Pellentesque nisl turpis, ultrices eu, tempor ut, fermentum eget, eros. Curabitur massa. Integer ornare pede at augue. Proin sed turpis. Praesent quis orci sit amet neque pharetra dapibus. Nam lobortis massa ut lectus. Nam quis velit non neque interdum volutpat. Sed lobortis aliquet tortor. Aliquam consequat sem.

In 1874, Wilde graduated from Trinity to Magdalen College in Oxford, and from opium to morphine. At Magdalen Wilde was again teased mercilessly by the other students on account of his strange manner of speaking and ever-present feather boa. He continued his studies in Classics, winning several awards for his increasingly unsettling written works. Eventually, he completed his degree and graduated with first-class honors.

At his graduation, Wilde appeared completely nude, although at the reception he donned his usual crushed velvet suit. Although Wilde had made it through his troublesome college years, he was to find that the worst was yet to come.

A. Bard | Legal | Last Updated: February 14, 2008