Entertainment · Books & Arts · 4 hrs ago
John Boyne’s novel imagines Oscar Wilde avoiding prison
John Boyne’s novel The Weight of Angels asks what might have happened if Oscar Wilde had torn up the card that accused him of homosexuality in 1895.
In real life, Wilde brought a libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, was imprisoned and died in Paris five years later.
In the novel, Wilde avoids that fate and lives for decades longer, becoming a wealthy and celebrated writer.
The story moves across the years through scenes, letters, newspaper articles and imagined scripts.
The review says these changes of form keep the novel lively, and praises a scene about Wilde’s son leaving for the First World War.
But it argues that the novel does not show Wilde creating his imagined plays or explain what drives his writing.
It also says the character remains distant from the gay communities and ideas of his time, before eventually deciding to use his fame to help homosexuals.
John Boyne’s novel The Weight of Angels imagines Oscar Wilde tearing up the card that prompted the libel case leading to his imprisonment.
The Guardian review says the novel follows Wilde through an alternative life in which he avoids prison and becomes a successful writer.
The story spans decades, using letters, newspaper articles and hypothetical plays and films to move between times and places.
The review criticises the novel for keeping Wilde distant from queer communities and ideas, despite making his sexuality central to its themes.
- Who
- John Boyne wrote the novel, which imagines an alternative life for Oscar Wilde.
- What
- The Weight of Angels explores what might have happened if Wilde had torn up the card accusing him of sexual misconduct.
- When
- The novel’s story begins in 1895 and later reaches around 1930.
- Where
- The story involves London, Berlin and Paris. Wilde is described as living in a Mayfair mansion.
- Why
- The novel asks what might have happened if Wilde had not instigated the libel case that led to his imprisonment.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
posing as a somdomite
Four days after The Importance of Being Earnest opened, the Marquess of Queensberry left an accusatory card at Wilde’s club.
Wilde, in the novel, decides to use his status as a literary national treasure to help homosexuals.
- Author
- John Boyne
- Novel
- The Weight of Angels
- Opening year
- 1895
- Accusation on card
- posing as a somdomite
- Wilde’s residence
- A Mayfair mansion
- Later period
- Around 1930
Sources
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