The author asserts that Oscar Wilde and his mother shared a love of paradox, which he used to explain his contradictory views about nationalism, feminism, love, motherhood, and imprisonment. The book argues that both nationalism and feminism were problematic for mother and son. Horan concludes that Wilde wrote fantasy to identify humanity's inhumanity, to acknowledge that love is often unreciprocated, and to affirm the naturalness of homosexuality.