作者介紹 奧斯卡．王爾德 1854年生於都柏林，父親是一位出色的外科醫師，母親是一位詩人和作家。他在都柏林攻讀古典文學之後，轉往就讀於牛津大學的莫德林學院，期間曾獲得一個詩的獎項，開始擁有許多的詩迷。1881年，他出版了第一本著作《詩集》（Poems）。1884年，他和康絲坦絲．勞德結婚。他為兒子們寫了出色的童話故事，後來出版為《快樂王子》（The Happy Prince and Other Tales），大受歡迎。 王德爾在當了兩年的報社編輯之後，重返文壇，才華也更受肯定了。1890年，他出版了小說《道林．格雷的畫像》（The Picture of Dorian Gray），因為故事主人翁有失道德倫理，所以在維多利亞的社會裡掀起波瀾。 一年之後，他又出版了《亞瑟．沙維爵士的罪行》（Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories），這本書的故事《老鬼當家》即收錄其中。隨後的劇本《溫夫人的扇子》（Lady Windermere’s Fan，1892年）、《無足輕重的女人》（A Woman of No Importance，1893年）、《理想的丈夫》（An Ideal Husband，1895年）和《不可兒戲》（The Importance of Being Earnest，1895年），讓他獲得名氣。劇中諷刺了維多利亞時代的道德和社會禁忌，揭露虛偽的一面，展露了幽默機智的筆鋒。 然而在1895年，王爾德密友──阿弗烈德．道格拉斯──他的父親昆斯貝理侯爵，公開控告王爾德誘拐他的兒子，王爾德反告他毀謗，但侯爵最後勝訴，王爾德因而鎯鐺入獄兩年。在服刑期間，王爾德寫了《深淵書簡》（De Profundis），這本書在他去世之後才出版，另外寫了一本《瑞丁監獄之歌》（The Ballad of Reading Gaol，1898年），描繪不堪的牢獄生活。他出獄之後破產，身心俱病，之後旅居國外。1900年，卒於巴黎。 Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854, the son of an eminent surgeon and a poet-cum-literary hostess. After reading classics at Dublin, Wilde went to Magdelen College, Oxford, where he won a poetry prize and gathered a wide circle of admirers. His first book, Poems, was published in 1881. In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd and he wrote the charming fairy tales that became the highly successful The Happy Prince and Other Tales for their sons. Then, after two years of working as a journal editor, Wilde returned to the literary circles in which his sparkling wit was better appreciated. His novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was published in 1890 but the low morals of its protagonist shocked the Victorian public. A year later, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories was published; it contained ‘The Canterville Ghost’. Wilde became famous with his plays Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). They lampooned the morals and taboos of Victorian society, and exposed its hypocrisies, with a highly successful blend of humor and sharp wit. However, in 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry, father of Wilde’s close friend, Lord Alfred Douglas, publicly accused Wilde of seducing his son. Wilde sued Queensberry for libel, but Queensberry won and Wilde was sentenced to two years in prison. Whilst in prison, he wrote De Profundis, published posthumously, and The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898) portraying the horrors of prison. After his release, he became bankrupt and he fell ill, both physically and mentally. He moved abroad and died in Paris in 1900. 作者相關著作：《老鬼當家(25K彩圖經典文學改寫+1MP3)》、《慾海有情天(限)》 譯者介紹 張家綺 畢業於中興大學外國語文學系，英國新堡大學筆譯研究所，現任專職譯者，譯作十餘。