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The Portrait of Mr. W. H. (EasyRead Large Bold Edition)

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This little book is about Shakespeare's sonnets, but more than that it is a book about nineteenth-century young men and their obsession with Shakespeare. Two in particular become completely engaged by a particular literary interpretation--that Shakespeare wrote his beautiful sonnets not for a wealthy patron, but to his Rosalind, or rather to the actor who played all his lovely strong women--that is, to an adolescent boy. The book is a cautionary tale about heightened involvement in literary ideas. A literary idea can possess one as completely as opium, and can be just as dangerous

The Portrait of Mr. W.H., a little known work of Oscar Wilde, is a speculation upon the identity of the "Mr. W.H." named in the dedication of Shakespeare's sonnets. Part fiction, part literary analysis, Wilde's little book incorporates a persuasive analysis of the sonnets from which the narrator divines the existence of Willie Hughes, boy actor who became Shakespeare's muse--not just of the sonnets but of the plays as well.

With the Bard's own words and metaphors, Wilde, through his narrator, supports every one of the claims therein, and offers many surprising and unique interpretations of the "evidence" in this long-standing literary mystery.

Considering that throughout is repeated the fact there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that anybody named Will or Willie Hughes ever existed, by invoking Shakespeare's language, puns, and known historical facts, the "lovely boy" is rendered real. Further effecting the reader's suspended or sustained disbelief, even skepticism shifts chimerically back and forth from one character to another, one of whom, formerly skeptic but turned believer, declares: "a hypothesis that explains everything is a certainty."

The Portrait of Mr. W.H. also interweaves a brief history of known Elizabethan boy actors, and more of Wilde's musings on the transcendental love between men, out of Plato, turning this slender volume into quite a little banquet of facts, fantasy and feelings. For lovers of both Shakespeare and Wilde it makes altogether a fascinating and entertaining read.

Wilde's The Portrait of Mr W.H., is an interesting account of the mystery of W.H., the person Shakespeare devoted his famous Sonnets.

When one reads Wilde's prose, one can actually feel his thoughts and feelings. As critic and author, Peter Ackroyd, comments:

`This is quintessential Wilde, introducing paradox into the realm of speculation and wit into the sphere of art.'

Most English 19th century intellectuals were sincerely obsessed with Shakespeare's Sonnets, because it is the bard's notions on love, art, beauty and what it really means to be an artist.

Rather than spoil the plot, let me just say that the book covers Aestheticism, Literary Criticism and obsession with `literature' which can, in some cases, be worse than opium addiction.

If one has any interest in the Aesthetic movement of that period will find this novella fascinating.

As is well known, Elizabethian England did not allow women to act on the stage as it was viewed as improper for a lady. Thus male actor's had to play the female roles. It is the protagonists thesis that the mysterious W.H. was a male actor who performed most of Shakespear's female roles, thus the Sonnets, and the proposal that the Bard had a particular fascination with the young actor.

The Portrait of Mr. W.H. was written over a time period of a few years, the final draft finished by Wilde while he was incarcerated in the Reading Gaol. This final manuscript disappeared for many years to then turn up in a personal collection.

This short piece is recommended to all those interested in Wilde and the 19th century Aesthetic movement.