> The 1895 theatrical play The Importance of Being Earnest was written by whichauthor and playwright?And the answer: Oscar Wilde. Photo courtesy: Britannica.comBorn in Dublin, Ireland, Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest as acomedic satire of Victorian social life. The play is considered one of his bestworks, along with the 1891 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.A literary artist who sought pleasure and beauty in all its forms, Wilde isremembered today for his contributions to literature as well as hiscontributions to the aesthetic movement. Born to Irish poet "Speranza" andsuccessful surgeon William Wilde, Oscar Wilde began his search for higherknowledge from a very young age. The writer excelled in school, placing at thetop of his class at Trinity College, Dublin, where he won the Berkeley GoldMedal for Greek, and later at Magdalen College, University of Oxford. After Oxford, Wilde moved to London, where he published his first body of work.While it received only modest praise, it established the young author andencouraged him on his path. Wilde took to travel, and delivered a series oflectures across America and England in 1882. It was through these lectures thatWilde began to solidify his place as a leader of the aesthetic movement. Themovement was characterized by beauty for beauty’s sake, rather than to promote amessage. In 1891, Wilde published his first and only novel, Portrait of Dorian Gray.Critics were outraged by the novel’s seeming lack of morality, a fact whichWilde vehemently defended in the preface. The following year, Wilde produced hismost famous work, The Importance of Being Earnest. Together, these works lead tothe peak of Wilde’s literary success. However, following a slanderous note left on his doorstep, Wilde embarked on alawsuit that would lead to his downfall. As an openly gay man, Wilde sued acritic for libel, yet ultimately lost the case and was imprisoned between 1895and 1897 for being a homosexual. A few years later, he passed away at the age of46, most likely from complications of an ear infection.While he met a premature and tragic end, Wilde continues to influence literaryaesthetic culture across the globe. His works are still widely circulated, as ishis notorious pursuit of beautiful things. Read more about this influential poet, playwright and author here[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/oscar-wilde].The original program. Photo courtesy: V&A www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles