Oscar Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900)
Babbacombe
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde
was an Irish writer and poet. After
writing in different forms throughout
the 1880s, he became one of
London's most popular playwrights in
the early 1890s. Today he is
remembered for his epigrams, plays
and the circumstances of his
imprisonment, followed by his early
death.
Oscar Wilde was one of the most
well-known personalities of his day,
regarded for his biting wit, flamboyant dress, and sparkling conversation.
He became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era
with a series of social satires, such as The Importance of Being Earnest.
However, it was his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray that brought him
lasting recognition.
In 1892, Wilde, then 37, came to stay at Babbacombe Cliff. The Wildes
borrowed the house from Lady Mount-Temple, his wife’s distant cousin, a
wealthy patron of the arts and a friend of John Ruskin.
It was at Babbacombe Cliff during the winter of 1892-3 that Wilde completed
his plays A Woman of No Importance, Salome and Lady Windemere’s Fan.
He wrote to Lord Alfred (Bosie) Douglas: “It is a lovely place, it only lacks
you.” With Constance abroad, Bosie was on the next train to Devon.
Lady Mount-Temple’s boudoir was named Wonderland. Oscar lived there in
her absence, and it was there that he entertained Bosie. For Dodgson,
Wonderland was “the most artistic of all the rooms”.
In April 1895, Bosie’s father, the Marquis of Queensberry, made allegations of
homosexuality against Wilde. Oscar sued for libel, but lost. After details of his
private life were revealed during the trial, Wilde was arrested and tried for
gross indecency. He was sentenced to two years of hard labour in Reading
Gaol. Upon his release, he left for France, never to return. He died destitute in
Paris at the age of 46.
Babbacombe Cliff remains among the best times of Wilde’s life.
According to his biographer, Rupert Croft-Cooke: “There was no time happier,
more irresponsibly mirthful and untroubled by cares of any kind, than the four
months he spent at the house in Babbacombe.”