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Oscar Wilde... His Father's Son
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Oscar Wilde was not a stupid man. He was highly educated, and, as a playwright, was considered brilliant. So here was something that always bothered me about that notorious trial for gross indecency:
His friends and attorney advised him to flee the country. If he stayed in England he was unquestionably going to be found guilty and sentenced to prison... most likely to hard labor. His own flippant testimony in the earlier libel case, as well as the testimony of several of the "rent boys" whose sexual services he had purchased, were going to seal the deal. The magistrate, somewhat sympathetic to his situation, made a point of delaying issuing the warrant for his arrest until 5PM, specifically to allow Wilde to catch what they called the "train boat" to France. His wife urged him to go. His friends, seeing which way the wind was blowing, all departed for the Continent.
His friends and attorney advised him to flee the country. If he stayed in England he was unquestionably going to be found guilty and sentenced to prison... most likely to hard labor. His own flippant testimony in the earlier libel case, as well as the testimony of several of the "rent boys" whose sexual services he had purchased, were going to seal the deal. The magistrate, somewhat sympathetic to his situation, made a point of delaying issuing the warrant for his arrest until 5PM, specifically to allow Wilde to catch what they called the "train boat" to France. His wife urged him to go. His friends, seeing which way the wind was blowing, all departed for the Continent.
But Wilde didn't go. He waited for them to come and arrest him.
Why? Later he would say that he could not face the status of being haunted and hunted... and that he actually believed that he could be acquitted.
Insane denial? Magical thinking? Or was there something in his past that encouraged him in his belief about immunity?
Reading about Wilde's father, I thought I might have a found a key to solving the mystery. His father, William R. Wilde, was a celebrated Irish eye and ear surgeon, who was eventually knighted. The scandals surrounding his life appeared not to have disturbed his reputation. He had three children out-of-wedlock before marrying Oscar's mother.
Then, in 1864, Mary Travers, daughter of a Trinity professor, accused him of having drugged her with chloroform and raping her. Sir William did not appear in court, and the jury took this as an admission of guilt, but the sentence they handed down was an insult to plaintiff. They awarded her one farthing in damages... apparently the valuation in their eyes of her physical integrity. His refusal to testify was considered shameful, and it is interesting to note that the sole voice urging Oscar not to take the train boat was that of his mother. (In fairness, she did ask him if he was innocent, and he insisted that he was. Her response was that he must stay. Oscar had also been unequivocal about disavowing his homosexuality when he retained the services of his attorney... severely compromising the reputation of a man who had been a friend as well as a colleague.)
Why? Later he would say that he could not face the status of being haunted and hunted... and that he actually believed that he could be acquitted.
Insane denial? Magical thinking? Or was there something in his past that encouraged him in his belief about immunity?
Reading about Wilde's father, I thought I might have a found a key to solving the mystery. His father, William R. Wilde, was a celebrated Irish eye and ear surgeon, who was eventually knighted. The scandals surrounding his life appeared not to have disturbed his reputation. He had three children out-of-wedlock before marrying Oscar's mother.
Then, in 1864, Mary Travers, daughter of a Trinity professor, accused him of having drugged her with chloroform and raping her. Sir William did not appear in court, and the jury took this as an admission of guilt, but the sentence they handed down was an insult to plaintiff. They awarded her one farthing in damages... apparently the valuation in their eyes of her physical integrity. His refusal to testify was considered shameful, and it is interesting to note that the sole voice urging Oscar not to take the train boat was that of his mother. (In fairness, she did ask him if he was innocent, and he insisted that he was. Her response was that he must stay. Oscar had also been unequivocal about disavowing his homosexuality when he retained the services of his attorney... severely compromising the reputation of a man who had been a friend as well as a colleague.)
But getting back to Sir William Wilde... He had been involved in medical controversies around the interpretation of child rape, especially the rape of little girls. He maintained that the real danger was that of innocent persons being falsely charged with perpetration. His position was that the epidemic of "infantile leucorrhoea" (inflammation and infection of the genitals, somtimes leading to death) was no more than an issue of poor hygiene on the part of the little girls.
Most infamously, he offered an appeal in the case of Amos Greenwood, who had been found guilty of manslaughter in the case of a nine-year-old girl that he had raped and who had died from syphilis. Neither the defendant nor the defendant's friends argued for his innocence, but Sir Wilde attempted, unsuccessfully, to recruit twelve of his colleagues in maintaining that the girl had died of poor hygiene.
Later, when his coachman was accused of raping and infecting two girls, Wilde came to his defense, and, late in the proceedings, his wife, Lady Wilde came up with an alibi for the coachman. The coachman admitted to his habit of inviting little girls up into the hay loft of his barn to look at kittens... Later, Sir Wilde also came to the defense of a businessman and a railway clerk accused of raping girls.
Most infamously, he offered an appeal in the case of Amos Greenwood, who had been found guilty of manslaughter in the case of a nine-year-old girl that he had raped and who had died from syphilis. Neither the defendant nor the defendant's friends argued for his innocence, but Sir Wilde attempted, unsuccessfully, to recruit twelve of his colleagues in maintaining that the girl had died of poor hygiene.
Later, when his coachman was accused of raping and infecting two girls, Wilde came to his defense, and, late in the proceedings, his wife, Lady Wilde came up with an alibi for the coachman. The coachman admitted to his habit of inviting little girls up into the hay loft of his barn to look at kittens... Later, Sir Wilde also came to the defense of a businessman and a railway clerk accused of raping girls.
This was the father of Oscar Wilde. These were the causes and scandals that informed his childhood. What would be the lessons? That a man can be promiscuous and a sexual predator, and still become a knight of the realm. That, even found guilty of drugging and raping a colleague's daughter, the penalty will be a farthing. That children are not sexually abused, but that their genital infections are their own fault and the true victims are the innocent folks scapegoated by them and by their parents.
In "De Profundis," a lengthy and self-serving letter that Wilde wrote from prison, he described the prostituted children he and his lover would acquire:
"People thought it dreadful of me to have entertained at dinner the evil things of life, and to have found pleasure in their company. But then, from the point of view through which I, as an artist in life, approach them they were delightfully suggestive and stimulating. It was like feasting with panthers ; the danger was half the excitement. I used to feel as a snake- charmer must feel when he lures the cobra to stir from the painted cloth or reed basket that holds it and makes it spread its hood at his bidding and sway to and fro in the air as a plant sways restfully in a stream. They were to me the brightest of gilded snakes, their poison was part of their perfection."
"Evil things of life?" Not even human. Panthers or cobras. And, he, Wilde, is their victim.
In light of Sir William's denial about sexually transmitted diseases, it is interesting to note that his son had not had sexual relations with his wife for several years. The reason he had given was that his syphilis, which he had contracted from a prostitute during his student years and had believed to be cured, was, in fact, still virulent. There is no evidence that Oscar ever shared this information with any of the boys with whom he had sexual relations.
We can never know why Wilde did not take the train boat to France when he had the chance, but it does not seem unreasonable that his choices may have been influenced by the values of Sir William Wilde.
In a personal footnote, as an activist against child sexual abuse and as an advocate of victims of pedophilia and incest, I am always disturbed when Wilde is put forward as an LGBT icon. He was no "out and proud" activist. He repudiated his homosexuality in the courtroom, as well as in "De Profundis," where he referred to it as a form of "erotomania," and one of the "most disgusting passions." He was not sentenced to prison for an egalitarian, intimate partnership with Lord Alfred. It was his sexual predation toward underaged boys that indicted him. He never took responsibility for his actions, and upon his release from prison he resumed his sexual predation, traveling with Lord Alfred to Algiers for the express purpose of buying boys on the cheap... boys who could never be called upon in British court to testify against him.
In "De Profundis," a lengthy and self-serving letter that Wilde wrote from prison, he described the prostituted children he and his lover would acquire:
"People thought it dreadful of me to have entertained at dinner the evil things of life, and to have found pleasure in their company. But then, from the point of view through which I, as an artist in life, approach them they were delightfully suggestive and stimulating. It was like feasting with panthers ; the danger was half the excitement. I used to feel as a snake- charmer must feel when he lures the cobra to stir from the painted cloth or reed basket that holds it and makes it spread its hood at his bidding and sway to and fro in the air as a plant sways restfully in a stream. They were to me the brightest of gilded snakes, their poison was part of their perfection."
"Evil things of life?" Not even human. Panthers or cobras. And, he, Wilde, is their victim.
In light of Sir William's denial about sexually transmitted diseases, it is interesting to note that his son had not had sexual relations with his wife for several years. The reason he had given was that his syphilis, which he had contracted from a prostitute during his student years and had believed to be cured, was, in fact, still virulent. There is no evidence that Oscar ever shared this information with any of the boys with whom he had sexual relations.
We can never know why Wilde did not take the train boat to France when he had the chance, but it does not seem unreasonable that his choices may have been influenced by the values of Sir William Wilde.
In a personal footnote, as an activist against child sexual abuse and as an advocate of victims of pedophilia and incest, I am always disturbed when Wilde is put forward as an LGBT icon. He was no "out and proud" activist. He repudiated his homosexuality in the courtroom, as well as in "De Profundis," where he referred to it as a form of "erotomania," and one of the "most disgusting passions." He was not sentenced to prison for an egalitarian, intimate partnership with Lord Alfred. It was his sexual predation toward underaged boys that indicted him. He never took responsibility for his actions, and upon his release from prison he resumed his sexual predation, traveling with Lord Alfred to Algiers for the express purpose of buying boys on the cheap... boys who could never be called upon in British court to testify against him.
and here is a brief excerpt:
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/site-index/site-index-frame.html#soulhttp://www.thelizlibrary.org/therapeutic-jurisprudence/incest-in-America.html
I've always thought the bitter comment by one of Wilde's supporters that '.. the prostitutes danced in the streets' when he was convicted was oddly double standarded. Clearly what is being objected to cannot be prostitutes per se, as Wilde and Douglas hired many young men for sex. It's female prostitutes!
Are you disagreeing with this movement or???
Some accuse Cather of being homophobic in her writings about Wilde, but she was quite fond of Truman Capote and Stephen Tenant. Oscar Wilde seems to have offended all her sensibilities, from the get-go.
Furthermore, while some (e.g. his biographer Richard Ellman) believe he suffered from syphilis, this has never been substantiated by evidence. His medical report, when being treated for the meningitis which finally killed him, does not mention syphilis. This is despite it being a relatively common illness at the time, which would not have gone unnoticed.
Wilde was not perfect, and many of his actions would be looked on with a less favourable light in the 21st century. Yet it seems absurd to me to apply the moral standards of today onto the past, as you seem to do in this article. Using Wilde's case to further your own agenda - albeit a noble one - is disingenuous and an affront to credible history.
On the subject of the syphilis, it's entirely possible that he lied about his condition to excuse himself from sleeping with his wife. Claiming syphilis would have been far less shaming than the truth that he was homosexual, and far less hurtful to his wife than any other excuse. I was referring before to the numerous medical reports made during his incarceration, which documented all medical complaints. These make no mention of syphilis, although prison doctors would surely have known the symptoms. Comparing syphilis with the AIDS epidemic is an entirely false analogy - syphilis was not a taboo subject amongst the medical community. It is unreasonable to think that his doctors would show such sensitivity to a man they saw as a criminal and a degenerate.
You're correct in saying there were those who campaigned against child prostitution in the 19th century - they succeeded in raising the age of consent to sixteen, as it remains today. On this note, there is nothing to indicate that Wilde ever had sex with persons under the age of consent. The male prostitutes whom he refers to in 'De Profundis', who appeared as witnesses to his prosecution, were both aged twenty-one. His first affair with Robert Ross occurred when the latter was seventeen, over the age of consent. You keep referring to 'under-age boys'; who, specifically, were they?
Yes, there are child abuse apologists who regard childhood as a meaningless social construct. I fail to see how this has any bearing on his case. Direct me to the evidence that Wilde was a paedophile and I will accept it. Until then, I can't help but see this as a rather offensive act of defamation. Read Wilde's speech when questioned on 'the love that dare not speak its name', and then try to say he does not deserve his status as an LGBT icon.