He is one of the most famous Irish writers in history. Let's follow inOscar Wilde's footstepsin Paris. Born in Dublin in 1854, Oscar Wilde grew up in a wealthy family. From his early teens and the start of his studies at Oxford , from which he graduated with honors, he began to build a character as a provocative dandy in extravagant costumes, and affirmed his taste for a quirky, decadent aesthetic.
After a critically acclaimed first collection of poems and a series of lectures in the United States, Wilde turned his attention to writing plays, essays and poetry, shortly after marrying Constance Lloyd, who bore him two sons. But in 1891, the writer met Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, who quickly became his lover. In love, the two men led a dissolute life, and Oscar Wilde went public with his homosexuality, which was still punishable by law at the time.
Alfred Douglas's father, the Marquess of Queensburry, opposed the couple formed by his son and Oscar Wilde, and sued the author. At the heart of a resounding scandal, Oscar Wilde found himself sentenced in 1895 to two years' hard labor, the penalty then reserved for those guilty of homosexuality. Released two years later, Wilde soon found his way back to his lover. When his wife found out, she cut him off for good. This marked the beginning of a period of total destitution for Oscar Wilde, from which he never recovered.
On November 30, 1900, the author of The Portrait of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Canterville Ghost died at the age of 46 of meningitis in a shabby Paris hotel where, ruined and vilified, he had taken refuge for three years. Throughout his life, which began in comfort and glory, and ended in solitude, decay and total destitution, Oscar Wilde developed a special bond with Paris.
From the Parisian cafés where he frequented many of the artists and writers of his time - Marcel Proust, Pierre Louÿs, André Gide, Victor Hugo, Verlaine, Sarah Bernhardt and the Goncourt gang, to name but a few - to the hotel room where he ended his life, to the theater where his only French-language play premiered, to the Père Lachaise cemetery, his final resting place, walk in the footsteps of Oscar Wilde in Paris.
L'HOTEL DU QUAI VOLTAIRE
19, quai Voltaire 75007
Oscar Wilde, then a dashing, unmarried 20-year-old student, stayed at theHotel du Quai Voltaire in 1874, on his first visit to Paris with his mother. In 1883, the artist returned to this charming hotel overlooking the Seine, the Louvre Museum and the Tuileries Gardens, but not before first staying at theHotel Continental, which he soon left for fear of running out of money. Wilde finally opted for this slightly more modest hotel on the Left Bank, settling into room 14.
During his three-month stay, Wilde visited Victor Hugo, who was very old at the time, and met Sarah Bernhardt and Verlaine. Still open today, the Quai Voltaire hotel has seen many artists pass through its doors, including Richard Wagner, who composed part of Les Maîtres Chanteurs, Pissaro, who painted several of his canvases there, and Charles Baudelaire, who wrote Les Fleurs du Mal - a commemorative plaque on the façade commemorates the poet's presence.
LE CAFÉ DE FLORE ET LES DEUX MAGOTS
172, boulevard Saint-Germain 75006
Like many artists of the time, Oscar Wilde frequented the Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots, two Saint-Germain-des-Prés institutions. Here he met the crème de la crème of French literature, including Stéphane Mallarmé, André Gide, Verlaine and Victor Hugo, whom he saw regularly at the Closerie des Lilas. But Wilde also liked to frequent the capital's underworld, where artists, poets and bad boys mingled.
L'HOTEL WAGRAM
208, rue de Rivoli 75001
It was to this hotel that Oscar Wilde stayed in 1884, on his honeymoon with Constance Lloyd. The palace, located at 208 rue de Rivoli, has now disappeared.
29, BOULEVARD DES CAPUCINES 75002
In 1891, Wilde rented an apartment in one of his favorite neighborhoods, the Grands Boulevards. It was during this period that he met André Gide at the Café de la Paix, as well as theParnassian writer, dandy and homosexual like himself, Jean Lorrain, and many other Parisian intellectuals.
It was also in this apartment that he wrote Salomé. Dedicated to Pierre Loüys, his one and only French-language play was censored by the Lord Chamberlain on the grounds that it was illegal to depict biblical characters on stage. Outraged, Wilde considered renouncing his British nationality and becoming French, so as to avoid such restrictions. He returned to the same apartment on Boulevard des Capucines the following year.
LA COMÉDIE PARISIENNE
7, rue Boudreau 75009
While Wilde was imprisoned in Reading gaol for homosexuality, the adaptation of his play Salomé was premiered in 1896 at the Comédie Parisienne, by the Théâtre de l'Œuvre company. This Italian-style theater, listed as a historical monument, has since been renamed Théâtre de l'Athénée Louis-Jouvet.
L'HÔTEL DES DEUX MONDES
22, avenue de l'Opéra 75001
At number 22 Avenue de l'Opéra was theHôtel des Deux Mondes, frequented by Oscar Wilde and his lover Bosie in May 1893. The latter returned two years later, writing: "My dear Oscar, I have just arrived here. It seems too dreadful to be without you, but I sincerely hope you will join me next week. (...) I'm your loving, devoted boy. Bosie". A hot spot in the 1890s, the hotel eventually closed its doors in 1940; nothing remains of it today.
L'HÔTEL LOUVRE MARSOLLIER
13, rue Marsollier 75002
Towards the end of his life, Wilde also stayed at theHôtel Louvre Marsollier, notably in 1899. Still open today, the establishment pays tribute to its former resident through its idolized decor.
L'HÔTEL D'ALSACE
13, rue des Beaux Arts 75006
Abandoned by everyone after two years of hard labor, Oscar Wilde found refuge in March 1898 at theHôtel d'Alsace, a shabby "fourth-rate" hotel run by Jean Dupoirier, as the writer's friends called it. The proprietor agreed to provide free lodgings for the artist, who checked in under the assumed name of Sebastian Melmoth. For three years, ruined and ill, Wilde wrote no more lines and never left the bed in his room overlooking the garden. Distressed by the hotel's shabby state, the writer is quoted as saying: "My wallpaper and I are engaged in a duel to the death. One or the other of us is going to have to go." Suffering from an ear infection, Wilde underwent surgery at the hotel, but the wound became infected. He died of meningitis on November 30, 1900, at the age of 46. Before leaving, he offered himself a glass of champagne, proclaiming, "I'm dying beyond my means."
The hotel, later home to Gainsbourg and Jim Morrison, is now one of the smallest five-star hotels in Paris. Soberly renamed L'Hôtel, the establishment has reconstructed Wilde's room on the second floor. On the walls of room n°16, at the top of theoriginal staircase, are portraits and a photograph of the writer, as well as a letter from the hotel manager at the time asking him to settle his bill and toiletries.
LE PÈRE LACHAISE
16, rue de Repos 75020
The final stop on this pilgrimage is the Père-Lachaise cemetery, Oscar Wilde's final resting place. Initially buried in the Bagneux cemetery, Wilde's remains were moved to Père Lachaise in 1912, after his friend and former lover Robert Ross acquired a plot there. The funerary monument depicting a winged sphinx is the work of Jacob Epstein. The genitals of this angel-demon, considered scandalous because they were clearly visible, were later covered by the sculptor with a bronze vine leaf.
In 1950, on the 50th anniversary of Oscar Wilde's death, Robert Ross's ashes were included in the writer's tomb. Since the 1990s, Wilde admirers have made a habit of planting hundreds of lipstick kisses on the poet's grave. The building, renovated in 2011, is now protected by glass panels.
To help you on your peregrination, we've prepared a map:
