Oscar Wilde autobiographical letter

• Five key devices

  1 - chiasmas = passion

  2 - antithetical semantic fields = life as it is vs life as he wants it to be - shift in ideals due to circumstances of imprisonment

  3 - abstract nouns = all based on societal standards rather than literal criminality and wrong doings

  4 - triadic structuring = passion, pleasing flow and lyricalism = skill

  5 - tonal shift = realisation
• Audience?

  Wilde fans

  His lover (Bosey) + himself, shown through his DIEXIS that only those who knew him would be able to understand
• Purpose?

  To share an account of his life

  To reflect in a considered and contemplative way

  To influence reader to refuse societal standards, conformity is ruin

  To send to his lover, the less personal aspects show assumed knowledge
• Context?

  Wilde = poet and playwright born in 1854

  Arrested for his homosexual relationship with 'bosie'

  Written in the form of a long letter adressed to 'Lord Alfred Douglas' (lover) yet his love had turned into bitterness at the time of writing
• Voice?

  Bitter

  Hurt

  Passionate

  Contemplational
• 'de profundis' 


  The title of his letter is latin for 'from the depths', which could represent his feelings of imprisonment and danger that were once present in his life.
• 'when my father sent me to oxford and society sent me to prison' 


  syntactic parralelism = dramatic change yet lacking difference?

  lack of control over life

  'society' = abstract collective noun, shared rules and views sent him rather than his wrongdoings - showing the corruption of UC + power + society
• 'i turned the good things of my life to evil, and the evil things of my life to good.' 


  rejection of societal standards

  deixis = sense of mystery and privacy

  syntactic parralellism
• 'maimed, married and incomplete' 


  syndetic triadic list emphasises passion, passion against living the rest of his life as society wants him to live.

  complex sentances and triadic structuring = lyrical and poetic - showing his skill
• topicality 


  Wilde doesnt believe in the shallowness of society, the collectivity of it.

  He thinks people must make up their own minds - rejecting influence of society

  Conformity is ruin
• 'it is no less a denial of the soul' 


  minor sentance conclusion = sounds sure of himself finally

  this piece acts as a contemplation of his thoughts, and in the end he has decided that society was wrong for what they did
• overall tone

  philosophical / reflective

  no bitterness
• Mode?

  Autobiographical letter

  More formal than normal autobiography - shows time period + his skill as a writer

  Confessional tone

  Philosophical shows thought process