De Profundis is the letter written by Oscar Wilde while in prison to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas.#

The letter starts by recollecting the times the two had together, but rather than taking a cherishing tone, it is a "scathing indictment" of the foul ways of Douglas. Throughout this story, we learn of Wilde's philosophy and what he plans on doing after he is released. Then follows a deeper exhibition of his philosophy, and in particular a strange description of Jesus as the original and ultimate Romantic artist. Finally, there are a few more lashes and a bit of advice.#

More or less, despite some sentences to the contrary that seem more like chaff, Wilde lays all the blame for his problems and situation on Douglas. It's a bit hard to believe that he honestly believes that, however, because he constantly talks about having the opportunity to kick him out and get rid of him and refuses to do it. I was a bit let down to read one of my favourite authors be such a coward. Well, regardless, it's well written. :)#

Some Great Quotes#

During his trial, the cross-examiner asked him "Have you ever adored a young man madly?" The answer: "I have never given adoration to anybody except myself." (p. vi)#

Wilde describes life in prison:#

For us there is only one season, the season of Sorrow. The very sun and moon seem taken from us. Outside, the day may be blue and gold, but the light that creeps down through the thickly-muffled glass of the small iron-barred window beneath which one sits is grey and niggard. It is always twilight in one's cell, as it is always midnight in one's heart. And in the sphere of thought, no less than in the sphere of time, motion is no more. The thing [ed--pain and suffering, because Douglas is full of vanity] that you personally have long ago forgotten, or can easily forget, is happening to me now, and will happen to me again to-morrow. [p. 46-47]

In his discussion of Jesus, Wilde talks about sin is to be avoided because of the pain it causes the sinner, not the effects on the world.#

To live for others as a definite self-conscious aim was not his creed. It was not basis of his creed. When he says "Forgive your enemies," it is not for the sake of the enemy but for one's own sake that he says so, and because Love is more beautiful than Hate. In his entreaty to the young man whom when he looked on he loved, "Sell all that thou hast and give to the poor," it is not of the state of the poor that he is thinking but of the soul of the young man, the lovely soul that wealth was marring. In his view of life he is one with the artist who knows that by the sculptor think in bronze, and the painter make the world a mirror for his moods, as surely and as certainly as the hawthorn must blossom in Spring, and the corn burn to gold at harvest-time, and the Moon in her ordered wanderings change from shield to sickle, and from sickle to shield. [p. 76]

From the Commentary of W. H. Auden#

He does not think highly of the Jesus bit, which was very odd, but for that one part.#

Wilde on Jesus or redemption through suffering is as childish and boring as Gide on the same subjects, but Wilde on Bosie Douglas displays the insight, honesty, and unself-conscious style of a greater writer. Their relationship is of the greatest psychological interest. [p. 129]