The Pretrial Hearing: Arraignment and Committal of Oscar Wilde and Alfred Taylor at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court

Abstract

This chapter recounts Oscar Wilde's appearance at the Bow Street Magistrates' Court, which exposed the range of his outlawed homosexual activities. It looks at lengthy revelations, which included Alfred Wood's calm and collected statement that Wilde committed sodomy with him at the family home on Tite Street. The confessions of Wood, along with Charles Parker and Frederick Atkins's, gripped the nation and ensured that the magistrates' court was packed with reporters, along with members of the public who relished the spectator sport that arose from such scandals. The chapter talks about Wilde's betrayal by a series of young men on whom he had bestowed many favors, causing him to understandably have much on his mind. Besides the prospect of long-term imprisonment and the immense burden of debt that Wilde had to bear, the welfare of his wife and children weighed heavily upon him.