The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde

by Holland, Merlin

• ISBN13: 9780007158058
• ISBN10: 000715805X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-15
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

Oscar Wilde had one of literary history's most explosive love affairs with Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas. In 1895, Bosie's father, the Marquess of Queensberry, delivered a note to the Albemarle Club addressed to "Oscar Wilde posing as sodomite." With Bosie's encouragement, Wilde sued the Marquess for libel. He not only lost but he was tried twice for "gross indecency" and sent to prison with two years' hard labor. With this publication of the uncensored trial transcripts, readers can for the first time in more than a century hear Wilde at his most articulate and brilliant. The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde documents an alarmingly swift fall from grace; it is also a supremely moving testament to the right to live, work, and love as one's heart dictates.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Foreword	xi
Introduction	xv
The First Magistrates' Court Proceedings 2nd March 1895	1	(6)
The Second Magistrates' Court Proceedings 9th March 1895	7	(18)
Regina (Oscar Wilde) v. John Douglas 3rd-5th April 1895	25	(260)
Wednesday Morning 3rd April
Sir Edward Clarke's Opening Speech for the Prosecution	26	(38)
Evidence of Sidney Wright	43	(2)
Evidence of Oscar Wilde	45	(19)
Edward Carson's Cross-examination of Oscar Wilde	64	(16)
On Lord Alfred Douglas	64	(2)
On The Chameleon	66	(11)
On The Picture of Dorian Gray	77	(3)
Wednesday Afternoon 3rd April
On The Picture of Dorian Gray (cont.)	80	(23)
On the Stolen Letters	103	(8)
On Alfred Wood	111	(15)
On William Allen	126	(2)
On Robert Cliburn	128	(6)
On Edward Shelley	134	(9)
On Alfonso Conway	143	(9)
Thursday Morning 4th April
Edward Carson's Cross-examination of Oscar Wilde (cont.)
On Alfred Taylor	152	(10)
On Charles Parker	162	(20)
On Frederick Atkins	182	(15)
On Ernest Scarfe	197	(3)
On Sydney Mavor	200	(6)
On Walter Grainger	206	(7)
Sir Edward Clarke's Re-examination of Oscar Wilde
On Lord Queensberry's Letters	213	(14)
On Edward Shelley	227	(3)
Thursday Afternoon 4th April
On Edward Shelley (cont.)	230	(7)
On the Other Young Men	237	(5)
On Lord Queensberry	242	(7)
Edward Carson's Opening Speech for the Defence	249	(24)
Friday Morning 5th April
Edward Carson's Opening Speech for the Defence (cont.)	273	(7)
The Withdrawal of the Prosecution	280	(5)
Appendix A	285	(9)
Appendix B	294	(4)
Notes	298	(29)
Bibliography and Manuscript Sources	327	(5)
Acknowledgements	332	(3)
Index	335