De Profundis by Oscar Wilde (Book Analysis)

This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of De Profundis by Oscar Wilde. It provides a thorough exploration of the letter’s content, characters and main themes, including love, guilt and imprisonment. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

This clear and detailed 42-page reading guide is structured as follows:

• Biography of Oscar Wilde
• Presentation of De Profundis
• Summary of De Profundis
• Character study
  • Oscar Wilde
  • Bosie
• Analysis of De Profundis
  • Blame and responsibility
  • Victimhood and suffering
  • Love and hate

About De Profundis

De Profundis was written during Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment in Reading Gaol, where he was serving two years’ hard labor for homosexual activity. It is addressed to his young lover Lord Alfred Douglas, known as Bosie, and details their relationship, Wilde’s mistreatment by both Bosie and society at large, and Wilde’s opinions on art and his own genius. Wilde was not actually able to send the letter; it was published after his untimely death by his literary executor and former lover, Robert Ross, who also gave the piece its title.

About Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was one of the best-known writers of the 19^th century, with works such as The Picture of Dorian Gray widely recognized as classics. He was a central figure of fashionable London society, known as much for his witticisms as for his writing. In spite of his apparent superficiality, he was an insightful critic and perceptive observer of human nature, as can be seen in his many works across a wide range of genres. However, his relationships with men scandalized his narrow-minded contemporaries, and after serving a two-year prison sentence, he died in poverty and obscurity in Paris in 1900.