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'De Profundis' is the long letter Oscar Wilde wrote from prison to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas, while he was serving a two year sentence for homosexual advances. This is the 1905 version of that letter, which omits the part that mention Douglas and his treatment towards Wilde. Instead, Wilde talks about suffering, his life in prison, his life before prison, his writing, Christianity and his plans for the future. It is not an easy work to read, because it requires attention and thought. It shows the thoughts of a man in pain, instead of the Wilde we know, the Wilde full of witticisms and light humour. He says, on one occasion: "A day in prison on which one does not weep, is not a day on which the heart is happy, but on which the heart is hard".

'De Profundis' is compulsory reading for everyone who wishes to really know Oscar Wilde and his works. It is of the utmost importance to see Wilde from this different side, to truly see the tragedian that was always within him. 'De Profundis' contains beautiful language and beautiful ideas. It is not only interesting as a study of Wilde himself, but also as a work of philosophy. Wilde has many opinion to offer on the different sides of life; love, pain and religion. It is, such as the summary above says, "a work that makes critics uncomfortable." True. Yet it is essential reading.