Letters to the Sphinx [9/25/2015] Oscar Wilde

by Oscar Wilde

Letters to the Sphinx contains five main the first is a typically characterful, cantankerous and yet appreciative essay of explanation by Oscar Wilde's literary executor and close friend, Robert Ross. Then follow three major essays of reminiscence by the Sphinx herself, the book's compiler, Ada Leverson, also a dear friend of The Importance of Being Oscar gives an iconically witty introduction to how Wilde operated and who he was; The Last First Night gives an elegiac impression of the atmosphere Wilde generated at the zenith of his career; and, finally, Afterwards is a sombrely quiet reflection on Wilde's trials and imprisonment, his troubles, as he called them. Finally it becomes Wilde's turn to speak. In thirty letters, letter-excerpts and telegrams his nature is impressed upon us. From his highest manner which surprisingly lacked stiffness, and in his lowest spirits which were plainly humble, his facility with and mastery of words and epigram are clearly evident, providing a compelling portrait of a personality which was, as Ross claims, 'unique in English literature'. This slender volume was originally published as a limited edition in 1930 and has remained unavailable, except in the rare book market, ever since.

Hardcover

First published September 25, 2015

About the author

Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.

Reviews

[Declan Kennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭑★{ 4.5 }★⭑

This slim volume, which nobody seems to know about, contains five sections: ‘A Note of Explanation’ by Oscar Wilde’s close friend, Robert Ross, three essays by Ada Leverson (the Sphinx) about her relationship with Oscar Wilde, and finally a chronologically arranged collection of Oscar Wilde’s letters to ‘the Sphinx’.

This is such a touching and sombre collection, and a testament to the brilliance and humility of Oscar Wilde. And it pleases me to know that he disliked Charles Dickens as much as I do.

Leverson’s final essay, ‘Afterwards’ and the letters at the end were perhaps my favourite pieces from the collection. ‘Afterwards’ describes Oscar’s trials for homosexuality and imprisonment, which was a beautiful testament to the strength of their friendship. The letters, on the other hand, span from 1893-97, some inviting Ada to eat pomegranates with him, and others pleading for books to read in prison.

Robert Ross says (about Oscar):

“To talk with him was to be translated to an enchanted island or to the palaces of the Fata Morgana. You could not tell what flowers were at your feet or what fantastic architecture was silhouetted against the purple atmosphere of his conversation. What expert could date the pleasant furniture of his house of life? Who would not kneel in the chapels of that Rimmon? . . . But if Prospero is dead we value all the more the little memories of Miranda.”

[Alan Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ada was simply brilliant in so many ways and one could not ask for a finer friend. She never attempted to diminish the torch Oscar had lit as the Lord of Language but, kept it ever burning and protected from those who would have seen it thoroughly put out.