De Profundis

“I blame myself for allowing an unintellectual friendship, a friendship whose primary aim was not the creation and contemplation of beautiful things, to entirely dominate my life.” 

Wilde states that no one is responsible for his ruin but himself because no one can ruin a man except himself. This quote alludes to the nature of Wilde’s relationships to both Bosie and his art. The reader understands that Bosie possessed a destructive and vain nature that forced Wilde to ignore his priorities, such as his pursuit of beauty and intellect, to sustain his relationship with Bosie.

“But in the case of an artist, weakness is nothing less than a crime, when it is a weakness that paralyses the imagination.”

Imagination plays an important role in Wilde’s thought, as it allows not only for creativity but also for communal and shared experiences with others. As such, it fosters love in the purest sense. In the case of the artist who, much like Christ, strives to embrace the human self and give it voice, the lack of imagination is detrimental.

“Plain living and high thinking.”

Wilde quotes Wordsworth’s “Sonnet written in London,” which was published in 1802. He quotes Wordsworth in an attempt to show Bosie the corrupting nature of a lavish and decadent lifestyle. He argues that such a way of life destroys one’s intellect.