De profundis

by Oscar Wilde

"De profundis" by Oscar Wilde is a letter written between January and March 1897 during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol. Addressed to his former lover Lord Alfred Douglas, the letter chronicles their tumultuous relationship and the events leading to Wilde's conviction for gross indecency. In its pages, Wilde examines both Douglas's vanity and his own failings, before charting his spiritual transformation in prison and identification with Christ as a romantic artist. Written under strict supervision and never sent, this deeply personal document reveals a broken man seeking meaning through suffering.