Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Oscar Wilde
-
Standard Name: Wilde, Oscar
Birth Name: Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde
OW
's significance as poet, playwright, and writer of prose fiction, remained in eclipse for many years after his notorious trial and imprisonment in Reading Gaol
, events whose chilling impact on poetry and prose in England was not reversed until the modernists returned to the struggle for unfettered aesthetic expression. A leading proponent of art for art's sake in England, OW
was a follower of Walter Pater
, from whose work he borrows in lavish quantity, and, like Pater, he was much influenced by the French l'art pour l'art poets, notably Charles Baudelaire
and Théophile Gautier
.
Clements, Patricia. Baudelaire and the English Tradition. Princeton University Press.
140-83
More recently, his brilliant aesthetic essays have drawn serious attention as the basis for many critical propositions . . . which we like to attribute to more ponderous names.
Ellmann, Richard, editor. The Critic as Artist: Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde. Random House.
x
His notoriety as a casualty of oppressive laws against the practice of homosexuality is also the subject of a good deal of recent critical comment.
JFLW
discovered that her husband's death had left the family with considerable debts. His estate was primarily divided between the sons, Willie
and Oscar
, and while his widow nominally received about £100 to £150...
Friends, Associates
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
In London JFLW
associated with writers such as Marie Corelli
, Ouida
, and Violet Hunt
. Oscar
, an emerging celebrity, introduced his mother to the city's artistic circle.
Wealth and Poverty
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
By the time JFLW
moved to Oakley Street, her finances were greatly reduced. A day after arriving at the new house, she asked to borrow a sovereign from Constance
. Proper household management became difficult...
Literary responses
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
The future JFLW
's early verse inspired many to submit articles to the Nation.
Wyndham, Horace. Speranza. T. V. Boardman.
27-8
Charles Duffy
described her writing as a substantial force in Irish politics, the vehement will of a woman of...
Intertextuality and Influence
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
Elgee's translation gained this novel a wider audience. In later years Dante Gabriel Rossetti
developed a positive passion for it, and it became very popular with the Pre-Raphaelites
.
Murray, Isobel. “Sidonia the Sorceress: Pre-Raphaelite Cult Book”. Durham University Journal, Vol.
Biographer Joy Melville
notes that a bibliography of Swedenborg's work lists Speranza as the translator but, pages later denies her this role. In his biography of Oscar Wilde
, Richard Ellmann
credits her with the...
Textual Production
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
While pregnant with her second son this year, she found writing a difficult fit with her family life. She expressed in her letters a suspicion that her heart had cooled down into such a dull...
Dedications
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
The first edition's dedication to her sons Willie
and Oscar
says: I taught them, no doubt, / That country's a thing one should die for at need.
Ellmann, Richard. Oscar Wilde. Knopf.
4-5
Later editions published as Poems by Speranza...
Reception
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
Following the death of her husband
, JFLW
wrote to Sir Thomas Larcom
, hoping he could help secure her a government pension.
Melville, Joy. Mother of Oscar. John Murray.
143
In his reply, Larcom explained that only the Prime Minister could...
Family and Intimate relationships
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
Jane Francesca Wilde
(Speranza) gave birth to her elder son, named Willie
; he died in 1899 while his brother Oscar
was in prison.
Ellmann, Richard. Oscar Wilde. Knopf.
16
Glendinning, Victoria. “Speranza: A Leaning Tower of Courage”. Genius in the Drawing-Room, edited by Peter Quennell, Weidenfield and Nicolson, pp. 101-16.
113
Reception
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
By 16 November 1888, she had also received a grant of £100 from the Royal Literary Fund
. Her son Oscar Wilde
helped her to secure both pensions.
Melville, Joy. Mother of Oscar. John Murray.
222
Leighton, Angela, and Margaret Reynolds, editors. Victorian Women Poets: An Anthology. Blackwell.
292
Family and Intimate relationships
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
Oscar Wilde
, son of JFLW
, stayed with her in Chelsea after being released on bail following his arrest in April.
Glendinning, Victoria. “Speranza: A Leaning Tower of Courage”. Genius in the Drawing-Room, edited by Peter Quennell, Weidenfield and Nicolson, pp. 101-16.
112
Anthologization
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
Some of her essays and stories were also collected this year in volume 14 of The Writings of Oscar Wilde.
Thesing, William B., editor. Dictionary of Literary Biography 199. Gale Research.
199: 298
death
Jane Francesca, Lady Wilde
JFLW
, commonly known under her pen-name Speranza, died of complications from bronchitis while her son Oscar
was serving his prison sentence.
Glendinning, Victoria. “Speranza: A Leaning Tower of Courage”. Genius in the Drawing-Room, edited by Peter Quennell, Weidenfield and Nicolson, pp. 101-16.