Book Review

This is a book that promises a good deal more than it delivers. It is, however, a work very au courant in light of recent interest in Oscar Wilde's personal life and artistic disposition. Foldy's stated purpose is to reconstruct Wilde as the symbol he was in 1895 and also to reconstruct the popular consciousness that understood that symbol. The first two chapters of the book deal with the details of the three trials, the testimony of the principals, and the legal issues involved in the litigation. Wilde's testimony before the court was hardly exculpatory, as during the cross-examination in the first trial he was immediately caught lying about his age. Edward Carson, defending the Marquess of Queensberry against the charge of publishing a defamatory libel, first asked questions about Wilde's artistic ideas and literary works. Quick-witted, droll, and able to give obscure answers to straightforward questions, Wilde was too clever by half in his attempts to explain his views on art and aesthetics. His "inappropriate whimsicality" (9) contrasted poorly with the gravity of the charges that he had brought before the court. However, it was Carson's announcement of a series of witnesses prepared to testify as to the details of their relationships with Wilde that caused the withdrawal of the prosecution by Sir Edward Clarke, who represented Wilde. The subsequent arrest and trials for committing "acts of gross indecency" under the Criminal Law Amendment Act seemed to be in some ways a formality before the sentencing (31). The evidence was equally sensational and damning.	1
The third chapter explores press coverage and the reaction of the Victorian public. The press had a wonderful time with the trials—enthusiastically reporting the ghastly details and analyzing the moral implications for the nation. There seemed to be little sympathy for Wilde's situation, and with his works being pulled off the shelves and his plays quietly closing, one journal even suggested that Wilde commit suicide to save society the "pain and embarrassment of another trial" (54).	2
In the final three chapters of the work, the author explores the intellectual and emotional atmosphere of the times in the context of the terms "heterosexism" and "homophobia." Foldy posits that the Wilde trials provided a forum and point of reference for discussion of the notions of decadence, degeneration, and same-sex passion, ideas that were so controversial near the turn of the twentieth century. Using Wilde's description of his art and philosophy of aesthetics, Foldy attempts to explain Wilde's sexuality within the framework of his metaphysics. Finally, the author's summation of Wilde and his place in history is wonderfully readable and cogent.	3
One must be taken aback by Foldy's discussion of the Marquess of Queensberry and the prime minister, Lord Rosebery, vis à vis Oscar Wilde. Foldy readily admits there is no indication of any connection between Wilde and Rosebery and that there is also no evidence of Rosebery being involved in a homosexual relationship with Queensberry's oldest son, Francis Archibald Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig, who was killed in a shooting accident in 1894. Having no evidence with which to continue this thread, Foldy proceeds to fabricate a convoluted tale of blackmail, influence, and murder. This is fantastic, indeed.	4
What Foldy might have taken into greater account was Queensberry's troublesome personality. The Marquess was not merely a difficult character, but a mischief-maker within his own family, a loose cannon in society, and a man who found fault with everyone (except himself). Had it not been for his title, he likely would have been locked up. The larger question, which Foldy does not address, is why Oscar Wilde felt compelled to bring the suit against the Marquess of Queensberry for having published that defamatory libel. Foldy explains that Wilde's friends were anxious that he not bring the suit, and they informed him that public opinion seemed to be against him. Nevertheless, Wilde continued and set in motion the legal mechanisms which eventually brought him to prison.	5
The endnotes for this work are ample and informative, with an extensive bibliography, and an adequate index. The impact of the book would have been improved with the inclusion of photographs of the principles, especially since Wilde's physiognomy and style figured largely in the trials.	6
Deborah Wiggins South Plains College

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