Automatic writing is a pyschic ability that many claim allows them to produce written words without the act of actually writing. These written words are claimed to come from a supernatural, spiritual, or a subconscious source. Automatic writing, and other trance utterings, is what fills the pages of the Cross-correspondence scripts made by the Society of Psychical Reasearch (SPR). The scripts were supposed accounts of intelligible messages from beyond the grave or from teleapathy.

The Dangerous Drugs Act of 1920 was an Act which set out to control the import, export, distribution, and possession of drugs within the United Kingdom. Before this Act, drugs such as heroin, opium, cocaine, and morphine were used for medical and recreational use. Because these drugs were used so widely and without proper doses, it lead to multiple accounts of drug addiction. Drug addiction in the early 19th century was thought of as a disease.

Egyptomania was a Victorian fad that began as the result of Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt from 1798-1801. By the Victorian Era, as imperialism continued to expand and study of ancient cultures became popular, the appropriation of Egyptian relics and cultures came to England.  Egyptian aesthetic influenced décor and eventually Egyptomania led to macabre events, such as “unwrapping” parties, which involved obtaining a mummy to unwrap as a social event. These social events became so popular that one gentleman wrote that he had been to over forty of these unwrapping’s.

This history on Wilde brought a lot of new ideas into my head as we are getting ready to read some of his work in class. I am interested to see if there are any hints of homosexuality inside of his work. Some claimed that his work is what damned him as a gay because it was so evident within his writings. Others claim that there is no trace of homosexuality inside of his work and that he was able to keep his personal feelings out of his writings. I also thought it was interesting to read more about the community inside London and their knowledge of homosexuality.