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Melissa Knox's aims in her psychoanalytic biography of Oscar Wilde are completely sensible to a psychoanalyst interested in applied analysis. She intends to enhance the understanding of Wilde's life by “investigating and analyzing the genetic aspects of [his] life, including sexuality and its transformations—the instincts and all their vicissitudes. … Psychoanalysis, though it can tell us nothing about the origins of a particular talent and genius, can identify the unconscious conflicts that determine the forms Wilde's creative genius took, as well as choices of subject and approach …” (p. xii).
Knox emphasizes certain aspects of Wilde's life: (1) the characteristics of his family and his relationships with them; (2) his own characteristics, including his homosexuality; (3) the influence of his syphilis.
Her analytic approach casts fresh light on his personality and creativity. Wilde's mother, Jane, had been an extravagantly radical