Summary
Summary of De Profundis
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A letter from the depths
Oscar Wilde writes to Lord Alfred Douglas, whom he calls Bosie, from Reading Gaol. Once a celebrated writer, he is now serving a sentence of hard labour. Douglas's quarrels with his father helped bring Wilde to court, and their relationship lies at the heart of the letter.
The writing begins in accusation, but it does not stay there. Wilde turns toward his own failures, the meaning of sorrow and the figure of Christ. With no audience before him, he starts asking what remains after ruin.
Key idea 2
Prison leaves Wilde with himself
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Key idea 3
Douglas consumes money and creative time
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Key idea 4
Wilde accepts his own responsibility
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Key idea 5
Sorrow reveals another half of life
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Key idea 6
Christ offers a model of imagination
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Key idea 7
Humility means accepting the whole past
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Key idea 8
Facing failure means more than blame
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love confession, letters and moral reflection, and anyone curious about Wilde beyond his comedies. It also speaks to people living through loss or disgrace.
What this book is
De Profundis is a letter written by Oscar Wilde in Reading Gaol in the early months of 1897. Wilde had been convicted in 1895 of gross indecency and sentenced to two years of hard labour. The letter is addressed to Lord Alfred Douglas, the young man he called Bosie, whose quarrels with his own father had helped bring Wilde to court. The title was given later by his friend Robert Ross. It comes from the Latin opening of Psalm 130, which means out of the depths.
The letter is part accusation, part confession and part meditation. Wilde tells Douglas how he failed him, then turns to his own failings, to the meaning of sorrow, and to the figure of Christ. You get a rare thing here: a famous wit stripped of his audience, writing slowly and honestly about ruin. Let us begin with the strange conditions in which the letter was written.
In this summary
- 1A letter written in a prison cellFree
- 2Wilde blames Bosie for the wreck
- 3Wilde also blames himself
- 4Sorrow becomes a source of knowledge
- 5Christ as the artist and the individual
- 6Humility, a new life and the letter's fate
Key point 1 of 6
A letter written in a prison cell
By the time Wilde wrote this letter, his life had collapsed. In 1895 he had sued the Marquess of Queensberry, Douglas's father, for libel after the Marquess publicly accused him of immoral conduct. The case failed, and Wilde was himself arrested, tried and sent to prison. He was a famous playwright at the height of his success. Within weeks he was a convict with a number instead of a name.
Prison life was harsh. He was moved between jails, including Pentonville and Wandsworth, before he came to Reading in November 1895. Hard labour, poor food, silence and little light wore him down. For long periods he was allowed almost no books and no writing materials. His mother, Lady Wilde, died during his sentence, and he was not free to mourn her as he wished.
Only near the end of his term did a new governor allow him pen and paper. He wrote on numbered sheets, and each finished sheet was taken away by the prison authorities. When he left prison in May 1897, he gave the pages to Robert Ross, who had the letter copied and kept it safe.
That setting shapes everything that follows. Wilde has time, silence and pain, and nobody to perform for. The famous talker has been forced to listen to himself, and the letter is the result.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
Why does Wilde see Douglas's demands as especially damaging to his art?
Right. “A writer needs quiet to create, and Douglas gave him scenes, rages and endless quarrels.”Not quite. “A writer needs quiet to create, and Douglas gave him scenes, rages and endless quarrels.”
How does Wilde's understanding of sorrow change in prison?
Right. “He writes that where there is sorrow there is holy ground, and he insists that suffering is a way of knowing the world and oneself more deeply.”Not quite. “He writes that where there is sorrow there is holy ground, and he insists that suffering is a way of knowing the world and oneself more deeply.”
What does humility mean to Wilde?
Right. “He means a willingness to accept everything that has happened as part of himself, and to begin again from there.”Not quite. “He means a willingness to accept everything that has happened as part of himself, and to begin again from there.”
Questions about De Profundis
What is De Profundis about?
It is a letter Wilde wrote in prison to Lord Alfred Douglas. He reproaches Douglas for his selfishness, examines his own faults, and reflects on suffering, humility and the figure of Christ.
Why is it called De Profundis?
The title is Latin for out of the depths and comes from Psalm 130. Wilde's friend Robert Ross chose it, because the letter rises from the lowest point of Wilde's life.
Who was Bosie in De Profundis?
Bosie was Lord Alfred Douglas, a young poet and Wilde's close friend. His feud with his father, the Marquess of Queensberry, led to the lawsuit that ended in Wilde's imprisonment.
Was De Profundis ever sent to Lord Alfred Douglas?
Wilde gave the manuscript to Robert Ross when he left prison in 1897, and Ross kept it. It was published in part in 1905, and the full text appeared much later.
Is De Profundis hard to read?
The language is clear and often beautiful, and the letter is personal and sometimes bitter.
