De Profundis
Oscar Wilde
De Profundis
ClassicsNonfictionBiography & MemoirLetters & DiariesEssays
1h 50m listening
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"De Profundis" by Oscar Wilde is a letter written between January and March 1897 during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol. Addressed to his former lover Lord Alfred Douglas, the letter reflects on their tumultuous relationship and the extravagance that led to Wilde's conviction for gross indecency. In its pages, Wilde examines both Douglas's vanity and his own failings, then charts his spiritual transformation in prison and profound identification with Christ as a romantic artist. Written under strict supervision, the complete text wasn't published until decades after Wilde's death.
Contains spoilers for the entire book
- Themes
- Atmosphere
About the book
De Profundis is the long letter Oscar Wilde wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas between January and March 1897, in the final months of his sentence of two years’ hard labour in Reading Gaol. He was not permitted to send it, and the manuscript was handed to him on his release; his friend Robert Ross published a shortened version in 1905, after Wilde’s death, leaving out most of what concerned Douglas. The letter moves from bitter reckoning with the friendship that led to his ruin towards a meditation on suffering, humility and what Wilde could still make of his life. In some of its most remembered pages he writes about Christ as the supreme individualist and artist. It is at once a confession, an accusation and an attempt at self-understanding written in the worst circumstances of his life.
Characters
Oscar Wilde — Author and letter-writer
Writing from prison, Wilde examines his suffering, artistic life, and responsibility for his choices.
Lord Alfred Douglas — Addressee
The poet known as Bosie, to whom Wilde originally addressed the prison letter excerpted in this edition.
Wilde's friend — Supporter
An unnamed friend whose public gesture of respect gives Wilde comfort during his disgrace.
About the author
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet and critic, and the most quoted wit of his century. His comedies made fun of the respectable London society that filled their theatres, and his one novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was attacked as immoral on publication and then used against him in court. In 1895, at the height of his success with The Importance of Being Earnest, he was convicted of "gross indecency" and sentenced to two years' hard labour; the imprisonment produced De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol and ruined his health. He died in Paris three years after his release, aged forty-six.