Of wild(e)ness and carceral subjectivity

Abstract

The final stage of Oscar Wilde’s life was marked by an accumulation of unexpected events which culminated in a most startling denouement. His attachment to Lord Alfred Douglas gave rise to a conflict between Wilde as a supposed corruptor of the youth and the Marquis of Queensbury, Douglas’s father. In an attempt to provoke litigation, Queensbury accused Wilde o f sodomy and the depravation of his son. The writer could not but stand his ground. He sued Queensbury for libel and lost the case. Subsequently, Wilde was charged with acts of gross indecency which had been brought up in the course of the Queensbury trial. And again the court found him to have been on the wrong side of the law. He was sentenced to two years of imprisonment with hard labour.