Oscar Wilde: A Life in Letters

Oscar Wilde

A Life In Letters

Selected and edited by

Merlin Holland

To the memory of Rupert Hart-Davis, with love and gratitude.

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Introduction

Chronological Table

The Student

Charming London

Discovering America

The Conformist Rebel

Against the Grain

The Prisoner

A Sort of Freedom

The Second Time Around

The Final Years

Epilogue

Index of Recipients

General Index

Copyright

About the Publisher

Introduction

The enduring fascination of Oscar Wilde more than a century after his death remains a literary phenomenon. His creative output, by comparison with many other nineteenth century writers, was relatively small, yet it was spread over poetry and prose poems, literary and artistic criticism, essays, lectures, short stories and fairy tales, historical melodramas, society comedies and a single novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, for which he has become known across the world. Both his critics and his admirers have been legion, some insisting that he was merely a passing socio-cultural phenomenon and the author of lightweight popular works, and others viewing him as a modern thinker, bridging two centuries, an astute critic and commentator, a writer at odds with the stuffiness of his age, whose ‘over-the-topness in knocking the bottom out of things’ in Seamus Heaney’s words, amused but finally enraged his tight-laced Victorian contemporaries.

Whether he has a deserved place in the canon of great authors or is merely a first-rate funny-man struggling to rise beyond the second division of literary excellence, one thing is certain: he remains one of the most accessible and appealing writers of all time. Paradoxically, though, for all the thousands of studies published on Wilde, there are aspects of his life which are still enigmatic, unexplained even. The duality in his character with its inherent contradictions, intrigues and confuses: the Anglo-Irishman with Nationalist sympathies; the Protestant with life-long Catholic leanings; the married homosexual. And Oscar himself did nothing to help matters by deliberately donning masks to mislead. In 1885 he cautioned the painter James Whistler against revealing too much of himself and his art in his lectures. ‘Be warned in time, James, and remain, as I do, incomprehensible; to be great is to be misunderstood,’ he remarked, and spent the rest of his life ensuring that he was.

He left no intimate diary, wrote no memoirs and the Boswell who might have given us a memorable life, Robert Ross, felt that the task of rehabilitating his friend posthumously was best done as an astute literary executor; not that we could have relied much on the accuracy of any sort of personal memoir from the man who referred to ‘a morbid and unhealthy faculty of truth-telling’ as being fatal to the artistic imagination.

But like anyone of a literary disposition, Oscar Wilde occasionally needed to express himself without his public mask, and his letters, particularly those written to intimate friends without thought of publication, are in effect the autobiography that he never wrote and as close as we shall come to the magic of hearing that legendary talker in person. They comment openly on his life and his work from the early years of undergraduate friendships, through the year-long lecture tour in America of a striving and ambitious young ‘Professor of Aesthetics’ as he styled himself, to the short period of fame and success in the early 1890s followed by his disgrace and imprisonment. Thereafter they include the most poignant and revealing letters of all, those which cover the five long years between his downfall and his early death in exile at 46, during which he suffered the ultimate indignity for one of his generosity – poverty and having to borrow money from friends. Even in adversity, though, his humour does not desert him and he is able to share with his readers that greatest of gifts – the ability to smile at one’s own misfortune.

The first major edition of Wilde’s letters appeared in 1962, meticulously edited by the late Rupert Hart-Davis. At the time, homosexuality in Britain was still illegal and I was an impressionable young teenager at school, so naturally the question of expurgation was discussed. Many of Wilde’s post-prison letters were quite explicit about his sexual inclinations and it led to much agonising in the family about publishing them in their entirety. My father finally took the advice of his old friend Rebecca West who persuaded him that by then suppression was pointless and, with some lingering unease, he agreed to their uncensored publication. As it turned out, his misgivings were totally unfounded and the first publication of so much autobiographical material gave an entirely new impetus to the study of Wilde and a much greater understanding of the complexities of his character. A supplement was published in 1985 and a much revised and enlarged edition, The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde, bringing the total number to 1562, was produced in 2000 to mark the centenary of his death.

All these editions, however, including a Selected Letters in 1976, relied heavily on the scholarly apparatus of copious footnotes to put the letters in context and I feel that the time has now come to make my grandfather’s correspondence accessible to a broader public with only a minimum of editorial intervention. To this end, I have made a very personal selection of the letters, some 400 in total, which seem to me to reflect the man, warts and all, whom I have come to love and respect as a relative after twenty years of immersing myself in his life and works. By interspersing the letters with the smallest amount of necessary explanation and biography, I hope that readers will be able to listen to Oscar in his own words more or less uninterrupted and I am certain that anyone unfamiliar with Wilde as a correspondent will find it packed with unexpected delights. For one thing, his letters show that the public perception of Wilde as the lightweight author of society comedies, a few memorable poems and some fairy stories must finally make room for Wilde as a hard-working professional writer, deeply interested by the issues of his day and carrying in his intellectual baggage something that we all too frequently overlook, a quite extraordinary classical, literary and philosophical education.

The editorial principles employed in transcribing the letters have been explained at length in The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde (Fourth Estate, 2000) and given the nature of the present edition, it would seem unnecessary here to do more than summarise them briefly.

Wilde’s spelling was mostly good, but he often misspelled proper names, even of places like Babbacombe, Berneval and Posillipo where he stayed for several months. These have been corrected along with other such slips throughout. His punctuation, except in his more formal letters, consisted mainly of short dashes, which he used to represent every kind of stop. They make the letters difficult to read, and normal punctuation has been used as the sense seems to demand. A case in point is the letter to Alfred Douglas in March 1893 which has been reproduced exactly as he wrote it, partly to show his emotional anguish and partly to illustrate the problems of transcription. Ellipses which occur in the text are Wilde’s own unless enclosed in square brackets.

Each address from which Wilde wrote is given in full the first time it occurs, and thereafter abbreviated to the essential minimum. No distinction has been made between printed and written addresses. In letters where he failed to indicate the place of writing it has been conjectured between square brackets, but in some instances this has not been possible, as for example when he was on tour in America, and the address has been omitted. For convenience the address is always printed on the right, and the date, in standardised form, on the left.

Wilde seldom dated his letters. Postmarks have often helped (though occasionally letters have strayed into wrong envelopes), and other dates have been deduced from internal evidence or cross-reference. All dates editorially supplied are enclosed within square brackets: doubtful ones are preceded by a query. Such editorial decisions, unless self-evident, were explained in the footnotes to The Complete Letters.

I considered carefully whether or not to include Wilde’s long letter (50,000 words) from prison to Alfred Douglas, De Profundis, and reluctantly decided against it. I realise that this may seem inconsistent with the idea of this selection, since of all his letters it is the one in which he lets us see most deeply into his innermost thoughts. However, since its first integral publication in 1962, it has been made widely available and its inclusion here would have made this volume, intended to be reader-friendly both in size as well as in content, unmanageably large. As an account, though, of his relationship with Alfred Douglas and of the debacle with the Marquess of Queensberry, as well as a reflection on his past glories and excesses, his misery in prison and at his aspirations for the future, it is an intimate and powerful document which should be read alongside this selection.

I have benefited over the years of working on Wilde’s letters from the generosity and kindness of many scholars, collectors and friends, all acknowledged at length in The Complete Letters; for reasons of space it is not possible here to reiterate my thanks in detail, but they know who they are and I hope that they will accept a general expression of my profound gratitude once more. To Rupert Hart-Davis I owe, together with my family, more than mere words can express; I have dedicated this selection to his memory with much love and respect. It was his decision fifty years ago to publish the first edition of Oscar Wilde’s letters which helped to put my grandfather back into the position which he lost in 1895 as one of the most charismatic and fascinating figures in English literary history.

Lastly my thanks to Mitzi Angel and Catherine Blyth at Fourth Estate for their old-style professionalism as true publisher’s editors, friends and advisers.

MERLIN HOLLAND

St Martin-sous-Montaigu

August, 2003

Chronological Table

1854—16 October Oscar Wilde born at 21 Westland Row, Dublin

1855—June Family moves to I Merrion Square North

1864–71—At Portora Royal School, Enniskillen

1871—Wins scholarship to Trinity College, Dublin

1873—June Wins Trinity Foundation Scholarship

1874—Wins Berkeley Gold Medal for Greek

June Wins Demyship in Classics to Magdalen College, Oxford

October Goes up to Magdalen

1875—June Travels in Italy with his old Trinity Classics Tutor, J. P. Mahaffy

1876—19 April Death of father, Sir William Wilde

5 July Gains first class in Classical Moderations (Mods)

1877 March-April Visits Greece with Mahaffy, returning via Rome

1878 10 June Wins Newdigate Poetry Prize with ‘Ravenna’

19 July Gains first class in Literae Humaniores (Greats)

28 November Takes BA degree

1879 February Takes rooms with Frank Miles at 13 Salisbury Street, London

1880 Writes and publishes Vera

August Moves with Miles to Keats House, Tite Street, Chelsea

1881 June First edition of Poems published by David Bogue

24 December Sails to New York for lecture tour of the United States

1882 Lectures in US and Canada all year

1883 February-May In Paris, at Hotel Voltaire where he writes The Duchess of Padua for the American actress Mary Anderson who then turns it down

?July Moves into rooms at 9 Charles Street, London

August-September Visits New York briefly for first production of Vera with Marie Prescott in the lead; it is not a success September Begins lecture tour of UK which lasts off and on for a year

26 November Becomes engaged to Constance Lloyd while lecturing in Dublin

1884 29 May Married to Constance Lloyd in London

May-June On honeymoon in Paris and Dieppe

1885 January Moves into 16 Tite Street, Chelsea

May ‘The Truth of Masks’ published in the Nineteenth Century

5 June Cyril Wilde born

1886 Meets Robert Ross who remains lifelong friend and after his death becomes his literary executor

3 November Vyvyan Wilde born

1887 February-March ‘The Canterville Ghost’ published in the Court & Society Review

May ‘The Sphinx without a Secret’ published in the World and ‘Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime’ in the Court & Society Review

June ‘The Model Millionaire’ published in the World

November Becomes editor of Woman’s World

1888 May The Happy Prince and Other Tales published

December ‘The Young King’ published in the Lady’s Pictorial

1889 January ‘The Decay of Lying’ published in the Nineteenth Century and ‘Pen, Pencil and Poison’ in the Fortnightly Review

March ‘The Birthday of the Infanta’ published in Paris Illustre

July Gives up editorship of Woman’s World. ‘The Portrait of Mr W. H.’ appears in Blackwood’s Magazine

1890 20 June ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ appears in Lippincott’s Magazine

July-September Both parts of ‘The Critic as Artist’ published these months in the Nineteenth Century

1891 26 January First production of The Duchess of Padua under the title Guido Ferranti. It opens anonymously in New York and runs for only three weeks

February ‘The Soul of Man under Socialism’ published in the Fortnightly Review

April The Picture of Dorian Gray published in book form with additional chapters and a preface

2 May Intentions published (comprising ‘The Truth of Masks’, ‘The Critic as Artist’, ‘Pen, Pencil & Poison’ and ‘The Decay of Lying’)

?June Meets Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie)

July Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories (the other stories being ‘The Sphinx without a Secret’, ‘The Canterville Ghost’ and ‘The Model Millionaire’) published in book form

November A House of Pomegranates published. It included ‘The Young King’, ‘The Birthday of the Infanta’, ‘The Fisherman and his Soul’ and ‘The Star Child’, the last two of which had not been published before

November-December Writes Salome in Paris

1892 20 February Lady Windermere’s Fan produced at St James’s Theatre

June A production of Salome with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role is banned by the Lord Chamberlain July Takes cure at Homburg

August-September Writes A Woman of No Importance in Norfolk

1893 22 February Salome published in French

19 April A Woman of No Importance produced at Haymarket Theatre

October Writes An Ideal Husband

November Lady Windermere’s Fan published

1894 9 February Salome published in English with Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations

May In Florence with Douglas

11 June The Sphinx published

July ‘Poems in Prose’ published in the Fortnightly Review

August-September Writes The Importance of Being Earnest at Worthing

9 October A Woman of No Importance published

October At Brighton with Douglas

November ‘A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated’ published in the Saturday Review

December ‘Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young’ published in the Chameleon

1895 3 January An Ideal Husband produced at Haymarket Theatre

January-February Visits Algiers with Douglas

14 February The Importance of Being Earnest produced at St James’s Theatre

28 February Finds Queensberry’s card at Albemarle Club

1 March Obtains warrant for Queensberry’s arrest

9 March Queensberry remanded at Bow Street for trial at Old Bailey

12–20 March Visits Monte Carlo with Douglas

3 April Queensberry trial opens

5 April Queensberry acquitted. Wilde arrested at Cadogan Hotel and charged at Bow Street. Bail refused. Imprisoned at Holloway until first trial

24 April Sheriff’s sale of all Wilde’s possessions at his home, 16 Tite Street

26 April First trial opens

1 May Jury disagree

7 May Released on bail

20 May Second trial opens

25 May Convicted and sentenced to two years’ hard labour. Imprisoned at Pentonville

30 May The Soul of Man under Socialism published in book form

4 July Transferred to Wandsworth

12 November Declared bankrupt

20 November Transferred to Reading

1896 3 February Death of his mother, Lady Wilde

11 February Salome produced in Paris at the Theatre de l’Oeuvre

1897 January-March Writes De Profundis

19 May Released. Crosses to Dieppe

26 May Moves from Dieppe to Berneval-sur-Mer July-October Writes and revises The Ballad of Reading Gaol

?28 August Meets Douglas in Rouen

15 September Leaves Dieppe for Paris

20 September Arrives at Naples with Douglas

1898 February Returns to Paris

13 February The Ballad of Reading Gaol published

End March Moves to Hotel d’Alsace, rue des Beaux-Arts, Paris

7 April Death of Constance Wilde in Genoa after spinal operation

June-July At Nogent-sur-Marne

August At Chevennieres-sur-Marne

December Invited by Frank Harris to spend three months on French Riviera at Napoule near Cannes

1899 February The Importance of Being Earnest published. Leaves Napoule for Nice

25 February Leaves Nice to stay as Harold Mellor’s guest at Gland, Switzerland

13 March Willie Wilde, his brother, dies

1 April Leaves Gland for Santa Margherita on Italian Riviera

May Returns to Paris. Stays at Hotel de la Neva, then at Hotel Marsollier

July An Ideal Husband published

August Moves back to the Hotel d’Alsace

1900—April-May Spends two weeks as Mellor’s guest travelling in Italy and Sicily

May Returns to the Hotel d’Alsace

10 October Undergoes ear operation in hotel room

30 November Dies in Hotel d’Alsace of cerebral meningitis. Buried at Bagneux

1905—February De Profundis first published in heavily expurgated form by Robert Ross

1906—July Wilde’s estate discharged from bankruptcy. Creditors paid 20s in the £ and 4 per cent interest from sales of books and licensing of plays

1908—First collected edition of Wilde’s works published by Methuen

1909—20 July Wilde’s remains are moved from the cemetery at Bagneux to Pere Lachaise and reinterred under Jacob Epstein’s monument. The manuscript of De Profundis is presented by Ross to the British Museum on the condition that it remain closed for fifty years

1945—20 March Death of Lord Alfred Douglas

1949—Suppressed part of De Profundis published by Wilde’s son, Vyvyan Holland, from Ross’s typescript

1954—Unveiling of plaque on Wilde’s London home at 16 Tite Street

1956—First publication of the original four-act version of The Importance of Being Earnest

1962—Publication of Wilde’s Collected Letters including first fully correct version of De Profundis

1995—Consecration of a window to Oscar Wilde in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey

1998—Erection of a publicly funded sculpture A Conversation with Oscar Wilde in Adelaide Street, London

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