The two shared a friendship that Wilde now laments. Bosie’s silence has embittered him, and he writes, “as much for sake as for, as would not like to think that had passed through two long years of imprisonment without ever having received a single line from ” (8). He delves into larger philosophical dilemmas and pulls from many thinkers, both present and past, formulating a well-thought out and influential letter.Īs the letter opens, Wilde has not received a single message from Bosie since his imprisonment. Generally speaking, “De Profundis” employs a stream of consciousness which takes on an argumentative nature, critiquing not only Bosie but society as a whole. “De Profundis,” which recounts Wilde’s tumultuous relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas and his eventual turn to Christ, is ambiguous in terms of genre. Ross titled the letter “De Profundis,” which translates to “from the depths.” The complete, unedited letter would not appear until 1962. An abridged version of the letter was published five years after Wilde’s death in 1900 by a former lover and close friend, Robert Ross. It was not until his release in May of the same year that Wilde was given possession of the letter in full. He wrote it between January and March 1897, while imprisoned in Reading Gaol for “gross indecency”-i.e., sexual relations with other men. “De Profundis” is a letter written by Oscar Wilde to his former student, friend, and lover Lord Alfred Douglas, whom he refers to as Bosie.
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