Homosexuality in Oscar Wilde's work"I half-turned and saw Dorian Gray for the first time. I knew I had come face to face with someone whose simple personality was so charming that, if I let it, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art” (7). sign of progress. It was an attempt to clean up society and establish a moral standard. The Victorian era was a time of relative peace and economic stability (Marshall 783). interfered with their idea of ​​perfection. Therefore, this quote, taken from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, full of homosexual overtones, was considered inappropriate. Due to the standards of the time, Oscar Wilde was forced to hide behind a thin layer of inference and parallelism. Wilde was obsessed with the perfect image. Although he dressed more flamboyantly than contemporary clothing, it was to create an image of himself. Wilde was terrified of revealing his homosexuality because he knew he would be alienated and ostracized by society. Through his works, Oscar Wilde implicitly reflected his homosexual lifestyle because he feared the repercussions of the conservative Victorian era in which he lived. Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 and led a normal childhood. After high school, Wilde attended Oxford College and earned a bachelor's degree in 1878. During this time he wrote Vera and The Importance of Being Earnest. Furthermore, “for two years Wilde had been dressing in extravagant clothes, courting famous people, and building his public image” (Stayley 317). In this way Wilde gained a job with Rich... middle of paper... me, to make no secret of his fall, and to regard him as a star who, looking at his own reflection in some damp swamp place, fell and dirtied, and then died out before it had time to soar again" (Graham qtd. Tucker). Work cited Wilde, Oscar. The Portable Oscar Wilde. Aldington, Richard, ed. New York: Penguin Books, 1977. "The Making of Wilde." (Online) (Internet) Samuelson Entertainment 6/16/99 Available: http://www.oscarwilde.comKilvert, Ian Scott, ed. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner, 1982. Marshall, Kristine E., ed. Michigan: Book Tower, 1985. Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray New York: The Modern Library, 1992.