Gay oscar wilde

His novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, first published in 1890, was considered immoral (although a number of passages, including several references to homosexuality, were removed before publication) and was banned by W H Smith. When someone says they admire Oscar Wilde yet knowingly choose edited versions of his work, they are lying.

To simply look like a sodomite, in a society that had rigid ideas about gender, was a risky situation to be in. Box Wildeiana 13, Folder 15. 

Examples of Caricatures (Series 2.2, 1874–1946): 

• Beard, William Holbrook (1824–1900). In 1885, the Labouchere Amendment, which introduced the vaguely worded crime ‘acts of gross indecency’, meant that two men could be taken to court for simply exchanging a few love letters, with no witnesses needed.

  Having studied Classics at Oxford, he saw his sexuality in the tradition of pederasty, a practice dating back to ancient Greece and Rome where an older man would play sexual guide and intellectual mentor to a younger boy. When interviewed, one of the directors, Michael Morris, noted that, in some countries, being gay is still illegal: ‘We want people to be mindful of that oppression and persecution.’

  This is certainly a good reason to remember the horrors of Wilde’s fate.

  

  But many marriages fail, often for complex and numerous reasons, and while Wilde’s attraction to his wife did fade, this is not particularly unusual or shocking. (n.d.). Box Wildeiana 1, Folder 3. 

Examples of Theatrical Productions (Series 3.1, 1883–1998):

• Theatrical production of Wilde’s A Florentine Tragedy.

  It was one of the first ‘celebrity’ trials of the century. Oscar Wilde was not a pedophile, and in this quote, it can be argued both ways, one saying he was condoning pedophilia one saying he was not. So while our modern society may have frowned upon the age gaps that did exist, they were socially sanctioned at the time.

  This is all to say that it is fine to be upset by the age gaps that did exist.

  In E M Forster’s novel Maurice, written in1913, the titular character sees himself as ‘an unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde sort’. Box ms Wilde 4, Folder 15. 

• Douglas, Alfred to William Andrews Clark, Jr. 1930–1934. Nothing but the repeal of the Criminal Law Amendment Act would do any good.’ In fact, if Wilde is to be celebrated as a defender of gay rights, then this, I believe, is his greatest moment of bravery: after fleeing to France, he soon reunited with Lord Alfred and they lived in Naples together.

  Box Wildeiana 4, Folder 14 & 15. 

• Theatrical production of Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost. During the AIDs crisis, bis were frequently scapegoated, depicted as the bridgeway between two sexual populations, passing the disease from gay to heterosexual and back again.

  Because bisexuality has been mischaracterised as a sort of ‘no man’s land’, where it has always been harder to fight a cause, Wilde’s sexuality was inevitably simplified.

  Meanwhile, his name had been stripped from theatre playbills, his family home ransacked due to the debts he owed.

  “It is that deep spiritual affection that is as pure as it is perfect.