While there is no denying that Wilde’s letter is a plea to have Bosie understand the misgivings of their relationship, it is also Wilde’s own attempt to understand for himself his own part in his fall. In addition to being an acknowledgement of his love for Bosie, Wilde’s point in De Profundis was to “restore the esteem and respect which his parents had held in public life before his humiliation” (Varty ix) while trying to explain himself to the lover who was responsible for his incarceration. Richard Ellman, Oscar Wilde biographer, notes that while on the surface the letter seems to be a bitter recognition of Bosie’s destructive influence on Wilde’s life, “the most important thing about De Profundis is that it is a love letter” (515).

Written by Oscar Wilde addressing his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, or, Bosie, the title of the eighty-page letter translates from Latin to “out of the depths.” The letter describes Wilde’s account of the events leading up to his imprisonment when he was convicted to two years hard time for “gross indecency.” While the letter is tinged with hatred and regret, Wilde makes a point to assign blame for the situation and outcome not just on Bosie and his father, but on Wilde himself.

Composed in January through March of 1897 in Reading Prison, Berkshire, De Profundis is a letter of “revelation of all that is feeblest in the writer” (Pearson 288).

Oscar wilde's de profundis