Location
Old Library
Event type
Alumni, Public, University
Date
16 October 2024
An exhibition in the Old Library
Oscar Wilde was born in 1854, the second son of a leading Dublin surgeon, William Robert Wills Wilde, and Lady Jane “Speranza” Wilde, an accomplished Irish nationalist writer. After a degree at Trinity College Dublin, in 1874 Oscar Wilde he arrived as an undergraduate at Magdalen College. By the time he graduated in 1878 he had become an Oxford icon whose quips were reported in the press; a decade later he was a world-famous writer and aesthete. In 1895, his arrest and imprisonment for gross indecency tragically destroyed a life without parallel. Wilde’s early death in 1900 cut short what might have been an equally astonishing second act.
This exhibition commemorates the 150th anniversary of Oscar Wilde’s arrival at Magdalen, exploring his four years as a student of the college, and the sensational life which followed. From his early years in Dublin, to his post-prison exile in Europe, Magdalen’s Wilde brings together original letters, drafts, first editions, images and works of art to illuminate the extraordinary life of one of Magdalen’s best-loved alumni. Magdalen’s Wilde is curated by Dr Sophie Duncan, Research Fellow, and Ms Anne Chesher, College Librarian.
16 October 2024 to 16 April 2025.
Please note that the exhibition is free, but that Magdalen College charges an entrance fee to some visitors. Click here for details of admission and access to Magdalen College.
Access: The Old Library is accessed via a steep flight of stairs. There is disabled access via a lift, but please contact us in advance so that we can arrange this for you. Many thanks.
