By Martin Russell
Irish American Post book editor

For anyone glued to reality television, there is always more to the story...as they say. In The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde (Perennial, 2004, $14.95), the gripping homosexual scandal and a resulting trial that brought about the downfall of the noted author/playwright comes to life. The work was assembled from court records by Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland.

With the 150th birthday of Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde on Oct. 16, 2004, it is fitting that The Real Trial appear now in the bookstores. An involved introduction by Holland explains in detail how shadows were cast over Wilde’s life by his infatuation with the third son of the Marquis of Queensbury. 

Holland dips into his family’s history and relates how the trial was an embarrassment his own father, Vyvyan, and goes on to regularly use press clippings of the day to weave an intriguing tale of courtroom procedure.

The latter part of the book is made up of the cross-examinations of Wilde by the prosecutor and then goes on to extensive indexes referring to the text. The Real Trial is a marvelous read into the complexities of this case. It highlights the intricate machinations of the British legal system for those who may not be familiar with the verbal tapdancing that often goes on in the courtroom, or at least did in the 1890s when Wilde’s creative literary side repeatedly was demonstrated in his responses to questions. Whether Wilde did himself in with that repartee has often been the subject of scholarly discourse.

However, by reading the transcripts, it is obvious that the rebellious Irishman was being swept away by the legal protectorate of an uptight, dank industrial mentality which had no understanding, much less sympathy, for someone of Wilde’s creative persuasion — even with sexual proclivities aside and the playwright’s own arrogance.

However, rising to his grandfather’s defense, Holland concludes his introductory commentary that "I hope that this accurate account of his last public appearance as a free man will show that his fight, although insanely quixotic, was fought with all that style and conviction which we have come to expect from Oscar Wilde." 

When Wilde was released from prison in 1897, he moved to France under the assumed name of Sebastian Melmoth. His resulting autobiography, De Produndis, was published posthumously in 1905 and the Ballad of Reading Gaol in 1898 are considered some of the best writings to come out of the Victorian era. 

Fans of Wilde should add this latest volume on their hero to their already crowded bookcases.
 

Editor: The Irish American Post will soon have an interview with Merlin Holland, Oscar Wilde’s grandson.