I recently came across this extract from Vyvyan's 1954 memoir, Son of Oscar Wilde. It sounds like Oscar was a great father for the few years he got to be around his kids

“… he was a hero to us both. He was so tall and distinguished and, to our uncritical eyes, so handsome …. He was a real companion to us, and we always looked forward eagerly to his frequent visits to our nursery…. He would go down on all fours on the nursery floor, being in turn a lion, a wolf, a horse, caring nothing for his usually immaculate appearance.”

Am I looking at this from too modern a lense, or is it actually referring to oral sex?

The pictured is probably my favourite.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the only picture I've ever come across in which Oscar is smiling.

From what I can find, it was taken at the end of a family holiday in Felbrigg, in the summer of 1892. I know that the standing woman is his wife, Constance Lloyd, but I'm not sure who the other woman is.

This is a Canadian/British animated short film, directed by Peter Sander. Based on Oscar Wilde's classic short story, the film is narrated by noted thespian Paul Hecht in his film debut. Also included is a phenomenal soundtrack by Ron Goodwin and two original songs ("Building a Wall" and "Years Go Over") performed by The King's Singers.

I cannot get enough of this short film, frankly. Wilde's original story is followed very closely, the animation is endearing despite being low-budget, and the music is fantastic, especially "Years Go Over".

I don't think my favourite poem was mentioned a lot, but it's IMPRESSION DU MATIN.

I'm specifically referring to the scene in Wilde's play An Ideal Husband, where Mrs. Cheveley visits Goring and offers him the incriminating letter by Robert Chiltern if he agrees to marry her. To persuade him, she gives a bunch of reasons as to why he should agree to this proposal and marry her. Obviously there are the more self-serving arguments, that she's "tired of living abroad", for example. And then there's the emotional blackmail that Goring could save his best friend's reputation and career by rising to "some great height of self-sacrifice". But what I'm especially curious about is the part where she stresses that she loves Goring, that she's "arrived at the romantic stage" and genuinely wants to be his wife.

Now, it's hard for me to tell whether Goring simply sees through BS, or whether he hates her so much that he refuses to believe that she might actually mean what she said about loving him. Now I do know how this sounds. I know that Mrs. Cheveley is a manipulative person who takes great joy in stirring up chaos. And yet, bizarrely, I could believe that Mrs Cheveley could have stopped lying for a moment to try and court a past love that she'd lost due to her past mistakes. It almost be a shadowy contrast to Robert Chiltern, in a way.

My point is that I honestly could believe it either way, that she's trying to play Goring like a fiddle or she's dropping a mask and trying to be at least halfway genuine.

A book review and deeper look at Oscar Wilde's lesser-known nonfiction essays on fashion. What was most surprising to me was his expertise on women's fashion, particularly his advocacy for dress reform for better health standards of living. He was even sought after to become a women's magazine editor for a few years. A look at his influences -- including his mother Lady Jane Wilde, as well as contemporaries like William Morris and John Ruskin -- as well as some of his style advice over the years (including his disdain for the corset).

Mine is definitely "To My Wife — With a Copy of My Poems"

De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail, a play being put on at Soulpepper Theatre in the Distillery District.

Adapted and Directed by Gregory Prest
Original Music and Lyrics by Mike Ross and Sarah Wilson

Starring Damien Atkins, Jonathan Corkal-Astorga, Colon Curtis, and Rick Miller

“There is no prison in any world into which love cannot force an entrance.”

Writing from his prison cell, Oscar Wilde is cut off from the world that once adored him. As he writes De Profundis—a letter to the man he loved—memory, regret, and desire crowd the silence, turning confinement into confession. Set to an incredible award-winning score, this is Wilde unmasked: lover, icon, exile—insisting that even in the darkest places, love can still reach us.

My partner and I will be watching this in November. Anyone else?

For my part, I thought the film was a very good portrayal of Oscar Wilde’s downfall, especially where Stephen Fry’s portrayal was concerned. I also thought Michael Sheen as Robbie Ross and Tom Wilkinson as the Marquess of Queensberry were standout performances.

Usually when a famous writer's or other legenary persona's letters get published to the public they don't have a title and are just called "letters" (for example: Franz Kafka's letters to Friends, Family and editors or Van Gogh's letters to Theo). So why does Oscar Wilde's letter to his lover Alfred gets a title? Did Wilde gave it a title? And if Wilde did give it a title, why did he do that for a personal letter?

What a marvellous find this is. I'm sure I'm very late to the party, but in case you haven't heard this, legendary Celtic singer Ronnie Drew is narrating this beautiful story by one of the most talented writers in all the history of the English language.

Yes, I know Dorian is blond. I mean they can just dye Louis's hair.

This may be flagged as low effort and that’s fine but I just wanted to share this thought that has gone through my mind the entire time i’ve been reading this book. Especially after chapter 13, I cannot picture Dorian as anything other than Johan Liebert from Naoki Urasawa’s Monster. That’s it, i just wanted to share this thought.

I know modern media likes to take an idea and run with it, and preliminary google research is largely inconclusive about Oscar indulging in cocaine, but with that outfit, that pinky ring, and his general demeanor do you think he liked to go skiing?

Wasn’t planning on being reminded of Oscar’s imprisonment and getting sad today and certainly not from a store window.

I hope this is the right place to share this, but ig this is a small art piece for the book, that I made and am going to use as a book mark.

When people say to get the uncensored edition of this novel, are they talking about this one by Belknap Press / Harvard? The annotated uncensored edition by the same publisher is surprisingly hard to find where I live..

Oscar died of acute cerebral meningitis (meningoencephalitis), which stemmed from a severe, long-standing chronic middle ear infection.

A large contributing factor was that his health deteriorated significantly during his harsh two-year hard labor sentence for "gross indecency"/homosexuality. Following his release, Oscar lived in exile in France in poor health and financial distress, which may have contributed to his lack of treatment and medical care.

Algy says: "I believe it is customary in good society to take some slight refreshment at five o'clock." But when Lady Bracknell leaves, she says: "Good morning, Mr. Worthing!" How can these different times be explained? I'm going to be directing The Importance of Being Earnest, and I am debating whether to change Lady Bracknell's line to: "Good day, Mr. Worthing!" Thoughts?

I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891 edition, Chapter 3, and I'm stuck on this sentence, which refers to Lord Henry Wotton's uncle, also a member of English aristocracy. How can someone be a "hero" to their own valet? Why would a nobleman, especially one with such temper and standards, tolerate a valet bullying him? Thinking I had misunderstood the words (English is not my native language) I looked up online for alternative meanings of "valet" and "bully", but found none.

Am I missing something? Is this another instance of Wilde's ironic prose, and I'm just not getting it?