Old Bailey， the main courthouse in London， had never presented a show quite like the three trials that captivated England and much of the literary world in the spring of 1895. Celebrity， sex， witty dialogue， political intrigue， surprising twists， and important issues of art and morality——is it any surprise that the trials of Oscar Wilde continue to fascinate one hundred years after the death of one of the world's greatest authors and playwrights？

　　The events that would bring Oscar Wilde to Old Bailey began four years earlier in the summer of 1891 when Wilde， then thirty-eight years old， met a promising twenty-two-year old poet named Lord Alfred Douglas （"Bosie"） at a tea party. The two became extremely close. Douglas took great pleasure in the interest shown in him by Wilde， already a major literary figure. Douglas called his elder companion "the most chivalrous friend in the world." Wilde saw in Douglas not only a lively intellect， but a young man with an Adonis-like appearance. Wilde made no secret of his interest. Douglas later said， " He was continually asking me to lunch and dine with him and sending me letters， notes， and telegrams." He also showered Douglas with presents and wrote a sonnet for him. They stayed together in each other's houses and in hotels， and went on trips together.

　　The first serious problem for Wilde growing out of his relationship of Douglas came when Douglas， still a student in Oxford， gave an old suit to a down-and-out friend named Wood. Wood discovered in a pocket of the suit letters written by Wilde to his youthful friend. Wood extorted ??35 from Wilde for return of most of the compromising letters. Wilde later described the money as a gift to enable Wood to start a new life in America. Two other would-be blackmailers were given smaller amounts of money after returning the remaining letters.

　　Wilde's downfall came not from blackmailers， however， but rather the father of Alfred Douglas， John Sholto Douglas， the Marquess of Queensberry. Queensberry was an arrogant， ill-tempered， eccentric and perhaps even mentally imbalanced Scottish nobleman best note for developing and promoting rules for amateur boxing （the "Queensberry rules"）。 Queensberry became concerned about his son's relationship with "this man Wilde." His concern was temporarily alleviated at the Cafe Royal in late 1892， when his son introduced him to the noted literary figure. Wilde charmed Queensberry over a long lunch with many cigars and liqueurs. By early 1894 Queensberry concluded the Wilde was most likely a homosexual and began demanding that his son stop seeing Wilde： "Your intimacy with this man Wilde must either cease or I will disown you and stop all money supplies，" Queensberry wrote in April. "I am not going to try an analyze this intimacy， and I make no charge； but to my mind to pose as a thing is as bad as to be it." Douglas replied in a telegram： "What a funny little man you are."

　　Queensberry began taking increasingly desperate measures to end the relationship. He threatened restaurant and hotel managers with beatings if he ever discovered Wilde and his son together on their premises. In June of 1894 Queenberry， accompanied by a prize-fighter， showed up without warning at Wilde's house in Chelsea. An angry conversation ensued， ending when Wilde ordered Queensberry to leave saying， "I do not know what the Queensberry rules are， but the Oscar Wilde rule is to shoot on sight." Queensberry's subsequent letters to his son， who he had already ceased to support， grew increasingly intemperate. "You reptile，" he wrote， "you are no son of mine and I never thought you were." Douglas answered， "If O. W. was to prosecute you in the criminal courts for libel， you would get seven years' penal servitude for your outrageous libels."

　　On February 14， 1895， Wilde's new play The Importance of Being Earnest was set to open at the St. James Theatre. Wilde learned that Queensberry planned to disrupt the opening night's performance and harangue the audience about Wilde's alleged decadent lifestyle. Wilde arranged to have the theater surrounded by police. His plan blocked， Queenberry prowled about outside for three hours before finally leaving "chattering."

　　Four days later at the Albemarle Club——a club to which both Wilde and his wife belonged， Queensberry left a card with a porter. "Give that to Oscar Wilde，" he told the porter. On the card he had written： "To Oscar Wilde posing as a somdomite [sic]." Two weeks later Wilde showed up at the club and was handed the card with the offensive message. Returning that night to the Hotel Avondale， Wilde wrote to Douglas asking that he come and see him. "I don't see anything now but a criminal prosecution，" Wilde wrote. "My whole life seems ruined by this man. The tower of ivory is assailed by the foul thing. On the sand is my life split. I don't know what to do."

　　The next day， Wilde， Douglas， and another longtime friend named Robert Ross visited a solicitor， Travers Humphreys. Humphreys asked Wilde directly whether there was any truth to Queensberry's allegation. Wilde said no. Humphreys applied for a warrant for Queensberry's arrest. On March 2， Queensberry police arrested Queensberry and charged him with libel at the Vine Street police station.

　　Travers Humphreys asked Edward Clarke， a towering figure in the London bar， to prosecute Wilde's case. Before accepting the case， Clarke said to Wilde， "I can only accept this brief， Mr. Wilde， if you assure me on your honor as an English gentleman that there is not and never has been any foundation for the charges that are made against you." Wilde answered that the charges were "absolutely false and groundless." Wilde left Clarke's office to join Douglas for a quick trip to the south of France before the trial.

　　About a week before trial was set to began at Old Bailey， Wilde returned to London， where numerous close friends advised him to drop his libel suit. George Bernhard Shaw and Frank Harris， two well known friends of Wilde's from the literary world， pleaded with Wilde to flee the country and continue his writing abroad， possibly in more tolerant France. Douglas， who was also present at the luncheon with Shaw and Harris， objected. "Your telling him to run away shows that you are no friend of Oscar's，" Douglas said， rising from the table. "It is not friendly of you，" Wilde echoed as he departed the restaurant with his young friend.

　　On April 3， 1895， the first trial of Oscar Wilde——with Wilde in this case cheering the prosecution——began at Old Bailey. Queensberry， wearing a blue hunting stock， stood alone， hat in hand， in front of the dock. Wilde， wearing a fashionable coat with a flower in his button-hole， chatted with his attorney. Meanwhile， in another room in the building， a group of young men——gathered by Queensberry to substantiate his charge——laughed and smoked cigarettes.

　　Sir Edward Clarke delivered the prosecution's opening statement. Clarke's address impressed even Edward Carson， Queensberry's attorney， who said "I never heard anything to equal it in all my life." Clarke attempted to take some of the sting out of on key piece of evidence that Queensberry planned to introduce. He read one of Wilde's letters to Douglas that might suggest to many readers the existence of a homosexual relationship. Clarke admitted that the letter "might appear extravagant to those in the habit of writing commercial correspondence，" but said it must be remembered that Oscar Wilde is a poet， and the letter should be read as "the expression of true poetic feeling， and with no relation whatever to the hateful and repulsive suggestions put to it in the plea in this case."

　　After brief testimony from Sidney Wright， the porter at the Albemarle Club， Wilde took the stand. He began by lying about his age， which he said was thirty-nine （he was actually forty-one）。 Under questioning by Clarke， Wilde， with easy assurance， described his earlier encounters with——and harassment by——Queensberry. To Clarke's final question， "Is there any truth in any of these accusations [of Queensberry]？"， Wilde answered： "There is no truth whatever in any of them."

　　After lunch， Edward Carson——a rival of Wilde since their days together at Trinity College in Dublin——began his skillful cross-examination. The cross generally broke into two main parts： a literary part and a fact-oriented part focusing on Wilde's past relationships. In the literary part of the examination， Carson asked Wilde about letters to Douglas and two of his own published works， The Portrait of Dorian Gray and Phrases and Philosophies for Use of the Young. Wilde defended the works against Carson's suggestions that they were immoral or touched on homosexual themes. "There is no such thing as an immoral work，" Wilde asserted in Dorian Gray， rather "books are well written， or badly written." "That expresses your view？" asked Carson， "a perverted novel might be a good book？" When Wilde replied， "I don't know what you mean by a 'perverted' novel，" Carson said， "I will suggest Dorian Gray as open to the interpretation of being such a novel." Wilde answered indignantly， "That could only be to brutes and illiterates. The views of Philistines on art are incalculably stupid." Carson asked about a suggestive letter to Lord Douglas： "Was it an ordinary letter？" "Certainly not，" Wilde answered， "it was a beautiful letter." "Apart from art？" Carson wondered. "I cannot answer any questions apart from Art，" Wilde replied. And so it went. Wilde did his b