The tower of ivory is assailed by the foul thing,” Wilde wrote. ” Affronted and embarrassed, Wilde wrote to Douglas, saying he believed there was nothing left to do but criminally prosecute Queensberry for libel. Written on the card was, “For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite. Queensberry left a card with the porter of the club, asking that it be handed to Wilde. Thwarted, he then visited London’s Albemarle Club, of which Wilde and his wife, Constance, were members. Douglas ignored his father’s growing condemnation of Wilde, incensing Queensberry and fueling his hostility toward his son’s alleged lover.įirst, Queensberry attempted to disrupt the debut of The Importance of Being Earnest, where he planned to present the playwright with a bouquet of rotten vegetables and inform theatergoers of Wilde’s alleged scandalous lifestyle. “Your intimacy with this man Wilde must either cease or I will disown you and stop all money supplies,” Queensberry wrote to his son in April of 1894. (The Victorian era was especially known for its culture of sexual repression, and carnal activity between men was a criminal offense in the United Kingdom until the late 1960s.) Queensberry (John Sholto Douglas) was a Scottish nobleman best known for promoting rules for amateur boxing, the “Queensberry Rules.” By early 1894, Queensberry was certain the flamboyant Wilde was a homosexual and demanded his son cut off contact with the writer. It was Douglas’ father’s reaction to the whole affair that prompted the fateful court proceedings. Reportedly a dissolute, extravagant dandy, he was practically inseparable from Wilde until the latter’s arrest four years later. Douglas, the third son of the Marquess of Queensberry, was 16 years Wilde’s junior. It was an affair of the heart that would span years and continents, and would ultimately lead to Wilde’s very public downfall. Wilde (1854-1900) met Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas in the summer of 1891 and the two soon became lovers. His lover's father was disgusted by the liaison Three years following his release from prison, he would die, impoverished, in France. Convicted of gross indecency, he was sentenced to two years of hard labor in jail. In early 1895, the husband and father of two was at the height of his fame and success his play, Earnest, had debuted to great acclaim in February that year, making him the toast of London.īy the end of May, Wilde’s life would be turned upside down. Wilde, an Anglo-Irish playwright and bon vivant, was known for his acerbic wit and celebrated works, including Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest. With their heady brew of famous names, dirty secrets and Victorian moral outrage, it’s no wonder the court trials involving renowned playwright Oscar Wilde enthralled the general public during the final decade of the 19th century.
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