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Line 1: − + + − + + + + + − In June 1891, Wilde was introduced to Lord Alfred Douglas the 21-year-old son of the Marquess of Queensberry. Douglas was already an active homosexual and asked Wilde to help him cope with an attempt at blackmail. He and Douglas very soon became lovers, and indulged in group homosexual activity e.g. in 1893 he, Wilde and Ross all had relations with a 16-year-old schoolboy over the course of one weekend, passing him around between them. The parents were angry but afraid to prosecute. − On excursions to Italy and North Africa, both well-established locations for 19th-century pederasty, Wilde and Douglas made use of rent-boys and it is clear that many of these were very young indeed. These holidays could be described as sex-tourism. Drugs such as opium and cannabis were freely used by both to enhance their experiences. − As Wilde became a successful playwright, Douglas made use of him for money and the relationship was far from blissful, as Wilde later recalled in "De Profundis". Douglas detested his father, who thought (wrongly as it happens) that Wilde was corrupting his son, and spread rumours about their relationship. − In 1895, Douglas persuaded Wilde to bring a libel case against Queensberry, with the aim of obtaining a large amount of damages. This legal suit involved both of them denying that they were homosexuals. Wilde denied it categorically to his own lawyer and to the court under oath. − + − + − + + + + + + + + + − + + + + + − Wilde's wife Constance died in April 1898 of a combination of illnesses undoubtedly brought on by distress, humiliation, isolation and poverty as a result of Wilde's behaviour. She was aged 39. + + − + − +
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[[Image:Ngcfht.jpg|right|thumb]]
[[Image:Ngcfht.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Oscar Wilde''' (1854 – 1900) was an Anglo-[[Ireland|Irish]] poet, novelist, and writer of plays and short stories.
'''Oscar Wilde''' (1854 – 1900) was an Anglo-[[Ireland|Irish]] poet, novelist, and writer of plays and short stories. He was a [[homosexual]] and is nowadays often held up as a [gay icon]] or even a [[gay martyr]]
by those who know few of the details of his career.
==Biography==
==Biography==
His father was a surgeon and founder of a hospital in Dublin, and his mother was a writer who was active in the early movement for women's rights. Wilde studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford, receiving his BA in 1878.
Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. His father was a surgeon and founder of a hospital in Dublin, and his mother was a writer who was active in the early movement for women's rights. The family was Protestant but there is a story that his mother secretly has him re-baptized as a Catholic. Wilde studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford, receiving his BA in 1878. While at Oxford, he came very much under the influence of Walter Pater, the aesthete, who taught a creed of "art for art's sake", a reaction against the sternly moral mission of art in the prevalent Victorian view. He also came to a lesser extent under the influence of John Ruskin, the art historian and socialist. Wilde's poem "Ravenna" won the Newdigate prize.
After leaving Oxford with a double first, Wilde travelled to the USA on a lecture tour, talking about art history and aesthetics. He behaved in a flamboyant and attention-seeking way, telling a Customs official "I have nothing to declare but my genius". In the USA he met the poet [[Walt Whitman]].
On his return to London, Wilde sought to make his name as a man of letters. He became the editor of a magazine, the Lady's World, and wrote criticism, reviews and the dialogues "The Critic as an Artist" and "The Decay of Lying".
In 1884 Wilde married Constance Lloyd, a young lady with a comfortable inheritance, which enabled him to set up home in Chelsea, London, and live in style while writing. They had two sons, but in 1886, Wilde met and was seduced by the homosexual Robert Ross, at that time a university student. After this he became drawn into Ross's circle of promiscuous homosexuals and pederasts, seeking casual gratification with rent-boys in London. He wrote a veiled account of his descent into vice in the novel "The Picture of Dorian Grey".
In 1884 Wilde married Constance Lloyd, a young lady with a comfortable inheritance, which enabled him to set up home in Chelsea, London, and live in style while writing. They had two sons, but in 1886, Wilde met and was seduced by the homosexual Robert Ross, at that time a university student. After this he became drawn into Ross's circle of promiscuous homosexuals and pederasts, seeking casual gratification with rent-boys in London. He wrote a veiled account of his descent into vice in the novel "The Picture of Dorian Grey".
He lost the case as Queensberry, aided by the London police, easily found a string of 13 rent-boys willing to testify against him. Even the pageboy at the Savoy hotel was on the list.
His output at this time also included various short stories that read like a prosy pastiche of Hans Anderson. They include "The Nightingale and the Rose" and "The Birthday of the Infanta".
The Crown prosecution service then had no choice but to prosecute Wilde on criminal charges, and he was duly convicted and sentenced to 2 years in prison, a minimal sentence as he could have been liable for five years for perjury and contempt of court.
After the sentence was announced, the police waited 48 hours before arresting Wilde, as it was usual to give men convicted under this law (which was intended as a deterrent) a chance to escape to the Continent. Wilde however did not leave and in effect chose to go to jail, greatly underrating the effect hardship would have on one habituated to ease and luxury. Wilde's wife divorced him, his plays were taken off the stage and he was declared bankrupt, as he had been, under Douglas's influence, living beyond his means. After his release he went to France and for a short while tried to live with Douglas, who was still living a life of carefree promiscuity with all the boys he could obtain, but the two men soon parted.
In June 1891, Wilde was introduced to Lord Alfred Douglas, the 21-year-old son of the Marquess of Queensberry. Douglas was already an active homosexual and asked Wilde to help him cope with an attempt at blackmail. He and Douglas very soon became lovers, and indulged in group homosexual activity e.g. in 1893 he, Wilde and Ross all had relations with a 16-year-old schoolboy over the course of one weekend, passing him around between them. The parents were angry but afraid to prosecute. Wilde deceived his wife about the life he was living with his "friends".
On excursions to Italy and North Africa, both well-established locations for 19th-century pederasty, Wilde and Douglas made use of rent-boys and it is clear that many of these were very young indeed. These holidays could be described as sex-tourism. Drugs such as opium and cannabis were freely used by both to enhance their experiences. They met André Gide the French [[homosexual]] writer who was there for the same purpose.
As Wilde became a successful playwright, Douglas made use of him for money and the relationship was far from blissful, as Wilde later recalled in "De Profundis". Douglas detested his father, who thought (wrongly as it happens) that Wilde was corrupting his son, and spread rumors about their relationship.
In 1895, Douglas persuaded Wilde to bring a libel case against Queensberry, with the aim of obtaining a large amount of damages. This legal suit involved both of them denying that they were homosexuals. Wilde denied it categorically to his own lawyer and to the court under oath, committing [[perjury]].
Wilde lost the case, as Queensberry, aided by the London police, easily found a string of 13 rent-boys willing to testify against him. Even the pageboy at the Savoy hotel was on the list.
The Crown Prosecution Service then had no choice but to prosecute Wilde on criminal charges, and he was duly convicted and sentenced to 2 years in prison, a minimal sentence as he could have been liable for five years for perjury and contempt of court.
After the sentence was announced, the police waited 48 hours before arresting Wilde, as it was usual to give men convicted under this law (which was intended as a deterrent) a chance to escape to the Continent. Wilde however did not leave and in effect chose to go to jail, greatly underrating the effect hardship would have on one habituated to ease and luxury. Wilde's wife, distraught and devastated, divorced him, his plays were taken off the stage and he was declared bankrupt, as he had been, under Douglas's influence, living beyond his means. After his release he went to France and for a short while tried to live with Douglas, who was still living a life of carefree promiscuity with all the boys he could obtain, but the two men soon parted.
Before Wilde's death in Paris in 1900 he wrote ''The Ballad of Reading Gaol'' and ''De Profundis''.
Before Wilde's death in Paris in 1900 he wrote ''The Ballad of Reading Gaol'' and ''De Profundis''.
On his deathbed Wilde, who had been born Protestant, converted to Roman Catholicism, at the behest of Robert Ross.
On his deathbed Wilde, took the last rites according to Roman Catholic ritual, at the behest of Robert Ross.
Wilde's wife Constance died in April 1898 of a combination of illnesses undoubtedly brought on by distress, humiliation, isolation and poverty as a result of Wilde's behavior. She was aged 39.
Wilde was a friend of Frank Harris, who helped him with immense generosity when he had messed up his own life; George Bernard Shaw, who described him as a "a snob to the core" and an admirer of the great French actress Sarah Bernhardt.
<ref>Richard Ellman, Oscar Wilde.(Random House, 1989).
<ref>Richard Ellman, Oscar Wilde.(Random House, 1989).
Neil McKenna. The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Random House, 2011.
Neil McKenna. The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Random House, 2011.
Julie Anne Taddeo, Lytton Strachey and the Search for Modern Sexual Identity: The Last Eminent Victorian (Routledge, 2002).
Julie Anne Taddeo, Lytton Strachey and the Search for Modern Sexual Identity: The Last Eminent Victorian (Routledge, 2002).
Complete Works of Oscar Wilde.</ref>
Complete Works of Oscar Wilde.</ref>
==Wilde's sexuality==
==Wilde's sexuality==
Although Wilde had relations with women in his youth, he became decidedly [[homosexual]] after his encounter with Robert Ross, and was also a [[pederast]]. Wilde himself believed that he belonged to a culture of "[[male love]]" inspired by the [[Greek pederastic tradition]], through his association with the Uranians. This claim does not really accord with the unsavoury nature of Wilde's activities.
Although Wilde had relations with women in his youth, he became decidedly [[homosexual]] after his encounter with Robert Ross, and was also a [[pederast]]. Wilde himself believed that he belonged to a culture of "[male love]]" inspired by the [[Greek pederastic tradition]], through his association with the Uranians. This claim does not really accord with the unsavory nature of Wilde's activities.
Friends such as Aubrey Beardsley and Max Beerbohm record Wilde sitting in the Café Royale in London chatting over dinner about having had relations with five boys in one night, and engaging in analingus.
Friends such as Aubrey Beardsley and Max Beerbohm record Wilde sitting in the Café Royale in London chatting over dinner about having had relations with five boys in one night, and engaging in analingus.
One of his witticisms recorded from this period is "Little boys should be obscene and not heard."
One of his witticisms recorded from this period is "Little boys should be obscene and not heard."
His pronounced pederastic tastes are confirmed by many letters and poems, addressed to youths and choir-boys in erotic terms.
His pronounced pederastic tastes are confirmed by many letters and poems, addressed to youths and choir-boys in erotic terms.
The 1995 film about Oscar Wilde, starring Stephen Fry*, omitted any reference to his taste for boys, in order to give the false impression that he was a victim and a martyr.
The 1995 film about Oscar Wilde, starring Stephen Fry, omitted any reference to his taste for boys, in order to give the false impression that he was a victim and a martyr.
<ref> Richard Ellman, Oscar Wilde.(Random House, 1989).</ref>
<ref> Richard Ellman, Oscar Wilde.(Random House, 1989).</ref>
<ref>Neil McKenna. The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Random House, 2011 </ref>
<ref>Neil McKenna. The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Random House, 2011 </ref>