In this blog post, I’d like to summarize my reflections on art, suffering, repentance, and the human soul, as inspired by Oscar Wilde’s ‘De Profundis’.
Oscar Wilde: A Genius Who Defied the World’s Order
I believe there are two types of geniuses. On the one hand, there are those who uphold the world’s conventions, outdated moral standards, and the notion of authority, earning the respect of many ordinary people and living wealthy, happy lives. On the other hand, there are those who reject the existing order, outdated notions of authority, and traditional values, fighting to discover a new world only to face the world’s condemnation and abuse, ultimately dying in poverty and misery. Oscar Wilde belonged to the latter category.
Had he compromised with the world just a little, he might have spent his life amid the acclaim of wealth, fame, and respect. Yet history is full of geniuses who did not make that choice. Some of them planted the dream of azaleas in the midst of a bitter winter blizzard, only to become casualties of history. Just as the saying goes that trouble befalls those who are one step ahead of the general public, the powers that be in every era erect countless barriers in the path of those who seek to move forward, in order to freeze and preserve the status quo. Faced with such realities, some despair, others rage, some resist, and still others create something new.
During certain historical periods, prisons are sometimes filled with this type of genius. Just as the death of Thomas More, the Renaissance humanist, ushered in a new era, and just as the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity in France were forged at the Bastille, so too did Oscar Wilde’s commitment to art for art’s sake become even more firmly entrenched at Reading Prison. Prison was the university of universities, the religion of religions, and the hell of hells. It was a place where unyielding assertions gathered and where unshakable convictions accumulated.
That is why I came to believe that we should not judge these unfortunate people solely by their criminal charges. The same applies to Oscar Wilde. We cannot condemn his entire life and literary work simply because he was imprisoned for a sodomy case. This is because he was a man who earnestly sought the true beauty and value of art in an era dominated by the worship of money, and who experienced the anguish and joy of life deeply within his own heart.
“De Profundis,” Born in Prison
One day in March 1897, as his two-year prison term was drawing to a close, Oscar Wilde began writing ‘De Profundis’ in the form of a letter to his lover and friend, Douglas. While many have endured imprisonment, few have left behind a prison diary; and even among these rare works, Wilde’s ‘De Profundis’ is worthy of being regarded as a pinnacle of prison literature. Above all, it is striking how deeply he articulated the pain his soul endured in the form of religious repentance.
Compared to his life and philosophy, ‘The Book of a Prisoner’ feels like a somewhat unique work. Why did a man who had typically led an immoral and irreligious life display Christian repentance in this work? Pondering this question naturally leads one to examine his life and works together.
Oscar Wilde was born on October 16, 1854, to a famous ophthalmologist father and a poet mother. As a child, he lost interest in his schoolwork and did not get along well with his peers, but he enjoyed spending time alone fishing by the lake. During his time at Oxford University, he won a prize for his poetry and frequently conversed with Walter Pater. Even then, he already displayed the qualities of a poet and exceptional conversational skills.
Armed with his exceptional eloquence and social skills—which allowed him to easily befriend anyone after just one meeting—he formed connections with many people, ranging from William Morris to the painter Whistler. His works also reflect influences from various poets, including Milton, Keats, Tennyson, and Browning.
After he began publishing his poetry, Wilde walked the streets of London with long hair, short trousers, and a sunflower in his buttonhole, living his life as a true embodiment of art for art’s sake. From today’s perspective, this appearance might evoke the image of a hippie, but to the conservative Londoners of the time, it was perceived as ridiculous and bizarre. It even led to the publication of cartoons criticizing and mocking him.
However, this bizarre sensation actually made him famous. In 1882, he embarked on a lecture tour of the United States to promote art for art’s sake, brimming with confidence to the point of declaring, “I have nothing to proclaim except that I am a genius.” He later appeared in Paris with a neat appearance—having cut his long hair and changed into a suit—and after writing a play reminiscent of Shakespeare, he returned home and married in 1884.
Around this time, the popularity of Wilde’s oratory reached its peak. Around 1885, London’s high society—including figures such as William Morris and Bernard Shaw—was so captivated by his wit, humor, and paradoxes. There is also an anecdote that illustrates just how exceptional his conversational skills were. A prominent local figure, upon hearing that Wilde had arrived in the neighboring region, invited him to lunch. Although many guests tried to deliberately ignore Wilde’s presence by reading their newspapers, within just five minutes, the newspapers were put aside, and the room erupted in laughter. It is said that the impressed guests eventually urged the host to invite Wilde back for dinner as well.
Putting his exceptional eloquence aside for a moment to examine his literary career, Wilde wrote extensively while editing the magazine ‘Women’s World’ from 1887 to 1889. Famous fairy tales, such as “The Happy Prince,” are masterpieces written during this period. In 1890, he published his only novel, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, in a magazine, and the following year, he released it as a standalone book with a preface and several additional sections.
Upon its publication, people at the time strongly condemned the work as immoral and attacked Wilde. Today, however, the issues raised by the work are accepted as a matter of course. Dorian, a beautiful young man, becomes immersed in a hedonistic outlook on life and indulges in pleasure to his heart’s content; the more he does so, the more his portrait grows increasingly hideous. Ultimately, the story centers on Dorian’s life, which ends when he stabs his own portrait—which depicts him old and ugly, that is, his true self—and takes his own life.
In 1891, Wilde spent an extended period in Paris, where he wrote the play ‘Salome’ in French; the following year, a friend translated it into English. He attempted to stage the play in London but was unable to do so due to censorship.
Deeply disappointed, Wilde even went so far as to say he would settle in France permanently. ‘Salome’, based on the story of King Herod and John the Baptist from the New Testament, premiered in Berlin in 1901 and became the longest-running British play after Shakespeare.
Wild subsequently published a series of plays, including ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’ and ‘An Ideal Husband’, and quickly rose to fame as a playwright. However, one spring day in 1895, he was indicted, put on trial, and ultimately sentenced to prison. In the conservative British society of the time, it was only natural that the works of a convicted criminal would disappear from bookstores and that his plays would lose their audience.
Wild spent 18 months enduring hard labor, fear, and a barbaric atmosphere, which left him deeply scarred psychologically. With six months remaining on his sentence, the authorities at Reading Prison treated him relatively leniently, permitting him to read and write. ‘A Prison Diary’ was also written during this period. Although several friends attempted to secure a commutation of his sentence, the effort ultimately failed because no one would sign the petition.
Pain That Continued After Release
On May 17, 1897, having shed his prison uniform—marked “C·3·3”—Wilde left Reading Prison and was taken to Wandsworth Prison, where he had first been incarcerated. At the time, British law stipulated that prisoners must be released from the facility where they were first imprisoned.
The next day, he re-entered society to a lonely welcome from his surety, a minister, and his friend Ross. He expressed a desire to enter a Catholic monastery but was refused. Ultimately, he left his homeland sobbing like a child. In 1898, he published a collection of poems titled ‘Songs of Reading Gaol: C·3·3’, and after wandering through Naples, Switzerland, and the south of France, he settled in Paris. However, on November 30, 1900, he died without having recovered from the poor health he had developed in prison.
Thus, Oscar Wilde’s life was full of ups and downs, as befits that of a thoroughgoing artist. Hardship, glory, and disgrace intertwined. Although he expressed religious repentance in his ‘Prison Notebooks’, he returned to a pagan lifestyle after his release—finding no religious tolerance—and lived that way until his death.
Some critics of his literature argue that while it is witty, it lacks originality, or that while beautiful, it lacks a historical perspective. Nevertheless, the aphoristic phrases in his writing continue to leave a strong impression.
“A man who pretends to be virtuous is a tremendous hypocrite, and a woman who pretends to be virtuous is usually horribly ugly.”
“I have no sin other than foolishness.”
“Ah! Don’t say you agree with me. Whenever people say they agree with me, I always feel something is wrong.”
“I resist everything except what takes my fancy.”
“A man who knows all prices but does not know value.”
“There is no such thing as a moral book or an immoral book. A book is either well-written or poorly written.”
“All art is utterly useless.”
Reading these words, one is reminded once again just how skillfully he handled conversation and language. Oscar Wilde—an aestheticist, an aesthetic poet, a playwright, a critic, and a children’s author—left as strong an impression with his words as he did with his literature.
Literature for the Wounded Soul
If Oscar Wilde had not written ‘De Profundis’, or if he had spent his life happily compromising with the world like the philistines of his time, his fame might not be as great today as it is. Originally titled ‘De Profundis’ and published posthumously through a friend, this work consists of poetic passages—brief yet profound—intended to heal the wounds of the soul.
Reading this work made me realize that there is no such thing as a life without wounds. Whatever the cause of those wounds may be, humans inevitably carry wounds—both large and small—as they go through life. And I believe that prison literature can be an excellent form of literature for healing such wounds of the human soul. I believe Oscar Wilde’s ‘De Profundis’ is one such work.
