The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde

Vilified by fellow Victorians for his sexuality and his dandyism, in the 1990s, Oscar Wilde is hailed as a progressive sexual liberator. But this is not how Wilde saw himself. His actions and pretences did not bring him happiness and fulfilment: his art did. This study of Wilde's brilliant and tragic life does not linger on the mistakes which brought him notoriety, rather, it explores his emotional and spiritual search. It uncovers how he was broken by his two-year prison sentence; it probes the deeper thinking behind masterpieces such as "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" and "De Profundis"; and it traces his fascination with Catholicism through to his eleventh-hour conversion.