Known for his biting wit and love of dressing flamboyantly, Oscar Wilde was a noted playwright in his time, penning a series of social satires, including The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband and A Woman of No Importance. Imprisoned because of his sexual advances toward the Marquis of Queensbury, he wrote De Profundis, which was a thinly veiled address to his accuser. The trial and prison term ruined him. He spent much of the rest of his life living in cheap hotels or staying with friends throughout Europe and died penniless in 1900. His only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gr…