Campaigners want Oscar Wilde's blue plaque removed after child abuser revelation.Byline: ANI London, Jan 5 (ANI): Irish playwright Oscar Wilde earned himself the ire of campaigners from the south coast town of Worthing, when it was discovered that he was a child abuser child abuser Public health A person who mentally or physically abuses a child Typical CA profile Age < 30, slightly more likely to be ♀, whose mother was unemployed/employed part time as a manual laborer Typical victim Young children, teens. . Wilde had lived in the resort in 1894, where he had penned 'The Importance of Being Ernest', naming character Jack Worthing in its honour, and a blue plaque had been hosted in his honour at Esplanade Court on the seafront. But now the town wants to rid itself of the honour, ever since Chris Hare, a local historian, raised the question of Wilde's relationships with teenage boys in a new book, Worthing, a History: Riots and Respectability in a Seaside Town. In the book, Hare mentioned that there was documented evidence that Wilde seduced boys there, and that a 14-year-old, called Alphonso, had to leave the town because of it. "People often think of Wilde as a martyr, but it's a bit unsavory cruising around looking for sexual favours from young boys, isn't it? Even today people would not find that acceptable. It reminds me of Gary Glitter," the Telegraph quoted him as saying. Though Hare did not personally think that the plaque should be taken down, because "his talents in literature stand aside from his personal behaviour", he believes that Worthing celebrated Wilde too enthusiastically. "I myself would fight tooth and nail for any campaign to erase a link between Worthing and a child abuser," he added. Wilde was jailed in 1895 for gross indecency INDECENCY. An act against good behaviour and a just delicacy. 2 Serg. & R. 91. 2. The law, in general, will repress indecency as being contrary to good morals, but, when the public good requires it, the mere indecency of disclosures does not suffice to exclude following an affair with an Oxford University undergraduate, Lord Alfred Douglas Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945) was a poet, a translator and a prose writer, better known as the intimate friend and lover of the writer Oscar Wilde. , becoming a cause celebre for those seeking sexual freedom in the process. Michael Seeney, of the Oscar Wilde Society, said: "Whatever one's view about Wilde's life, he is indisputably famous and widely honoured." (ANI) Copyright 2008 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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