The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885 is Passed

Created by Elliott Dynes on Wed, 12/15/2021 - 20:33

Part of Group:

Oscar Wilde and British Aestheticism (F21 LITR 388 / LITR 379H Columbia College Chicago)

The Criminal Law Amendment Act was passed on the 14th of August, 1885. In section eleven of the document it claimed that any criminals guilty of gross indecency would be sentenced to two years of hard labor. Gross indecency, in this case, included sexual activities between two people of the same gender. This act is what would get Oscar Wilde imprisoned in 1895. The man responsible for this addition is named Henry Du Pre Labouchere. He was an opponent of homosexuality and pushed for a seven year sentence for every man charged with gross indecency. The lawmakers settled on two years of hard labor in jail for those convicted. In 1898, when the Prison Act was passed, it was found that two years of prison and hard labor was too severe and became shortened. 

The novel Against Nature, published in 1884, inspires this act because it describes the story of an aristocrat pleasuring himself through a series of perverse sexual acts, some of these having homosexual implications. Several years later, Emile Zola would go onto write the Germinal series, which also explores homosexual themes, that makes it’s way to England in 1885. The English government tried very hard to censor this novel to reduce the amount of people exposed to a homoexual thought process. While in the end the man responsible for translating the series to English was arrested under the The Criminal Law Amendment Act, the series still made its way to England. When a Picture of Dorian Grey was released, many reviewers compare it’s subtle homosexual implications to the work of Emile Zola, making reviewers subtly suggest that Wilde should be charged with gross indecency under The Criminal Law Amendment Act.

Sources: 

  1. https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/perversion-and-degeneracy-in-the-picture-of-dorian-gray 

   2. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-criminal-law-amendment-act-1885

Timeline

The Scot’s Observer Review is Published

circa. The start of the month Summer 1890

After A Picture of Dorian Gray was released in Lippincott’s magazine, The Scot’s Observer published their review of the novel on July 5th of 1890. The review is known for disapproving of the novel’s storyline, theme, and subtly suggesting that Oscar Wilde should be charged with gross indecency by referencing the “Cleveland Street Scandal.” The review begins with the critic claiming that there are plenty of healthy minded readers who shouldn’t waste their time reading about Oscar Wilde’s fake portrayal of human nature. They then accuse Oscar Wilde of preferring an immoral life rather than one promoted by the Evangelical Church present in England at the time. The review concludes that while Wilde is a talented writer, if he can only write for perverted telegraph boys and outlawed noblemen it’s better he just not write at all. 

Towards the end of the review, the critic mentions perverted telegraph boys. This was a reference to the Cleveland Street Scandal. In late 1889, the london police department discovered a male brothel, an individual who exchanges sexual activities for money, on Cleveland Street. This location supplied boys, from the nearby post office, for sex with high class gentlemen. One of the brothels and aristocratic gentlemen pleaded guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. The police authorities wished to silence the case because there were several politically important men involved within the scandal, including Lord Arthur Somerset, the Earl of Euston, and Prince Albert Victor. These authorities successfully delayed the investigation until many of these men got the chance to flee the country all together. If these important men were convicted in a court of law they most likely would’ve been charged with gross indecency, implemented by the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885. When the Scot’s Observer references this event they’re most likely indicating that Oscar Wilde should be charged with gross indecency for acts of homosexuality. 

Sources:

  1. bookmarks.reviews/an-1890-revi… 
  2. www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victor… 
  3. rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/18… 

Associated Places

No places have been associated with this event

by Elliott Dynes

Oscar Wilde Gets charged with Gross Indecency

The end of the month Spring 1895

After a libel trial that backfired on Oscar Wilde, he was found guilty for committing acts of gross indecency on May 25th, 1895. In April of 1894, John Sholto Douglas, also known as Queensberry, wrote to his son Alfred Douglas to stop all, possible homosexual, interactions with Oscar Wilde or he would cut off all money supplies going to him. Queensberry would go on to visit London’s Albemarle club and have the porter give Wilde a note from him that read “For Oscar Wilde, posing sodomite.” Wilde would be disgusted by this note and go on to accuse Queensberry of libel. The trials began in April of 1895 with the first trial focusing more on Wilde’s possible past relationships with men. Throughout the first trial’s dates, Queensberry was not called to testify at any time. 

Wilde withdrew his libel accusation and would be accused of gross indecency beginning April 26th 1895. While this second trial failed to imprison Wilde, the third trial was more focused and reportedly weaker witnesses were dropped from the stand when it began. The prosecutor claimed that the court must show that Wilde is a guilty man through the verdict of the trial. Several hours later, on the trial date, Oscar Wilde was convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years of hard labor in jail. His family would end up moving away to Switzerland and changing their last name to “Holland” to distance themselves from Wilde. Two years later Wilde would be released from prison and pass away bankrupt in France. 

Sources: 

  1. www.history.com/this-day-in-hi… 

  2.  www.biography.com/news/oscar-w…


Associated Places

No places have been associated with this event

by Elliott Dynes

The Scot’s Observer Review is Published

Oscar Wilde Gets charged with Gross Indecency

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Chronological table

Displaying 1 - 2 of 2
Date Event Created by Associated Places
circa. The start of the month Summer 1890

The Scot’s Observer Review is Published

After A Picture of Dorian Gray was released in Lippincott’s magazine, The Scot’s Observer published their review of the novel on July 5th of 1890. The review is known for disapproving of the novel’s storyline, theme, and subtly suggesting that Oscar Wilde should be charged with gross indecency by referencing the “Cleveland Street Scandal.” The review begins with the critic claiming that there are plenty of healthy minded readers who shouldn’t waste their time reading about Oscar Wilde’s fake portrayal of human nature. They then accuse Oscar Wilde of preferring an immoral life rather than one promoted by the Evangelical Church present in England at the time. The review concludes that while Wilde is a talented writer, if he can only write for perverted telegraph boys and outlawed noblemen it’s better he just not write at all. 

Towards the end of the review, the critic mentions perverted telegraph boys. This was a reference to the Cleveland Street Scandal. In late 1889, the london police department discovered a male brothel, an individual who exchanges sexual activities for money, on Cleveland Street. This location supplied boys, from the nearby post office, for sex with high class gentlemen. One of the brothels and aristocratic gentlemen pleaded guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. The police authorities wished to silence the case because there were several politically important men involved within the scandal, including Lord Arthur Somerset, the Earl of Euston, and Prince Albert Victor. These authorities successfully delayed the investigation until many of these men got the chance to flee the country all together. If these important men were convicted in a court of law they most likely would’ve been charged with gross indecency, implemented by the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885. When the Scot’s Observer references this event they’re most likely indicating that Oscar Wilde should be charged with gross indecency for acts of homosexuality. 

Sources:

  1. https://bookmarks.reviews/an-1890-review-of-the-picture-of-dorian-gray/ 
  2. https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/perversion-and-degeneracy-in-the-picture-of-dorian-gray 
  3. https://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1889clev.htm 
 Elliott Dynes
The end of the month Spring 1895

Oscar Wilde Gets charged with Gross Indecency

After a libel trial that backfired on Oscar Wilde, he was found guilty for committing acts of gross indecency on May 25th, 1895. In April of 1894, John Sholto Douglas, also known as Queensberry, wrote to his son Alfred Douglas to stop all, possible homosexual, interactions with Oscar Wilde or he would cut off all money supplies going to him. Queensberry would go on to visit London’s Albemarle club and have the porter give Wilde a note from him that read “For Oscar Wilde, posing sodomite.” Wilde would be disgusted by this note and go on to accuse Queensberry of libel. The trials began in April of 1895 with the first trial focusing more on Wilde’s possible past relationships with men. Throughout the first trial’s dates, Queensberry was not called to testify at any time. 

Wilde withdrew his libel accusation and would be accused of gross indecency beginning April 26th 1895. While this second trial failed to imprison Wilde, the third trial was more focused and reportedly weaker witnesses were dropped from the stand when it began. The prosecutor claimed that the court must show that Wilde is a guilty man through the verdict of the trial. Several hours later, on the trial date, Oscar Wilde was convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years of hard labor in jail. His family would end up moving away to Switzerland and changing their last name to “Holland” to distance themselves from Wilde. Two years later Wilde would be released from prison and pass away bankrupt in France. 

Sources: 

  1. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oscar-wilde-is-sent-to-prison-for-indecency 

  2.  https://www.biography.com/news/oscar-wilde-trials-downfall-gross-indecency

 Elliott Dynes