奥斯卡·王尔德(()scal。wilde-，1854—1900年)英国唯美主义艺术运动的倡导者，著名的作家、诗人、戏剧家、艺术家。他生于爱尔兰都柏林的一个家世卓越的家庭，是家中的次子，全名为：奥斯卡·芬葛·欧佛雷泰·威尔斯·王尔德(c)scaI’Fingal 0 Flahertie wills wilde)。他的父亲是一个外科医生，母亲是一位诗人与作家。
1874年王尔德进入牛津大学莫德林学院学习。在牛津，他受到了沃尔特·佩特及约翰·拉斯金的审美观念影响，并接触了新黑格尔派哲学、达尔文进化论和拉斐尔前派的作品，这为他以后成为唯美主义先锋作家确立了方向。
首本《诗集》的出版，使他在文坛崭露头角，并来到伦敦发展。
1887年，王尔德成为一家妇女杂志的执行总编辑，在杂志上发表了他的一些小说、评论和诗。王尔德的作品以其辞藻华美、立意新颖和观点鲜明闻名，1891年他发表了第一本小说《道林·格雷的画像》，以及随后的散文《社会主义下人的灵魂》，这两部作品都深受读者喜爱，但真正为王尔德赢得名誉的是他的戏剧作品。可以说他的每一部戏剧作品都受到热烈的欢迎，有一个时期，伦敦的舞台上竟同时上演着他的三部作品。他的这些戏剧被称为自谢里丹的《造谣学校》以来最优秀的喜剧作品。
19世纪末的维多利亚女王时代，英国上流社会新旧风尚的冲突激烈。王尔德自由和大胆的政治作风很快使他成了这场冲突的牺牲品。1 895年，昆斯贝理侯爵因儿子阿尔弗莱德·道格拉斯与王尔德交往而公然斥责王尔德是一个鸡奸者(当时尚未诞生“同性恋”这个名词)。上诉失败的王尔德在监狱服了两年苦役。在此期间，王尔德停止了戏剧创作，写下了诗作《瑞丁监狱之歌》和书信集《深渊书简》。这两部作品的风格发生了转变，已很难寻见唯美主义的印迹。王尔德服刑期间，妻子康斯坦斯与两个孩子改姓为荷兰德，移居意大利，而他社交界和文学界的大多数朋友都对他避之唯恐不及。只有寥寥数人如剧作家萧伯纳仍挺身维护他。
1897年获释后，王尔德以化名居住法国并出版了《瑞丁监狱之歌》。1900年11月30日，王尔德因病在巴黎的阿尔萨斯旅馆去世，享年46岁，死时只有罗比与另一朋友陪伴。他在巴黎的墓地，按照诗集《斯芬克斯》中的意象，被雕刻成了一座小小的狮身人面像。
20世纪末，在遭到毁誉近一个世纪以后，英国终于给了王尔德树立雕像的荣誉。1998年11月30日，由麦姬·汉姆林雕塑的王尔德雕像在伦敦特拉法尔加广场附近的阿德莱德街揭幕。雕像的标题为“与奥斯卡·王尔德的对话”，同时刻有王尔德常被引用的语录：“我们都处在沟中，但是其中一些人在仰望着天空中的星星。”
Two woodcutters were going home through the forest．It was winter，and very cold．There was thick snow on the ground and on the branchesof the trees．The river was frozen．The snow was so deep that the wood—cutters went very slowly．They were afraid that they might lose theirway：it is very easy to lose your way in the snow．
At last they came tO the edge of the forest and they saw far down be．10w them the lights of the village in which they lived．They were SO gladthat they laughed—and then they were sad．“Why do we wish to be a—live？Life is SO hard for the poor．It would be better if we had died ofcold in the forest．’’
Just then a very strange thing happened：a very bright and beautifulstar fell out of the sky．It passed the other stars on its way and seemea tofall behind some trees quite near to them．
They ran forward．“Perhaps there will be a pot of gold where itfell！”
As the first woodcutter reached the place，he saw that there was in—deed a golden thing lying on the white snow．It was a coat made ofcloth—of—gold with silver stars on it．The other woodcutter came andthey opened the coat SO as to take the pieces of gold from it．But therewas no gold there，nor silver．There was only a little child，asleep．
One of the men said，“This is a sad ending tO our hopes！What useis a child tO us？We are poor men and have children of our own．Wemustn’t give their food to another．Let’S leave the child here．’’
The other man said，“That would be a very bad thing to do．Wecan’t leave the child here to die in the cold．I’m as poor as you are，andI have many mouths to feed and not much food for them：but I’11 take thechild home with me and my wife will take care of it．’’
SO he took up the child and put the coat round it to keep out the coldand went down the hill to his village．
When they came to the village，his friend said，“You have the child，give me the coat．”But the other man answered，“The coat isn’t mine oryours；it’S the child’S coat．”
Then he went to his house．His wife opened the door and saw thather man had come back safe．She put her arins round his neck and kissedhim．She took the wood from his back．
He said，“I have found something in the forest and have brought itto you．I know you’1l take care of it．”
“What is it？”she said，“There is almost nothing in this house and we need many things．”
He opened the coat and showed her the sleeping child．
“Oh！”she said，“we have enough children of our own！Why have you brought thi s strange child tO live in our house？’’
“It’S a Star Child，”he said；and he told her how he found it．
“Our children haven’t enough bread；must we feed and take care of some other person’S child？Who takes care of us？WhO gives US bread？”
“God cares for the birds and feeds them，”he answered．
“And birds die of hunger in the winter，”she answered，“…and it is winter now．’’
A cold wind from the forest came through the open door．“Shut thedoor！”she said，“There’S a cold wind，and I’m cold．”
He said，“A cold wind always comes into a house where the heart iscold．’’
She did not answer，but went nearer to the fire．
After a time she turned round and looked at him，and her eyes werefull of tears．He came and put the child in her arms．She kissed it and putit in the little bed where her youngest child was lying．T
he next day，the woodcutter took the golden coat and put it away ina big box．
The Star Child was brought up with the children of the woodcutter，he sa【at the table for meals with them and played with them．Every year he became more and more beautiful．All the villagers wondered at him because of his beauty．BuStar Childs beauty was only on the outside：he and he thought only of himself and was unkind tO others．He treated the children of the woodcutter and the other children of the village badly，hesaid，“They are low and common people，but I am the child of a star．They are my servants．’’
He threw stones at the poor and those who came asking for help：“Go tO some other place tO ask for bread！We have none tO give you！”he loved beauty；he hmed and laughed at those who were weak and ugly．He loved himself．In summer he sat by the water and looked down at hisown face and laughed with joy at his own beauty．
The woodcutter and his wife often spoke to him angrily：“We didn’t treat you as you treat those who need help．Why are you SO unkind to allwho need your help？”
The Star Child did not listen to them but went back to the children．The children followed him because he could run fast and dance and makemusic．They followed wherever the Star Child led them and did all that hetold them to do．When he put out the eyes of a little rabbit，they laughed．When he threw stones at a sick man，they laughed．They became as hard—hearted as he was．
One day a poor woman came through the village．She looked like abeggar．Her clothes were old and dirty，and there was blood on her feet，which had been cut by the stones on the road．She was very tired and satdown under a tree to rest．
The Star Child saw her and said．“Look at that ugly old beggar—woman sitting under that beautiful green tree．Let’S drive her away！”