The Trials of Oscar Wilde: Deviance, Morality, and Late Victorian Society

In late-Victorian England, the renowned writer Oscar Wilde was convicted of “acts of gross indecency with men”. Analyzing the trial testimony and press coverage, historian Michael S. Foldy considers the climate of the times and argues that the prosecution of Wilde was directly linked to many larger social, cultural, and political issues that transcended simple moral concerns about his homosexuality.