There are few historical characters whose stories remain powerful long after their deaths. One such person is Oscar Wilde, the playwright, wit and gay icon who ultimately couldn't help being the author of his own destruction. Like many, I've always been drawn to the story of Wilde's dramatic rise and fall, so I was immediately intrigued by the premise of John Boyne's latest novel, ‘The Weight of Angels’, an expansive reimagining of the life of Oscar Wilde.
Turning Point
In 1895, the Marquis of Queensbury, enraged father of Wilde’s feckless lover, Lord Alfred ‘Bosie’ Douglas, left a calling card at the writer’s club. It said “For Oscar Wilde, posing as Somdomite”, a dangerous (if misspelled) accusation when homosexuality was illegal. In real life, Wilde sued for libel, an act which ultimately led to his own arrest, imprisonment and death at just 46. In Boyne’s fiction, the writer asks what if Wilde had resisted temptation and not taken Queensbury to court?
Rarely Pure, Never Simple
The Wilde of ‘The Weight of Angels’ lives the life many wish he had had. He writes more successful plays. He produces more acclaimed novels. He even finds love. But this book is not just about fandom and wish-fulfilment. Boyne also explores how Wilde may have reacted to uncomfortable truths; contemporaries’ paedophilia, state violence against suffragettes, his Anglo-Irish heritage during the war of independence, and, of course, homosexuality being against the law. Boyne manages to scratch the itch of giving readers more of their hero, while challenging us to wonder if he would have been a hero at all.
Words and Witicisms
Despite being a long book, ‘The Weight of Angels’ is engrossing and, for the most part, believable. You can hear Wilde’s voice in the hilarious conversations and bitchy remarks. His circle of celebrity and royal associates is plausible too. But the older he gets, the more forced the plot feels, especially considering his champagne lifestyle and lack of exercise. Boyne clearly decided he wanted Wilde to live to a certain date, and was prepared to stretch credulity to get there.
Overall
The times in which he lived mean much of the real Wilde’s life is unknowable, which, combined with his story arc, make him endlessly fascinating. He was a man of contradictions, presenting one image on stage and at dinner parties, but a very different one at clubs and in brothels. ‘The Weight of Angels’ manages to capture both the limelight and the impenetrable shadows of one of the great figures of the late 19th century in both their glory and shame, and encourages us to ask the question ‘what if..?’
Now, what next...?
