29 May 2024
On This Day
29 May 2024 Cheryl

29 May 1884: Oscar Wilde marries Constance Lloyd

Oscar Wilde and Constance Lloyd with son, Cyril

Constance Wilde was a minor celebrity in her own right. Well educated and articulate, she contributed to newspapers and journals, edited a periodical on dress reform, and published two books of children’s stories as well as an anthology of her husband’s epigrams. She also participated actively in the Liberal politics of the day. [1]

When Oscar Wilde, a man of dazzling charm and restless energy, first encountered Constance Lloyd, a young woman of genteel manners and striking beauty, it seemed as if fate had conspired to provide him with one of his own literary heroines.

Their courtship was anything but conventional. Wilde had already cultivated a reputation as an aesthete, dazzling the drawing rooms of London with his epigrams and sartorial panache. Constance, the daughter of a prominent Irish barrister, possessed a quiet intellect and a deep interest in the arts. Her demure demeanour hid a passionate appreciation for the progressive ideas of the age, making her a fitting companion for the flamboyant and eloquent Wilde.

The couple married on 29 May 1884 in a ceremony that blended the traditional with the singularly Wildean. Constance, radiant in a gown of cream-coloured satin, embodied Victorian ideals of wifely virtue, while Wilde’s choice of a lavender cravat hinted at his refusal to fully conform. The union was celebrated with enthusiasm, though some wondered if Wilde’s unpredictable nature could find contentment in the steady rhythms of married life.

For a time, their marriage seemed idyllic. They welcomed two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan, and set about making a home filled with art, literature, and laughter. Yet, beneath the surface, tensions brewed. Wilde’s insatiable pursuit of pleasure and artistic acclaim increasingly drew him away from domestic life, straining their bond.

After Wilde’s conviction and imprisonment in 1895, Constance changed her and her sons’ last name to Holland to dissociate them from his scandal. The couple never divorced, but Constance forced Wilde to give up his parental rights. She moved with her sons to Switzerland, and they never saw their father again.

Constance died in Italy on 7 April 1898, five days after surgery. She was just 40 years old. Wilde died aged 46 on 30 November 1900.