The Soul of Man Under Socialism

Content Warning: This section references institutionalized anti-gay prejudice.

A well-known satirist, playwright, and poet, Oscar Wilde was born to Irish intellectuals in 1854. He would go on to become a celebrity figure before being tried and convicted for his sexual relationships with other men—a crime under 19th-century English law. Incarceration seriously damaged Wilde’s health, and he died in 1900. His best-known works include his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Grey, and several plays, including The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere’s Fan, and An Ideal Husband.

“The Soul of Man Under Socialism” is Wilde’s most overtly political text, but it also speaks to Wilde’s aesthetic sense—particularly his concerns about how moral judgment inhibits artistic expression. He indirectly references criticisms of his work in this essay, particularly in the sections dealing with the tyranny of public opinion and the role of journalism in perpetuating it. Prior to publishing this essay, Wilde had been a journalist himself; it was while reviewing work and spending time with Paris playwrights that he transitioned into theater writing. The essay is a marriage of these diverse interests to Wilde’s growing interest in anarchism after reading Kropotkin. Wilde had started his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas the same year, and this relationship likely informed the essay as well—e.