Wilde's Women: How Oscar Wilde Was Shaped by the Women of His Life

by Eleanor Fitzsimons

Overview

A fresh, revealing, and entertaining account of the most notorious figure of his age and the women who inspired him.Oscar Wilde famously insisted that "there should be no law for anybody," and his devotion to personal liberty made him a staunch defender of gender equality. Women were central to his life and career.Wilde's Women is the first book to tell the story of the female family members, friends, and colleagues who traded witticisms with Wilde, who gave him access to vital publicity, and to whose ideas he gave expression through his social comedies.In this essential new work, Eleanor Fitzsimons reframes Wilde's story and his legacy through the women in his life, including such scintillating figures as Florence Balcombe; actress Lillie Langtry; and his tragic and witty niece, Dolly, who, like Wilde, loved fast cars, cocaine, and foreign women. Fresh revealing, and entertaining, full of fascinating detail and anecdotes, Wilde's Women relates the untold story of how a beloved writer and libertine played a vitally sympathetic role on behalf of many women, and how they supported him in the midst of a Victorian society in the process of changing forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781468312669
Publisher:	The Overlook Press
Publication date:	01/19/2016
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Eleanor Fitzsimons is a researcher, writer, journalist and occasional broadcaster specialising in historical and current feminist issues. She has an MA in Women, Gender and Society from University College Dublin. Her work has been published in a range of newspapers and journals including The Sunday Times, The Guardian, History Today and The Irish Times, and she is a regular radio and television contributor.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Introduction ix

1 The Real Mrs Erlynne 1

2 The Precocious Miss Elgee 15

3 Taming Speranza 30

4 Lost Sisters and an Earlier Libel Trial 43

5 'The Sweetest Years' 57

6 'Tea and Beauties' 71

7 'How Different an Actress Is!' 86

8 "The Paradise for Women" 100

9 The Revolutionary and the Duchess 115

10 Speranza's Saturdays 130

11 Married Life 144

12 Entering the Woman's World 159

13 Stories for Girls 174

14 In the Footsteps of Ouida 188

15 The Perfect Salomé 203

16 Deadly Serious Social Comedies 217

17 A Less than Ideal Husband 233

18 The Wittiest Woman in the World 247

19 'Death Must Be So Beautiful' 262

20 Not Much to Laugh About 276

21 'The World Rings with His Infamy' 290

Epilogue: A Wilde Legacy 307

Acknowledgements 311

Selected Bibliography 313

Notes and References 319

Index 365

Editorial Reviews

In Wilde’s Women, Eleanor Fitzsimons reminds us of the many writers, actresses, political activists, professional beauties and aristocratic ladies who helped shape the life and legend of the era’s greatest wit, esthete and sexual martyr . . . provide[s] a potted biography of the multitalented writer and gay icon . . . highly enjoyable.”

The Washington Post

Full of fascinating detail and anecdotes WILDE'S WOMEN relates the untold story of how the writer played a vitally sympathetic role on behalf of many women and how they supported him in the midst of a Victorian society in the process of changing forever.”

Irish American News

Fitzsimons brilliantly calls attention to the progressive ideas and beliefs which drew the most daring and interesting women of the time to his side. The depth and painstaking care of Fitzsimons’ research is a fitting tribute to Wilde’s fascinating life and exquisite writing – and really, what better compliment is there than that?

High Voltage Magazine

11/15/2015
Oscar Wilde's life (1854–1900) has often been examined through his relationships with men, but less has been said about the place of women in his life. Researcher and journalist Fitzsimons has corrected that, showing that Wilde cultivated friendships and collaborated with intelligent, often unconventional, women. He wrote poetry, stories, and plays for and about them, and promoted their work. Wilde even served as the editor for The Woman's World, a protofeminist magazine. In return, his female contemporaries advanced his writings, helped him establish connections, and sometimes funded his plays. The book's focus is on the women, who they were, and their relationship with Wilde. Without their support and influence, one is left wondering if Wilde's output would have been such a success. VERDICT A well-written, deeply researched, and detailed biographical portrait of the many women in Wilde's life, from his mother and wife to actresses and socialites. While written for a general audience, the book is most likely to appeal to students and scholars of Wilde rather than casual readers.—Stefanie Hollmichel, Univ. of St. Thomas Law Lib., Minneapolis

Library Journal

2015-09-21
A lively debut biography of the flamboyant Irish writer. Journalist Fitzsimons takes a fresh perspective on the defiant, often outrageous playwright, poet, and novelist Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), focusing on the women who loved and supported him. Drawing on rich archival sources, 19th-century newspapers, and journals, memoirs, and biographies, Fitzsimons creates sharply drawn portraits of a colorful cast of characters. Some of these women— notably, the elegant actress Lillie Langtry and the legendary Sarah Bernhardt—proved to be creative inspirations, but others played minor, if entertaining, roles in Wilde's life. As Langtry's escort, 25-year-old Wilde became "one of the most talked-about men" in London. As for Bernhardt, Wilde "somewhat modeled himself" on her, a friend remarked. During his American tour in 1882, lecturing to mostly female audiences wearing "knee britches, black silk stockings, and shoes with glittering buckles" and sporting a sunflower in the lapel of his velvet coat, he so delighted his listeners that they showered him with rose petals. In Boston, he was feted by activist Julia Ward Howe, whose guests included Isabella Stewart Gardner; and in New York, by writer Kate Field, who hosted a gathering for him—as she had done for Dickens, George Eliot, and Mark Twain. Surely the most flamboyant woman in Wilde's life was his eccentric mother, Jane, who doted on him. "There is one thing in the world worth living for, and that is sin," Jane once said. And surely the woman he most hurt was his gentle, compassionate wife, Constance. Fitzsimons reveals Wilde as more than an admirer but also a champion of women. As founder and editor of a magazine, The Woman's World, he aimed "to foster a sense of sisterhood," promote political and social reform, and provide an outlet for "the thought and culture" of his articulate female contemporaries. A brisk, sympathetic look at an understudied aspect of Wilde's eventful life.

Kirkus Reviews