Vera; or, The Nihilists: Oscar Wilde's "Wretched Play" and the Challenges of Reassessing "Minor" Works.

Richard Ellmann termed Vera a "wretched play." In Oscar Wilde Revalued (1983), Ian Small could name only two critics gave it serious attention: Katherine Worth and Frances Miriam Reed. In Oscar Wilde Recent Research (2000), Small again found only two treatments worth mentioning: by Sos Eltis and George Rowell. Vera has come more to the fore in critical discussion, but interest continues to be outweighed by that afforded to the rest of Wilde's oeuvre , with the exception only of his unfinished works and scenarios. This article explores the reasons behind this neglect, discussing the strategies of some of the most recent, post-2000 studies of Vera. Paying closer attention to archival materials and to the broader literary (as opposed to political) context in which Vera was produced opens new ways of appreciating the significance of this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]