The Decay of Oscar Wilde: Trial and Jail

Abstract

El objetivo de este ensayo es ilustrar la caída del dramaturgo Oscar Wilde, figura célebre de finales del siglo XIX tanto por sus obras polémicas como por su vida privada. Representante del Esteticismo, Wilde vivía para el placer y el lujo, para la belleza y la juventud, algo que inevitablemente cobraría su precio tarde o temprano. Los juicios por los que atravesó, su etapa en prisión y sus secuelas, así como su relación con Lord Alfred Douglas son las principales cuestiones a tratar en este trabajo.

This essay aims to illustrate the downfall of the playwright Oscar Wilde, a celebrated personality of the late 19th century both for his controversial works and private life. A figure of Aestheticism, Wilde lived for pleasure and luxury, for beauty and youth, something that would inevitably take its toll sooner rather than later. The trials he experienced, his period in prison and its aftermath, as well as his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas are the main questions to be discussed in this work.