Revisiting Oscar Wilde’s Case: Silence and Power Discourse in Neo Victorian Biofiction The Master (2004) and The New Life (2023)

Abstract

In 1895, the famous playwright Oscar Wilde was convicted for homosexuality and sentenced to two years imprisonment and hard labour. His trial has become a pivotal moment in LGBTQ history because it sparked conversations about a topic deemed taboo and even illegal in Victorian England. This article aims to further investigate the portrayal of Oscar Wilde’s case in two neo-Victorian biographical novels The Master (2004) by Colm Tóibín and The New Life (2023) by Tom Crewe. The focus is on the representation of the case (Oscar Wilde’s conviction) and other related narrative aspects, particularly the impacts on the protagonists and plot development. The texts are interpreted in reference to Michel Foucault’s concept of power and Eve Kosofsky’s Sedgwick closet metaphor. Research findings show that ‘silence’ is an important aspect of Victorian discourse formation about homosexuality, and the two novels (re)construct Oscar Wilde’s case as part of the narrative strategy to resist this mainstream discourse. The study’s findings support the idea that neo-Victorian biofiction is more than just a sort of nostalgia. It has become a powerful tool for criticising the past and bringing forth the historically silenced voice.