De Profundis

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1905

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Essay Analysis

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Literary Devices

Personification

Personification is the attribution of human characteristics to something nonhuman. It can represent abstract qualities, such as envy or love, as having distinct and personal natures. Animals and inanimate objects can also be personified, such as when authors grant them the power of speech.

In “De Profundis,” Wilde uses personification to both highlight and explain human characteristics. He specifically utilizes this literary device when writing about emotions, such as love, hate, vanity, sorrow, and humility. Throughout the letter, Wilde capitalizes these traits, turning them into proper nouns. He considers these emotions to be faculties that depend upon certain nourishment to survive—for example, he speaks of hate growing fat off of decadent cuisine. Another example is when he depicts sorrow as an empty wound that bleeds, only to be soothed by love’s touch. Wilde also personifies society, having it speak to him in the letter. Wilde’s use of personification gives the letter the lively and fairytale-like quality that defines much of his work.

Allusion

An allusion is an indirect reference to something that adds detail and depth to a work. Allusion furthers character development and plot through association with other works and ideas.

Wilde alludes to many different works and ideas throughout the letter. The most prevalent allusion is his definition of love as understanding another’s real and ideal relations. He references British Romantic poet Wordsworth’s “Sonnet written in London” and various Ancient Greek poets and philosophers, such as Sophocles and Plato. He even quotes his own works, such as A Woman of No Importance and The Importance of Being Earnest, to complement larger arguments within “De Profundis.” In an attempt to reach Bosie on a personal level, Wilde alludes to Bosie’s familial history of violent deaths and hot-headed behavior. These allusions speak to Wilde’s intelligence, immersion within contemporary thought, and his familiarity with premodern and ancient philosophy.

Exemplum

An exemplum is a story used to illustrate a point or belief (often a moral one). “De Profundis” contains several anecdotes of this kind; in fact, the entirety of “De Profundis” is designed to convey a very important lesson to Bosie. Wilde often pauses throughout the letter, begging Bosie to see the true nature of his actions and to confront himself and his moral character. However, the best instance of Wilde using a particular narrative to communicate his ideas comes with his discussion of Christ. Not only does Wilde use Christ’s life as evidence that sorrow is beautiful and that Christ is the first individualist, but he depicts the life of Christ as a life Bosie should strive to realize.