"'I have put my genius into my life, but only my talent into my work.' So said Oscar Wilde of his remarkable life -- a life more complex, more troubled, and more triumphant than any of his contemporaries ever knew or suspected. In The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Neil McKenna focuses on the tormented genius of Wilde's personal life, reproducing remarkable love letters and details Wilde's previously unknown relationships with men from various walks of life.
"McKenna has spent years researching Wilde's life, drawing on extensive new material, including never-before published poems, letters, and other writings. He also quotes, for the first time, from recently discovered trial statements made my male prostitutes and blackmailers about Wilde. McKenna provides explosive evidence of political machinations behind Wilde's trials for sodomy, as well as his central role in the burgeoning gay world of Victorian London.
"Dazzlingly written and meticulously researched, The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde is the first book to fully chart Wilde's astonishing odyssey through London's sexual underworld and to reconstruct his emotional and sexual life and paints an astonishingly vivid psychological portrait of a troubled genius who chose to martyr himself for the cause of love between men."
I picked up this book about a month ago. Having finished graduate school, I (surprisingly) found myself missing more "serious" reading material. I hadn't read too much Wilde above and beyond "The Importance of Being Ernest" and The Picture of Dorian Grey in high school, but Wilde had always seemed like a very interesting British literary figure. I knew he was scandalous and I was interested to gain a better grasp of why. To be sure, this book certainly went the extra mile to ensure of just how and why Wilde was famous, as well as infamous.
I must start off by saying I learned an astonishing amount about Wilde, and to a depth I certainly was not expecting. I had an idea that Wilde was a complex man, but I had no clue just how complex. I am impressed by the sheer amount of primary sources, personal accounts and letter, and diary entries McKenna was able to obtain, let alone work into this biographical work. I will provide a word of caution, however: This angle focuses a great deal on Wilde's personal sphere and sexual life -- often using pretty explicit language and descriptions. I wasn't offended by any means, I was just not expecting it (though, I suppose I should have, given the book's title and description). I didn't find it gratuitous or included with the sole intent to shock. I don't feel this should be a deterrent from reading this book -- just don't say that no one warned you!
The book was, overall, very interesting. I learned so much about the complex man who wrote provocative, highly-controversial, and memorable works, as well as helped promote and support love amongst men in Britain. I was moved by the obvious depth of his love for Bosie and shocked by the breadth of Wilde's passions and affairs. There was fascinating information about Wilde's marriage and family life. I was truly moved by how tragic his marriage to poor Constance was. The fact that a part of her continued to love and care for Oscar -- even after all his infidelity, overspending, indiscretions, lawsuits, scandals, and imprisonment -- was profoundly moving. Despite all of Wilde's faults, I found him captivating. What an interesting man he must have been! What it must have been like to converse with a mind of his ilk!
I was extremely impressed with this biography. Though this genre is not normally my cup of tea, I loved how much I learned. I will admit that it took me much longer to read than I am used to. The writing was eloquent and filled to the brim with excellent information, so I'm unsure why this was the case. There were times I would think, "Well this bit was interesting, but I think this could've been shortened by a few paragraphs." Then, I would consider the fact that those paragraphs contained some interesting source material and it may have been a loss to Wilde's legacy to omit them. This book ended up being as much a biography if Wilde as it was the history of homosexuality and love between men in Britain. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Wilde or this fascinating history. I will reiterate my caution that the reader cannot be sensitive or easily offended by the material -- more's the pity because you're missing out on some rich, fascinating history!
I want to conclude by including some of my favorite quotes from the book. Both come from early on in the work and, I think, they really helped to suck me in. The following quote is from a letter Wilde wrote to a woman to whom he'd proposed when he was younger. His friend, her brother, died and Wilde wrote this in a letter to her: "I am so glad you are coming to town. I want to see you though the memories you will bring with you will be most bitter. Yet often I think when a friend dies those who are left become very close to one another, just as when an oak falls in the forest the other trees reach our and join branches over the vacant place" (21). The next quote comes from comments Wilde made about his extended visit and tour of the United States: "America is a land of unmatched vitality and vulgarity...a people who care not at all about values other than their own and, who, when they make up their minds, love you and hate you with a passionate zeal" (35). I found the first one profoundly beautiful, and the second quote to be extremely poignant...and familiar. Is it just me or does this ring true about a hundred years or so after Wilde penned it?
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