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Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions
CHAPTER I–OSCAR’S FATHER AND MOTHER ON TRIAL
On the 12th of December, 1864, Dublin society was abuzz with excitement. A
tidbit of scandal which had long been rolled on the tongue in semi-privacy was
to be discussed in open court, and all women and a good many men were agog with
curiosity and expectation.
The story itself was highly spiced and all the actors in it well known.
A famous doctor and oculist, recently knighted for his achievements, was the
real defendant. He was married to a woman with a great literary reputation as
a poet and writer who was idolized by the populace for her passionate advocacy
of Ireland’s claim to self-government; “Speranza” was regarded by the Irish
people as a sort of Irish Muse.
The young lady bringing the action was the daughter of the professor of medical
jurisprudence at Trinity College, who was also the chief at Marsh’s library.
It was said that this Miss Travers, a pretty girl just out of her teens, had
been seduced by Dr. Sir William Wilde while under his care as a patient.
Some went so far as to say that chloroform had been used, and that the girl
had been violated.