Item Detail

In 1609, the first edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets was published, featuring the mysterious dedication: “To Mr W.H.” Ever since, the identity of Mr W.H. has been the subject of a series of fascinating theories—but none quite so ingenious as that of Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Mr W.H. With a Foreword by Peter Ackroyd.

Cambridge scholar Cyril Graham spent his days performing in Shakespeare’s plays, and, being somewhat effeminate in nature, he was cast in the female roles. And then he made a rather startling discovery—the “Mr W.H.” to whom Shakespeare dedicated his Sonnets could be none other than Will Hughes, the boy–actor of Shakespeare’s plays! But when no one shared his conviction, he resolved to find another way to convince them… Notorious for his flamboyant and unorthodox lifestyle, Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) wrote poetry, plays, and novels; however, it was his theatrical masterpieces The Importance of Being Ernest and An Ideal Husband that secured his reputation as one of the supreme wits of all time.

Mr W.H. is the anonymous person to whom Shakespeare dedicated his sonnets. Scholars have speculated for centuries on the identity of this man or woman. Wilde proposes that the love poems were dedicated to a very young actor named Willie Hughes, which implies that the Bard had a thing for young boys. In another author's hands this would be quite scandalous, but Wilde has enough humor to pull it off. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.