Oscar Wilde - De Profundis

Oscar Wilde's emotionally raw manuscript details the inner turmoil surrounding his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas following his controversial arrest and conviction for gross indecency It's an honest and intimate look at the author in his most vulnerable state.
Oscar Wilde spent two years in prison from 1895 to 1897. It was during this time that he wrote a 50,000-word letter to his former lover and friend, Lord Alfred Douglas. Published under the title, De Profundis it's an exploration of Wilde and Douglas' relationship which was fueled by passion and disfunction. The writer criticizes Douglas' vanity and lack of integrity, while revealing his growth and spiritual development.
De Profundis is arguably one of Oscar Wilde's most candid works. It was greatly affected by his physical and mental isolation during confinement. Despite his conditions, Wilde managed to produce a raw and unfiltered piece about love, loss and spiritual renewal.

Comment: A classic I got when I was still at university and, after a literature class, I felt compelled to get this and read it. Well.... no further comment on why it has been in the shelf for more than two decades...

It is well known this is the letter Oscar Wilde wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas while in prison. The letter addresses many issues, about different themes, all somehow related to Wilde's feelings for being imprisoned on what he perceived as being an unfair situation and accusations by Douglas' father and which Douglas himself did nothing to stop or defend Wilde.

I have read Oscar Wilde's most famous novel, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, and loved it. I still have a book with his most famous plays as well and I had this book. Although one can say fiction and real life are different, there's also a reason why the easily recognized cliché by Wilde of "art imitating life" proves to be so contemporary now as it has always been. Oscar Wilde could not refrain from having his style, his skill, in charge of this letter.

I liked the prose here, as I had when I read his fictional work, and it is true the content is rich and evocative and all the allusions to art, to writing, to cultural aspects and more are wonderful gems which we can now think as being witty or specific in regards to how Wilde saw the world, in the same way we think of this when reading his fictional work. Oscar Wilde was writing an angry letter but this didn't stop him from using his thoughts and knowledge and skill to produce something that has lasted all this time as what we consider a classic.

However, to me now, the challenge is on how to look at this work: just a classical text with plenty of passages to be delighted with, or for what it truly is, a way to exorcise negative feelings after what the author felt was a betrayal? I don't have the knowledge to fully criticize the content as a true critic of literature would be able to do, therefore I will simply summarize my personal views on the existence of this letter and what it might have meant.

Basically, to me this felt like a very bad choice, especially if the author wanted to keep things personal. It is true we can notice Oscar Wilde was feeling vulnerable and he was depressed and this might have made him act in ways he might have not otherwise, but after what had happened, I can't help wondering why he decided to still write a letter to Lord Douglas! Hadn't similar issues of exposing his feelings before put him in the situation he was at the time, because of how public everything was and by how indiscreet they had been?

It's a silly comparison, but it reminds me of those who now complain about having their lives open to anyone with social media after they publish things themselves to start with! I mean, shouldn't clever people like Oscar Wilde certainly was - he is vain enough to claim this himself - know how society worked and what could happen? Even disregarding the rules by being famous does not mean one is free from having to follow them anyway, shouldn't he had had the intelligence to know it? I suppose love and passion cloud one's mind and notion of the world, but, please...

All this would have been moot if the letters were to be among them alone. As one intends when writing a personal letter to someone. But even admitting that Douglas was not to be trusted, as others around them might not have been, and Oscar Wilde was vulnerable and dependent on people and their actions outside the prison, should he put on paper such personal and detailed information anyway? He says so, in this same letter, how disappointed he had been when Douglas had shared things before, had allowed their letters to be known before! This had happened to him already! How blind can one be, I wonder...

Of course, it's easy to speak now, after we know what happened, but I feel Oscar Wilde is to blame for the whole debacle as well, unlike what he claims in the letter, where he only admits to have been caught in the intensity of his feelings. It is true Douglas was not a good person and he acted in juvenile and immature ways, but Wilde isn't an innocent and all this complaining feels a little like entitlement. I can understand the moment, the danger and even the fact passion clouded his mind, but despite all the excuses, I still feel the content of this letter was the proof everything could have been avoided.

Grade: 5/10

Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost and Other Tales

An American family moves into Canterville Chase, rumored to be a haunted house. But the skeptical Americans do not believe in ghosts--not, that is, until their daughter Virginia disappears after a series of uncanny incidents.

Comment: In one of my book clubs we've decided to read the tale 'The Canterville Ghost' (1)by Oscar Wilde. I've read it in Portuguese and in that edition there were another 4 tales besides the one of the ghost: 'The Fisherman and his Soul'(2), 'The Birthday of the Infanta'(3), 'The Sphinx Without a Secret'(4) and 'Lord Arthur Seville's Crime'(5). Of them all, my favorite was the third one, it was both perturbing and beautiful.

Each story focuses on some moral ideal or the lack of it and how people are led by their wants and needs not always paying attention to what it would mean to others. 

The writing of course is witty and  ironic at times. But it also makes you think and that's the best part. We can see the strength of the author's aim with this stories in every tale and the way the characters behave.

The first story is about the ghost. He's very old and has always done the same thing, but when a different family comes to live in "his" house, no one fears him and the children even mock him and find ways to humiliate him. While his resentment grows and his attempts to frighten them fail again and again, he finally understands it's time to move on. Many say this is a study on old rules and traditions vs new ways of doing things but to me it was simply a funny story of moving on. The ghost was trapped in his own actions and with the help of one of the family members he realizes he way he's been acting for so long is no longer needed. He has to move on, and he does. I liked it.

The second story is about a fisherman who falls in love with a mermaid. Then he gets rid of his soul in order to be with the mermaid in the bottom of the ocean. The soul travels a lot during a year to try to look for something stronger than the love the fisherman has for the mermaid. In the end the soul tricks the fisherman and when he returns to the mermaid he dies with her. This story proves that nothing is stronger than love, even a soul's most desired thing. It's a sad story but interesting.

The third story is my favorite. It's about a spoiled Infanta, who plays whenever she wants and wants to be entertained. One day a dwarf shows up and the Infanta and the other children with her find him amusing and play with him and laugh and laugh and the dwarf, as simple but good hearted person, laughs too. He thinks he loves the Infanta because she wants to play with him and to see him dance. After all the play he goes into the house looking for the Infanta to tel her he loves her because she is a good friend and sees a monster in a room, the monster is small, deformed, small and twisted legs, awfully big eyes in a ugly face. The he understands the truth, it's him. The others weren't laughing with him, they were laughing at him and mocking him while he danced. His heart breaks and he suddenly can't breathe. The Infanta returns and tells a servant to see what's happening to the dwarf. He tells her he's dead because his heart broke. The Infanta laughs and says he needs to find her people who have no heart at all. Can you see how disturbing and sad this story is? I was absolutely touched by this, it still lingers in my head. It's obviously a story about friendship and love is in eye of the beholder and it saddens me so much to think some people might feel this way and others make fun of them in such a way.

The fourth story is about an intriguing woman, she's mysterious and this guy who seems to be falling in love with her wants to find out her secrets. He tries everything to know more about her and when he finds out she goes to a certain house the same day at the same hour and stays there the same amount of time he thinks she's having an affair and confronts her and she asks him to trust her but he leaves her alone. He travels somewhere and is told about her death.Apparently the owner of the house says that she would just sit there by a window during all the time.She never met anyone or did anything, just sit there. Apparently when we want to be more mysterious than we actually are, it can backfire...

The fifth story is about Lord Saville, in a party a psychic tells him he will commit a crime and he can't rest until he does, so he can be free of that fate. He attempts to murder an aunt and when he finds out bout her death he breathes deep but her death was an accident after all. Then he tries to kill someone else but his plan goes wrong again. So one day he trows the psychic over a bridge. the he marries the girl he loves and goes on his life happy because he just got fate out of the way. It's interesting to know the thing we might fear the most is closer than he think.

I liked all the stories and will try to read more by the author in the future.