In The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Neil McKenna provides stunning new insight into the tumultuous sexual and psychological worlds of this brilliant and tormented figure. McKenna charts Wilde’s astonishing odyssey through London’s sexual underworld, and provides explosive new evidence of the political machinations behind Wilde’s trials for sodomy. Dazzlingly written and meticulously researched, The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde offers a vividly original portrait of a troubled genius who chose to martyr himself for the cause of love between men.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Oscar Wilde, though married to a woman, preferred sex with men; he was convicted of "gross indecency" and sentenced to two years of hard labor in 1895 in what has become a landmark case in queer history. Yet most biographies of the famous playwright and essayist touch only fleetingly on the writer's sexual history. McKenna's masterful, eminently readable new work takes a sharp, very productive turn in Wilde scholarship. While British journalist McKenna (On the Margins) comprehensively covers Wilde's literary and public career, his biography is organized around Wilde's sexuality as expressed in the sexual acts he performed, and on the centrality of his homosexuality to his identity and politics. Rather than limiting the account to trysts and encounters, McKenna opens new venues for understanding Wilde's life and work. McKenna has unearthed a wealth of new primary and secondary sources—the letters, journals, fiction and poetry of such 19th-century homosexual writers as J.A. Symonds and Ronald Gower—that he uses to paint a vivid and engrossing portrait of Uranian (as 19th-century homosexuals called themselves) life and culture in late Victorian England. McKenna's fundamental argument is that Wilde's sexual identity moved him to the center of a nascent movement to destigmatize and even promote homosexuality as an identity. McKenna writes that Wilde and his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, "were passionately, fiercely committed to the Cause... [and needed] to proclaim their sexual orientation to the world." Not even a great biography can explain everything about its subject's life—and certainly, despite the groundbreaking research here, this book will raise eyebrows as well as controversy. But it's also the most exciting and important Wilde scholarship to be published in decades. 16 pages of b&w photos. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
No one who has read anything about Wilde written in the past 20 years will be surprised by most of McKenna's revelations, especially the degree to which Wilde lived a barely disguised double life. If he was closeted at all, it was as if in a glass-walled shower stall. He is now Saint Oscar, pilloried by the philistines and martyr to the cause of sexual liberation. His tale--rising to literary eminence only to suddenly fall as low as Reading Gaol--remains astonishing and moving, and McKenna's passion, wit, and good research make it compelling reading. McKenna excels at revealing how and why his behavior so shocked heterosexual Victorians, and why the half-mad marquis of Queensberry, a devotee of physical culture and heterosexist male roles, would work so hard to bring Wilde down. McKenna also describes Wilde's complex emotional life with particular grace and pathos--it is hard not to tear up while McKenna recounts Wilde's miscalculated libel suit against Queensberry--and sympathetically maps Constance Wilde's dysfunctional, heartbreakingly empty marriage to Wilde. Jack Helbig
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
For many years Richard Ellmann's biography of Oscar Wilde was considered the definitive work on Wilde. Having recently finished Ellmann's book and just now having read McKenna's book, McKenna offers many new insights. He is not afraid to delve into many of Wilde's "uranian" <read "gay"> views. Ellmann has a sense of the straight outsider trying to understand a gay man's motives. McKenna offers a sympathetic view of Wilde's passion for "rent boys" and his loves for Bosie Douglas and Robbie Ross. McKenna is often sympathetic toward Bosie, but suspect toward Ross. By the end of McKenna's book Wilde is seen as a greatly flawed genius whose passions led to his destruction. "When the gods want to punish you, they give you what you want."
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This well written and painstakingly researched biography offers a fascinating glimpse into the private life of Oscar Wilde. Wilde's witty plays and daring novels ("The Picture of Dorian Gray") elevated him as a darling and "dandy" of Victorian society for a brief period of time before his arrogance and brazen homosexuality brought his career to a screeching halt and sent him to prison. Wilde discovered that he was gay late in life and despite his marriage to Constance Lloyd, he made up for lost time with a succession of "rent boys," and acquaintances from the Uranian Society. The author quotes extensively from the letters of Wilde, his lovers, contemporaries and friends to exhaustively trace his wanton ways. What is most remarkable about this book is that it not only paints a vivid portrait of Wilde but the other characters in his life are not glossed over. As compelling as Wilde are also the stories of his unhappy wife Constance, the great love of his life Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas), Bosie's brother Drumlanrig and his doomed relationship with Lord Archibald Rosebery, Wilde's devoted friend (and former lover) Robbie Ross, and Bosie's vile father, Lord Queensberry, who brought about Wilde's downfall. The author also paints a vivid portrait of Victorian life and shows how Wilde's actions were a shock to the antiquated mores of the time. Gay audiences would be wise to read this book to gain an appreciation of Oscar Wilde's noble stance as well as be thankful that the attitudes of the world are at least not as bad as they were then.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's my own fault. I wanted to read a biography next, I scanned the biography offerings on Kindle, saw one about Oscar Wilde and clicked "Buy Now" instead of "free sample". So let me make something quite clear: the "secret life" in question is Oscar Wilde's sex life.
Neil McKenna makes the case that no single biography can do justice to the whole life of any subject and proceeds from here. He set out to tell the story of Oscar Wilde as a homosexual man in Victorian England and most else in Oscar's life takes a back seat to that. This isn't the book I set out to read but I'm not disappointed to have read it. Somewhere along the way I received the wisdom that Oscar Wilde was just another metrosexual Victorian man until Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas) rolled onto the scene. McKenna makes it clear that was not the case.
There is a whiff about this book of "reclaiming" Oscar. Yes, I'm convinced Oscar was a gay man and I'm certainly interested in rereading some of his work in light of McKenna's interpretations of Dorian Gray and Willie Hughes. On the other hand: Who knew reading about another person's sex life in such detail could be a chore? When Bosie and Oscar aren't bedding rent boys or other fetching creatures, they're racking up charges at five star restaurants and hotels. Unfortunately, that's all they seem to do a lot of the time and it gets a little dull. Maybe it's the mindless promiscuity involved, maybe it's that I'm not a gay man or maybe my Puritan roots go stronger than I realize but by the time the bailiffs came for Oscar I admit I was relieved.
McKenna is a tad myopic. Anything and everything is examined for tell tale signs that Oscar was gay and writing for a gay audience. Not surprisingly, he always finds signs. From Dorian Grey - ok, that's an easy one - to the Happy Prince, McKenna will have you seeing hidden messages everywhere. Bless his heart there isn't an inanimate object in your house that isn't a "code word for" for "Uranian love" when McKenna's on the case. This can lead to some giggle-worthy interpretations, my favorite being the "persistent rumor" that Saint Sebastian wasn't shot through with a hundred arrows but gang-raped by the entire Praetorian Guard and bled to death. Where do you even start on a theory like that? I'll start with the fact that I've never, ever heard that before nor does it make a lot of sense especially since the fact that the "arrows" didn't kill Sebastian is one of the reasons he was made a saint. He was actually beaten to death. (Unless I'm once again behind on the rumors.)
Still, I can't write this book off as all agenda and no substance. McKenna does a create a compelling portrait of Oscar Wilde as a man who accepted his sexuality and genuinely loved Bosie. Now why he loved that mess of a human being is anyone's guess. Bosie may have been the cat's meow in his day but that's no excuse to letting him in the house. Selfish, bratty, vindictive, nasty, and way too interested in young boys, Bosie nearly single-handedly creates the scandal that destroys Oscar and then tops all this by going straight in later life. You'll be hard pressed not to side with Oscar friends who want to keep him away from this human wrecking ball.
This is an interesting book. Not the definitive biography of Oscar Wilde but an interesting exploration into a relatively unknown aspect of Victorian life. Just bear in mind that sometimes a cigar is a cigar even when the smoker in question is Oscar Wilde.
Neil McKenna makes the case that no single biography can do justice to the whole life of any subject and proceeds from here. He set out to tell the story of Oscar Wilde as a homosexual man in Victorian England and most else in Oscar's life takes a back seat to that. This isn't the book I set out to read but I'm not disappointed to have read it. Somewhere along the way I received the wisdom that Oscar Wilde was just another metrosexual Victorian man until Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas) rolled onto the scene. McKenna makes it clear that was not the case.
There is a whiff about this book of "reclaiming" Oscar. Yes, I'm convinced Oscar was a gay man and I'm certainly interested in rereading some of his work in light of McKenna's interpretations of Dorian Gray and Willie Hughes. On the other hand: Who knew reading about another person's sex life in such detail could be a chore? When Bosie and Oscar aren't bedding rent boys or other fetching creatures, they're racking up charges at five star restaurants and hotels. Unfortunately, that's all they seem to do a lot of the time and it gets a little dull. Maybe it's the mindless promiscuity involved, maybe it's that I'm not a gay man or maybe my Puritan roots go stronger than I realize but by the time the bailiffs came for Oscar I admit I was relieved.
McKenna is a tad myopic. Anything and everything is examined for tell tale signs that Oscar was gay and writing for a gay audience. Not surprisingly, he always finds signs. From Dorian Grey - ok, that's an easy one - to the Happy Prince, McKenna will have you seeing hidden messages everywhere. Bless his heart there isn't an inanimate object in your house that isn't a "code word for" for "Uranian love" when McKenna's on the case. This can lead to some giggle-worthy interpretations, my favorite being the "persistent rumor" that Saint Sebastian wasn't shot through with a hundred arrows but gang-raped by the entire Praetorian Guard and bled to death. Where do you even start on a theory like that? I'll start with the fact that I've never, ever heard that before nor does it make a lot of sense especially since the fact that the "arrows" didn't kill Sebastian is one of the reasons he was made a saint. He was actually beaten to death. (Unless I'm once again behind on the rumors.)
Still, I can't write this book off as all agenda and no substance. McKenna does a create a compelling portrait of Oscar Wilde as a man who accepted his sexuality and genuinely loved Bosie. Now why he loved that mess of a human being is anyone's guess. Bosie may have been the cat's meow in his day but that's no excuse to letting him in the house. Selfish, bratty, vindictive, nasty, and way too interested in young boys, Bosie nearly single-handedly creates the scandal that destroys Oscar and then tops all this by going straight in later life. You'll be hard pressed not to side with Oscar friends who want to keep him away from this human wrecking ball.
This is an interesting book. Not the definitive biography of Oscar Wilde but an interesting exploration into a relatively unknown aspect of Victorian life. Just bear in mind that sometimes a cigar is a cigar even when the smoker in question is Oscar Wilde.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Feasting with panthers
There have been many books about Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, but this differs from the rest by concentrating on the sexual aspects of their lives to the exclusion of much... Read more
Published 22 days ago by othoniaboys
Misleading
The author confuses lust for love, by Wilde's own admission he didn't love the boys he used. At the end of his life he regreted his wasted life.
Published 6 months ago by Proofessor
Best Wilde biography
I finished the bio by Neil McKenna of Oscar Wilde; a wonderful explanatory experience which totally satisfied all my questions. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Phebe
An Excellent Biography
After the disappointment of Selina Hastings's biography of Somerset Maugham, I didn't expect much from Neil McKenna's The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, a book that has served as an... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Olga Bezhanova
Problematic Historiography--Yet Insightful...
*
Problematic Historiography--Yet Insightful...
The discipline of History is a delicate and demanding art. Read more
Problematic Historiography--Yet Insightful...
The discipline of History is a delicate and demanding art. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Sébastien Melmoth
Makes a strong case for Wilde as gay activist.
Neil McKenna's "The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde" delves much deeper into Wilde's sex life than Richard Ellmann and other previous biographers have done. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Miles D. Moore
Lame
Glenn Beck's superb biography of Truman Capote examines the writer's extraordinary literary gifts that, seemingly effortlessly, propelled him to fame and fortune before he engaged... Read more
Published on April 21, 2010 by Jiang Xueqin
The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde is a detailed account of the author's...
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was born in Dublin the son of a doctor and an author and social activist mother. Read more
Published on January 15, 2010 by C. M Mills
A page turner!
I admit that I knew very little of Oscar Wilde when I chose this particular book, at random. What an excellent choice for a novice as well as a Wilde devotee! Read more
Published on May 2, 2008 by Cheryl S.
Everything you wanted to know....
McKenna has carved his own niche among the Wilde biographies by concentrating on Oscar's homosexuality (too often marginalized or avoided by other writers), with emphasis on his... Read more
Published on September 2, 2007 by Regular Reader
Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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eternal quest for beauty, sexual faith, feasting with panthers, fair slim boy, being sodomised, green carnation, true sexual nature, love that dare, hideous scandal, monstrous laws, hideous words, sex between men, sugar lips, outcast men, strange sins, higher philosophy, defamatory libel, sex with boys Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde, John Gray, Tite Street, Robbie Ross, Edward Shelley, Sir Robert, Willie Hughes, Frank Harris, Alfred Taylor, George Ives, New York, Lord Rosebery, Reggie Turner, Cleveland Street, Lord Queensberry, Reading Gaol, More Adey, Lord Arthur, Lord Henry Wotton, Ada Leverson, Max Beerbohm, Alfred Wood, John Addington Symonds, Robert Sherard New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
eternal quest for beauty, sexual faith, feasting with panthers, fair slim boy, being sodomised, green carnation, true sexual nature, love that dare, hideous scandal, monstrous laws, hideous words, sex between men, sugar lips, outcast men, strange sins, higher philosophy, defamatory libel, sex with boys Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde, John Gray, Tite Street, Robbie Ross, Edward Shelley, Sir Robert, Willie Hughes, Frank Harris, Alfred Taylor, George Ives, New York, Lord Rosebery, Reggie Turner, Cleveland Street, Lord Queensberry, Reading Gaol, More Adey, Lord Arthur, Lord Henry Wotton, Ada Leverson, Max Beerbohm, Alfred Wood, John Addington Symonds, Robert Sherard New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
6
books
cite this book:
See all 6 books citing this book
- Sodom on the Thames: Sex, Love, and Scandal in Wilde Times by Morris B. Kaplan in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Deceivers: Art Forgery and Identity in the Nineteenth Century by Aviva Briefel in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Time Out Gay and Lesbian London (Time Out Gay & Lesbian London) by Paul Burston in Back Matter
- Sex Lives of the Famous Gays by Nigel Cawthorne in Back Matter
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oxford World's Classics) by Oscar Wilde in Front Matter
See all 6 books citing this book
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