For someone of Wilde’s talents, the lack of reading material may have come as a greater hardship. While being forced to wait in the rain on once such occasion, he is said to have remarked: “If this is the way Queen Victoria treats her prisoners, she doesn’t deserve to have any.” While incarcerated, he had to walk for hours on a treadmill and pick oakum – an arduous task that involved untwisting old strands of rope. When being transferred between prisons, he was recognised and had abuse hurled at him. Wilde was imprisoned, initially at Pentonville, before being moved to Wandsworth and finally Reading Gaol. The damage to Wilde’s reputation, at least in his own lifetime, was irreparable. The judge described his punishment as “totally inadequate” given the seriousness of his “crime”.
‘Gross indecency’ was used to prosecute homosexual acts when sodomy could not be conclusively proven. On 25 May he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour – the maximum sentence that could be given.
Onlookers shouted “shame” at him while he was taken down. Following a retrial with a less lenient judge, Wilde was found guilty.
In April 1895, a first trial for ‘gross indecency’ saw the jury unable to come to a verdict. Douglas fled to Europe, but Wilde stayed in Britain. Queensberry won the case, which ultimately bankrupted Wilde because he became liable for Queensberry’s expenses. The judge described Wilde’s punishment as ‘totally inadequate’ given the seriousness of his ‘crime’ Queensberry’s lawyers painted Wilde as a predator and said they could produce several male prostitutes who would testify that Wilde had paid them for sex. Wilde assured his lawyer that the allegations of homosexuality against him were untrue, and Douglas, who had a difficult relationship with his father, was confident Wilde would win. Leaving aside the prevailing attitudes of the era, homosexual acts between men in public or private were illegal, and until 1861, could have been punishable by death.Īcting against the advice of his friends who believed a court case would ruin him, Wilde brought a libel lawsuit against Queensberry. ” Queensberry was publicly accusing Wilde of homosexuality –a serious charge. In order to provoke Wilde, he left his calling card, which said: “For Oscar Wilde, posing as a somdomite. In 1895, Queensberry visited Wilde’s favourite London club, the Albemarle.
Douglas was the son of a Scottish peer, the Marquess of Queensberry, who strongly disapproved both of Bosie’s lifestyle and of his relationship with Wilde. Unlike Wilde, who managed to keep his homosexuality mostly hidden – except for themes within his work – Douglas was far less discreet and frittered away large amounts of money on young men. In 1891, he became a friend and lover of Lord Alfred Douglas, a young man 16 years his junior and known as ‘Bosie’. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)Īnother affair had far more lasting consequences for Wilde. A portrait of Robert Ross, who became a lifelong friend of Oscar Wilde following a brief affair.