Subtitled, Constance and Oscar: A Novel, this reads as if Constance has written
it (but in omniscient third person) and Oscar has provided footnotes and
comments from prison. Her tone is practical and her writing as in a diary, full
of capitals and ampersands. His is flamboyant and full of criticism and
narcissism, interrupting her story – as he must have done in life – by suddenly
introducing his affair with Robbie as an entertaining anecdote rather than as
an admission of adultery to his wife. Constance wants to escape from
suffocating existence and sees marriage to Oscar as a way to do this; she is
hoping for intimacy but is not blinded by his brilliance and comes to see him
as two different people. She refers to OW, the performer, who is intense but
exhausting, and Oscar, the man behind closed doors, whom she loves with all his
frustrating imperfections. “Oh for goodness’ sake, she said. Clever people are
such exhausting company. Thankfully you’re only clever in public. & if you’re
here to propose marriage, let’s get on with it.”
Oscar’s mother, Lady Jane Wilde
(LJW) knows her son is gay and that his relationship with Constance will be
purely for show and for progeny. “The week before the wedding, LJW had invited
her for dank tea in a darkened room &, if it were possible to be both
cryptic & overly direct, had spoken at length about syphilis & the
absence of a cure for it.” Later, Constance has occasion to remark about LJW
and her unwanted opinions, “It was impossible to ever know if the woman was
being helpful or just plain vicious.” Constance may not be swept up in romance,
but she does want to change her life. It’s reminiscent of the relationship
between Romeo and Juliet where he spouts the romantic poetry and she is keen to
get on with the physical aspects. He seems more interested than her dress than
her desires; her appearance rather than her appetites, so she tells him, “Sex
isn’t everything, Oscar. But it is something.” She is aware that something
might be missing from the relationship but does not question it too deeply at
the beginning.
The single-minded need to have
children and remove herself from her upbringing causes Constance to sacrifice
many idealistic notions. “Better not to consider other weddings in the middle
of your own. For this was a gathering with all the vivacity of a queue for meat
pies.” Oscar doesn’t enjoy the sex, as she learns on her wedding night, “But it
delighted her that he would put himself through something he didn’t enjoy just
to please her. How could he bring himself to do something he hated? So many
delights in one day. This was how she knew he loved her.” This unlikely prose
reads like a man writing a woman who has never actually talked to a woman.
Oscar’s foot notes describe how he tried to imagine something interesting when
with her, in much the same way as he did when he masturbated, which is incredibly
offensive considering OW is meant to have and empathy.
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| Constance and son, Cyril |
Committed to the Rational Dress
Movement, Constance is critical of restrictive women’s fashion. “Was it such a
crime to be able to move your arm in what you wore? What if she would be
required to bowl a ball or paint a picture? But her aunt would not be told that
a crinoline was a fire hazard. & what if she were to fall under the wheels
of a carriage? It was like walking around with a building attached to you.”
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| Rational Dress Society cartoon |
