De Profundis
Oscar Wilde
Contains spoilers for the entire book.
Discussion topics
Topic 01 of 08
Written from prison
How does knowing Wilde wrote this letter in Reading Gaol, and that this edition is a shortened version, shape your reading?
Keep the conversation going
- What voice did you hear in it: penitent, proud or both?
- Why do you think the editor cut so much of the letter for this first publication?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.
Discussion topics
How does knowing Wilde wrote this letter in Reading Gaol, and that this edition is a shortened version, shape your reading?
Keep the conversation going
- What voice did you hear in it: penitent, proud or both?
- Why do you think the editor cut so much of the letter for this first publication?
What does Wilde mean when he says that where there is sorrow there is holy ground?
Keep the conversation going
- How has suffering changed what he values?
- Do you believe suffering can teach things nothing else can?
What does Wilde say he has found at the bottom of his ruin, and why does he call it humility?
Keep the conversation going
- Is this humility convincing, coming from Wilde?
- How does he try to accept his past rather than deny it?
How did you respond to Wilde's portrait of Christ as an individualist and an artist?
Keep the conversation going
- Why is he drawn to Christ's sympathy with sinners?
- Does his reading of the Gospels say more about Christ or about Wilde?
What does the scene of Wilde standing in prison clothes on the platform at Clapham Junction, mocked by the crowd, show about his fall?
Keep the conversation going
- Why does he say he wept for a year afterward?
- How did that moment stay with you?
How has Wilde's idea of the relation between art and life changed since his earlier work?
Keep the conversation going
- Does he regret the life of pleasure he lived?
- What does he still defend about his old self?
What does Wilde mean by realising himself, and why does he think it must come from within?
Keep the conversation going
- How does he think prison has helped or hindered that?
- Is this a book about despair or about hope?
What does Wilde hope to do when he is released, and how does he imagine the world receiving him?
Keep the conversation going
- How did you feel about his hopes, knowing what came after?
- What does De Profundis add to your picture of Wilde?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.