ABSTRACT

For 50 years after his death, Wilde’s reputation was mainly that of a sprightly wit and haughty homosexual. Many critics tended to dismiss him as not fully worthy of all the attention he commanded. Given the public nature of his career, trials, and imprisonment, Wilde could hardly be ignored. His works and personality continue to captivate serious readers and dedicated scholars, proof of which can be found in 15,000 articles and books devoted to Wilde’s life, poetry, fiction, essays, and dramas. Not many writers have had so much ink spilled on their behalf, and few, it could be argued, treated so badly. More importantly, a “demythologizing” of Wilde got under way in the 19608. The change came about with a sudden increase in the availability of scholarly materials, which in turn provided the beginnings of corrective biographical studies. The Wilde that emerges from this new scholarship is that of a professional writer at the turn of the century who persevered in negotiations with publishers, cultivated potential reviewers, and continually sought to perfect his craft. Today, he can be viewed as an author more concerned with the aesthetic and intellectual issues of the 18908 than with the dandyism and Decadence of the decade.