Book: Oscar Wilde and Myself

Overview
Oscar Wilde and Myself, published in 1914 by Lord Alfred Douglas, is a first-person memoir that seeks to tell the story of Douglas's intimate relationship with Oscar Wilde and to answer the charges and controversies that followed Wilde's public downfall. The narrative combines recollection, documentary material, and pointed argument, aiming to reshape the record by presenting Douglas's version of events and motives. It is both a defense against accusations that he engineered or recklessly contributed to Wilde's ruin and an attempt to preserve the memory of their friendship as Douglas perceived it.

Relationship with Wilde
Douglas recounts the development of his relationship with Wilde from its beginnings through periods of intense affection, collaboration, and eventual estrangement. He emphasizes the emotional intensity and intellectual companionship that bound them, portraying moments of tenderness, mutual admiration, and shared aesthetic and literary interests. At the same time, he acknowledges the complexities of two very different temperaments: Wilde's flamboyance and need for social affirmation and Douglas's own volatility and susceptibility to jealousy, which together produced recurring tensions.

The Trials and Public Scandal
A central portion of the book focuses on the libel case Wilde brought against the Marquess of Queensberry and the subsequent criminal trials that led to Wilde's conviction and imprisonment. Douglas describes the sequence of events that culminated in the exposure of correspondence, the public unmasking of private matters, and the legal strategies that failed to protect Wilde. He disputes narratives that cast him as a calculating provocateur, insisting that many decisions were made by Wilde himself and that misunderstandings, legal misadvice, and a hostile press environment were crucial factors in the catastrophe.

Defense and Evidence
Douglas frames his account as corrective, presenting letters, dates, and anecdotes to rebut particular assertions circulating after the trials. He challenges the motives attributed to him by prosecutors and critics, arguing that his loyalty to Wilde was real even when it led to mistakes. Much of his argumentation is forensic in tone, picking apart claims about responsibility and intention and insisting on a more nuanced reading of events. Where documentary proof is lacking, he leans on memory and the context of their lives to justify his perspective, asking readers to consider how social mores and legal repression shaped the outcomes.

Tone and Legacy
The book's tone moves between elegy and invective: Douglas mourns the loss of Wilde's freedom and reputation while also railing against those he sees as hypocritical or malicious. His prose is frequently passionate, defensively candid, and occasionally self-justifying, which makes the memoir a revealing document of remorse, resentment, and enduring affection. As a historical source, the book is invaluable for the insight it offers into Douglas's mindset and for the material it preserves, but it should be read with awareness of its partisan aims and emotional coloration. Ultimately, Oscar Wilde and Myself stands as a personal testament that both commemorates Wilde and seeks to shape how future readers will judge a fraught and tragic chapter in both men's lives.