The prison where Oscar Wilde was imprisoned because of his homosexuality will become a cultural center

The prison in which the playwright lives Oscar Wilde He was locked up because of his homosexuality, which was considered a “deviation” from Victorian society at the end of the 19th century, and the British state has just sold it to a charity that will turn it into an educational center with a museum and space. For cultural activities, a proposal encouraged by artists such as Stephen Fry, Kate Winslet And Judi Dench.

The dark space caught the street artist's attention BanksyWho, in 2021, painted on one of the walls a picture of a prisoner escaping with a rope made of sheets of paper tied to a typewriter. He later offered to support the campaign to establish an arts center at the site by selling the model he used to design part of the mural.

he Reading Prison It was built in 1844, and if not for its famous reclusive presence, Oscar Wilde, would have remained forever unknown. In 1895, author The Picture of Dorian Gray He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment with hard labor because of his homosexuality, which British law at the time considered “gross indecency.”

Until then, Wilde was one of the most popular writers and critics in the United Kingdom, a status he maintained through his intellectual solidity and his public image as a married man with two children. But the family image was a facade hiding her preference for romantic relationships with men. The conservative society at that time allowed these practices under the implicit agreement that they were carried out in secret.

So how was it that the Creator? The importance of being called Ernesto Ended up being convicted and imprisoned for the “crime” of displaying unlawful sexual activity? The scandal broke out with a complaint from the Marquis of Queensberry, the father of her lover. Alfred DouglasWho publicly accused him of “sodomy.”

Wilde decided to fight back and sued Queensberry for libel, even though what was revealed at the trial revealed his homosexuality and turned against him.

“The love that dares not speak its name, and for which I am here today, is precious, it is okay, it is one of the noblest forms of affection that exist,” the playwright claimed in a claim that became famous. He was subsequently sentenced to two years' hard labor in Reading Prison.

His period of stay in this prison, which is 65 kilometers from London, was a very difficult period that affected the playwright’s health so much that he was later transferred to prisons with better conditions. From that experience he wrote Reading ghoul song.

When he was released from prison, Wilde went into exile in France and met Alfred in Naples in 1897, but they were only together for three months. His wife prevented him from visiting his two children, whom he never saw again. Many friends had abandoned him, fed up with his constant requests for money, and embarrassed by his appearance on the streets of Paris with dozens of young lovers. But the damage went beyond psychological damage. An ear infection he contracted in prison and treated negligently may have led to the meningitis that ended his life in exile on November 30, 1900.

Reading Prison officially closed in January 2014 and has been empty ever since. But in 2016, his cell hosted an exhibition entitled “Inside: Artists and Writers in Reading Prison,” composed of the works of thirty artists and writers such as Patti Smith, Colm Tóibin And Ai Weiwei Which offered a tribute to Wilde and a reflection on the experience of confinement and isolation.

In recent years, celebrities including Stephen Fry, Kate Winslet and Judi Dench have led a campaign to transform the building into a community and arts centre, an initiative that is about to come to fruition with the sale of the property to the Ziran educational charity. With relations with China.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed the news of the sale of the space, confirming that it had been sold to a non-profit educational institution for £7 million.

on Merlin HollandOscar Wilde's grandson and biographer said his grandfather would be “very happy if his stay in prison had any influence on the Justice Department's decision.” “I think turning it (Reading Prison) into an educational center and museum is absolutely fantastic and I think he would approve of it,” she said.

Source: Telam SE