The Picture of Dorian Gray was Oscar Wilde's first and only novel. It was written in 1890, when Wilde was thirty-five. He died in Paris on November 30, 1900. Though he wrote only one novel, he composed other literary works and became a dramatist soon after The Picture of Dorian Gray was published. His plays include Lady Windemere's Fan, The Importance of Being Earnest, and A Woman of No Importance.
He was born "Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde". The extra names were taken from Irish folklore and given to him by his mother, Jane Francesca Elgee who was an Irish patriot. His father, Sir William Wilde, died when he was twelve.
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