Oscar Wilde on Trial: The Criminal Proceedings, from Arrest to Imprisonment by Joseph Bristow (review)

Reviewed by: Oscar Wilde on Trial: The Criminal Proceedings, from Arrest to Imprisonment by Joseph Bristow Keegan Oscavich Oscar Wilde on Trial: The Criminal Proceedings, from Arrest to Imprisonment Joseph Bristow; pp. 629. Yale UP, 2022. 102. 73 cloth. Joseph bristow's Oscar Wilde on Trial: The Criminal Proceedings, from Arrest to Imprisonment delivers a comprehensive reconstruction of the infamous trials that would find Wilde imprisoned for two years. Bristow begins the book with an extensive preface and introduction, which help to contextualize the timeline of events. Following this, Bristow begins with Wilde's life pretrial and his evolving sexuality, as well as his development as a writer. Chapter 2 of the book focuses on Wilde's relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, and that takes readers up to Wilde's initial arrest and the beginning of the trial. It is here, in chapter 3, that the book begins to pick up steam and navigate the beginnings of the initial hearing, before taking readers through the entirety of the criminal proceedings. Chapters 4 and 5 cover the first and second trials, respectively, with chapter 6 focusing on Wilde's imprisonment and the effect this had on him. "Coda: Release" is the conclusion to the book and serves as an attempt at a socially triumphant heel-turn for Wilde, but the damage done to him by that point was undeniable. Oscar Wilde on Trial provides an in-depth examination of what Wilde went through during this period of his life and an as-accurate-as-possible recounting of the courtroom proceedings that would go on to irreparably damage the renowned writer's life and career. Bristow did well in organizing his material in the book, although it is not clear that the extent to which he delves into Wilde's life prior to the trial End Page 333 is wholly necessary. A shorter summary with some key events would have helped the pacing more than an entire first section of the book dedicated to Wilde's time at Trinity College Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford, up until the initial filing of the libel suit against Queensberry. This text reads and feels more like a Wildean scholar text (something of acute interest under the Wilde umbrella) than a text that is more foundational and all-encompassing. Bristow attempts to create that singular, encompassing text by placing a heavy emphasis on the book's first and last third, which deal more with Wilde's life than the specifics of the trial. This is not to say that the information fails to help contextualize the case, but a smaller amount of information about that time in Wilde's life would have sufficed. The book suffers from a lack of breathing room, making it easy to get lost on the page and to lose the overall scope of what is happening. Coupling long excerpts with extensive legal jargon, albeit watered down from a typical legal text, makes it easy to get lost. The moment-to-moment dialogue from the court cases reads easily enough, but some of the contextualizing paragraphs preceding and following these exchanges tend to become rather cumbersome. Bristow is thoroughly consistent about where he stands on matters. This is especially clear where, for example, he questions the legitimacy with which almost all of the testimonies were obtained, implying that coercion and threats were used to leverage many of the witnesses against Wilde. Beyond that, he also points out multiple flaws in the prosecution, particularly on the part of Gill (the lead prosecutor of the first trial) and Justice Will (the judge), and, subsequently, Lockwood (the prosecutor of the second trial). It becomes relatively clear through the dialogue exchanges that the prosecution had free range in its cross-examination, whereas the defence was continually shut down arbitrarily. Further, Bristow makes it clear that the level of punishment Wilde received was unjust and that such treatment continued once he was incarcerated. Perhaps most shocking in Bristow's collection of data regarding the trial is Wilde's uncharacteristic deflation, which serves to add additional impact to the shocking outcome of the trial. From the outset, Wilde is clearly devastated by the situation. I found myself. . .