Oscar Wilde is released from prison

THIS MONTH... 1897 ANNIVERSARIES THAT HAVE MADE HISTORY

- Emma Slattery Williams

DID YOU KNOW:

LOVE BITES

During his youth in Ireland, Oscar Wilde was particularly close to a girl named Florence Balcombe. However, she went on to marry Dracula author Bram Stoker in Dublin in 1878 - a decision that devastated Wilde at the time.

No crowds gathered in May 1897 to see Oscar Wilde's release from prison. Although Wilde had once been the most famous man in London, celebrated as much for his witticisms and dandyism as his writing, his release took place with little fanfare. It was all in sharp contrast to the scandal caused by the infamous trials that led to the poet and playwright's imprisonment; court cases that revealed Wilde's homosexuality to the wider world.

The lack of reporters was a matter of design. On 18 May 1897, Wilde, who spent most of his two-year sentence in Reading Gaol, was quietly transferred to Pentonville. On his release the next day, Wilde was met by More Adey, his friend and editor, and Stewart Headlam, an Anglican vicar who, even though he had never personally met Wilde, had put up bail money on Wilde's behalf. Once at Headlam's home, Wilde put on a fresh set of clothes and basked in his freedom. Soon, he was excitedly discussing the many books he had asked people to buy for him, including works by John Keats, Alexandre Dumas and Dante. That evening, Wilde sailed to France and, never to return to Britain, an impoverished existence in exile.