London and Culture of Male Homosexuality, 1870 to 1900

5 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)

Seminar, four hours. Designed for College Honors students. Examination of male homosexual subculture that thrived in London during period when brilliant Irish writer Oscar Wilde (1854 to 1900) was sent to jail for committing acts of gross indecency. Study of Wilde trials, cultural consequences of Labouchere Amendment criminalizing male homosexual acts, some of Wilde’s writings, and exciting new writings that have come to light offering insight into links that gay men in London had with theatrical world, prostitution, aristocrats, and underground publishing. P/NP or letter grading.