The story of Oscar Wilde after his trial for gross indecency in 1895 and his subsequent imprisonment in Reading Gaol was, said George Bernard Shaw, comedy rather than tragedy, given the hero’s invincible spirit. Certainly there was an element of farce about his after-life following his exile from England. Yet the other victims of the drama, for whom the whole thing was truly tragic, were his unfortunate wife, Constance, and his two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. Their names were given to the protagonists in Wilde’s immortal essay, The Decay of Lying, but at the time they were little boys with whom their father loved playing. After the trial, his wife and sons bore the brunt of his infamy. Constance and Wilde were kept apart by her family and friends and even Wilde’s friends managed to alienate the couple by misrepresenting his wishes about her estate. She was never allowed to follow her instinct for reconciliation, and by the time she did offer, he had already set off for Naples with Lord Alfred Douglas.
Merlin Holland is Wilde’s grandson and Vyvyan’s son; his account of what happened to his family is peppered with the saddest words in the language: “If only…”
