1 h 59 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 1 h 59 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What remains when a celebrated wit loses his freedom and has no audience left but the man he blames?
In Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde writes a long letter to Lord Alfred Douglas, the young man he calls Bosie. His career has collapsed, and their relationship lies at the heart of his anger and grief. De Profundis begins with accusations, but Wilde also turns his searching gaze on himself. Love and blame share the same page.
Part confession and part meditation, the letter asks what sorrow can teach someone who once lives for pleasure. Wilde examines his own failings and reflects on forgiveness, humility and the possibility of a different life. Reading the Gospels in prison, he considers Christ as an artist and individual, offering a personal reflection rather than a churchman's account.
What you’ll discover
- A letter without an audience Meet Wilde beyond his comedies, writing from a prison cell about love and ruin.
- Love tangled with blame Follow his reckoning with Bosie, where grief and accusation press against each other.
- An unflinching look inward Watch Wilde question his own choices rather than leave all responsibility with Douglas.
- Sorrow as a teacher Explore his changing sense of suffering, from mere misfortune to a source of knowledge.
- A personal vision of Christ Discover how Wilde's reading of the Gospels shapes his reflections on art and individuality.
Who will love it
This book will suit readers who love confession, beautiful sentences and big questions about suffering, pleasure and art. It speaks to anyone who has lost something dear and wants a mind of rare wit and honesty for company on the road back.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Suffering stops time and shrinks the world
- He blames only himself for the ruin
- Turn every humiliation into a spiritual gain
- Sorrow is the truth behind art and life
- Christ is the artist and the first individualist
- Love the sinner and live in the moment
- The artistic life, and the cruelty of the crowd
- Leaving prison toward nature and a new voice
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De Profundis
by Oscar Wilde · 1905
In a prison cell, a disgraced writer sets down a letter about sorrow, Christ and the art of starting again.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readEspañol
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In short
What does a man do when he loses his name, his money and his freedom, and then loses his children too? Oscar Wilde answers in De Profundis, a letter he wrote in prison in 1897, near the end of a two year sentence.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Suffering stops time and shrinks the world
The letter opens inside the cell, and the first lesson is about time. Wilde says suffering is one very long moment that cannot be cut into seasons. Planting and harvest belong to other people. For the prisoner there is one season only, the season of sorrow.
He lays out the blows that fell. His mother dies. He says he once mastered language, yet now he has no words for his shame, because he has dragged a noble family name through the mud. The law has taken his sons from him. People of his own class treat him as an outcast, while the poor say kindly that a man inside is simply in trouble.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1905
- Language
- Español
- Reading time
- 1 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Wilde, Oscar. De Profundis. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/de-profundis.
Wilde, O. (2026). De profundis. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/de-profundis (Original work published 1905)
Wilde, Oscar. De Profundis. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/de-profundis.
@book{wilde2026de,
author = {Wilde, Oscar},
title = {De Profundis},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/de-profundis},
note = {First published 1905}
}
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What is De Profundis about?
It is a letter from prison in which Wilde looks back on his ruin, takes blame for his own choices and finds in sorrow and humility the start of a new life. It also gives a portrait of Christ as an artist.
Who wrote De Profundis and when?
Oscar Wilde wrote it in 1897 while serving a two year sentence in Reading Gaol. It was meant as a letter to Lord Alfred Douglas, and it was published in part only after Wilde's death in 1900.
What does the title De Profundis mean?
It is Latin for out of the depths, the opening words of a psalm of pleading. The title suits a letter written from the lowest point of Wilde's life, with a cry rising toward hope.
The author
Oscar Wilde
1854–1900 · Irish playwright and poet
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish poet, playwright, and novelist born in Dublin. He lived in London and later in France, where he died in Paris. He published The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890. His play The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1895.
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