Item 18: Oscar Wilde (ca. 1895-1900)

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was prosecuted by the courts and persecuted by the public not only because of homophobia, but also for being an Irishman who attained international celebrity by flouting British middle-class values. In Beerbohm’s judgment, the price that Wilde ultimately paid—loss of career, family, possessions, and freedom—was unjust and outrageous. Nevertheless, to Beerbohm, a believer in restraint and good manners, Wilde’s conduct leading up to his arrest in 1895 seemed appallingly self-indulgent and self-destructive. Its bad effects were written on his swollen face and dissolute body, as evident in this caricature. Although Beerbohm described Wilde in print as a “genius” and was closely allied with many members of Wilde’s queer circles, he refused to overlook his literary idol’s flaws