It is not hard to believe Oscar Wilde was a popular figure in Victorian society. The Golden Age of England where he thrived was an era of inventive social mores, high aesthetics and political prowess. People were judged not only by the clothes they wore or the books they read but also by the company they kept. Oscar Wilde had all of these things working in his favor. He was a “golden boy” of a golden age. Wilde was a prolific writer, accomplished wit and famed lecturer who was also a father, a husband and a friend to many geniuses of the artistic world. His mind was a deluge of creative thought, which released itself through sparkling conversation and throughout numerous pages of manuscript. Women adored his wit and charm and men often envied his artistic achievements. 

The popularity of Mr. Wilde, however, like so many other famous figures, was also the impetus of his ruin. He was at the center of such attention in England, Ireland and abroad, that when John Sholto Douglas, the Eighth Marquess of Queensberry, accused Wilde of being a “posing sodomite,” society could not turn its head. But scandal then, like now, brought such an interest to the public that they waited like a patient audience for Wilde’s next move. The result was a libel suit pressed by Wilde which, from the onset, stirred so much attention that London’s Old Bailey Courtroom was quickly filled with inquiring minds awaiting a performance. The two leads--a literary wit and a notorious royal “brute” (the amateur boxing rules, the “Queensberry Rules,” are named for the Marquess)--entered the courtroom on April 3, 1895, for what would be the drama of the fin de siecle.

This first trial produced a stunning performance by Oscar Wilde. His witty repartee made it hard for the jury to suppress its laughter and left the defense slightly flummoxed. But when Edward Carson, Queensberry’s attorney and Wilde’s former Oxford classmate pulled out his own clever bag of tricks, the drama took an unexpected turn and the libel suit was soon dismissed. In its place came two more trials in which Wilde suddenly donned the costume of defense. By May 25, after a revealing series of facts from surprise witnesses, Wilde was charged with committing acts of “gross indecency” under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, signed by Queen Victoria herself. He was sentenced to two years of hard labor in prison, after which he lived under an assumed name. Oscar Wilde died in 1900 (just two years after his release) from complications of an ear injury he received while in prison. He was 46.