Books by Oscar Wilde

the-picture-of-dorian-gray

by Oscar Wilde

An astounding novel of decadence, debauchery, and secrecy from one of Ireland's greatest writers. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray makes a Faustian bargain to sell his soul in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. Under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, where he is able to indulge his desires while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only Dorian's picture bears the traces of his decadence.
A knowing account of a secret life and an analysis of the darker side of late Victorian society. The Picture of Dorian Gray offers a disturbing portrait of an individual coming face to face with the reality of his soul. Shocking in its suggestion of unspeakable sin, this novel was later used as evidence against Wilde when he was tried for indecency in 1895.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Importance of Being Earnest

by Oscar Wilde

The full text of Oscar Wilde's beloved comedy of manners, including exclusive commentary, selections from Wilde's correspondence, and excerpts from the original four-act version.
The Importance of Being Earnest shows a full measure of Oscar Wilde's legendary wit, and embodies more than any of his other plays his decency and warmth.

This edition contains substantial excerpts from the original four-act version which was never produced, as well as the full text of the final three-act version, selections from Wilde's correspondence, and commentary by George Bernard Shaw, Max Beerbohm, St. John Hankin, and James Agate.
“It is exquisitely trivial, a delicate bubble of fancy and it has its philosophy; that we should treat all trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.” –Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest

by Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest A Trivial Comedy for Serious People Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Contemporary reviews all praised the play's humour, though some were cautious about its explicit lack of social messages, while others foresaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wilde's artistic career so far. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play. The successful opening night marked the climax of Wilde's career but also heralded his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, whose son Lord Alfred Douglas was Wilde's lover, planned to present the writer with a bouquet of rotten vegetables and disrupt the show. Wilde was tipped off and Queensberry was refused admission. Soon afterwards their feud came to a climax in court, where Wilde's homosexual double life was revealed to the Victorian public and he was eventually sentenced to imprisonment. His notoriety caused the play, despite its early success, to be closed after 86 performances. After his release, he published the play from exile in Paris, but he wrote no further comic or dramatic work. The Importance of Being Earnest has been revived many times since its premiere. It has been adapted for the cinema on three occasions. In The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), Dame Edith Evans reprised her celebrated interpretation of Lady Bracknell; The Importance of Being Earnest (1992) by Kurt Baker used an all-black cast; and Oliver Parker's The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) incorporated some of Wilde's original material cut during the preparation of the original stage production.

The Importance of Being Earnest

by Oscar Wilde

Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of Oscar Wilde's famous play, "The Importance of Being Earnest," first performed in London in 1895. The play questions the nature and purpose of the institution of marriage, poking fun at the morals, assumptions and constraints found in Victorian values. During the play's release, Wilde's social life was aired to the Victorian public after an altercation with his lover's father, resulting in him being sent to prison for his homosexual relationship. Oscar Wilde (1884-1900) was an Irish author, playwright and poet. He moved from Dublin to Oxford where he studied under renowned art critics Walter Pater and John Ruskin and became associated with the literary and philosophical movement of Aestheticism.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Tor Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. Appropriate "reader friendly" type sizes have been chosen for each title-offering clear, accurate, and readable text. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords.
This edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray includes a Foreword, Biographical Note, and Afterword by Nancy Springer.
When Dorian Gray, a wealthy but naïve and irresistible young man, has his portrait pointed, he rashly wishes that he could remain as beautiful, youthful, and alluring as the handsome face in the portrait. Little does he know that his wish will come true. When encouraged by the decadent Lord Henry Wotton into a life of depravity and self-indulgence, Gray is stunned to discover that while the face in the painting is aging grotesquely, he is not! In fact, he remains as beautiful as ever. Nothing ages him.
But Gray's wanton lifestyle will eventually catch up with him, and the consequences of his reckless behavior will come to haunt him.

Stories for Young People: Oscar Wilde

by Oscar Wilde, Merlin Holland

A uniquely personal collection of Oscar Wilde's stories, introduced by his very own grandson. Each tale is filled with wonder and joy.

"Why, anyone can have common sense, provided that they have no imagination."
--From "The Remarkable Rocket"

"The Happy Prince." "The Selfish Giant." Anyone who has ever read these and other stories by Oscar Wilde will never forget the magical spell woven by his beautiful words. Now, Merlin Holland, the author's grandson and a distinguished writer and lecturer himself, presents 5 of Wilde's finest tales in their entirety. After an elegant and intimate discussion of Wilde's life, complete with family reminiscences, Holland introduces each tale with loving care. He helps young readers understand the stories' often profound themes and Wilde's very special use of language. In addition to "Prince" and "Giant", the compilation includes "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Devoted Friend", and "The Remarkable Rocket." They are the perfect tales for parents and children to share.

Merlin Holland, the only grandson of Oscar Wilde, is an author and journalist living in France. For the last twenty years he has been researching his grandfather's life and works and he now writes, lectures and broadcasts regularly on the subject. His publications include: The Wilde Album (Fourth Estate,1995) which has been translated into seven languages; The Wit of Oscar Wilde (Folio Society, 1997); The Centenary Edition of the Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (HarperCollins,1999); The Oscar Wilde Anthology (HarperCollins, 2000); and The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde (Fourth Estate, 2000).

Award-winning Louise Brierley studied art at Manchester Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art. She has illustrated numerous books, including Beauty and the Beast & Other Stories (Viking, 1996) and Songs from Shakespeare (Walker Books, 1993) and her paints have shown in many gallery exhibitions.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oliver Editions)

by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde’s celebrated, scandalous, and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, tells the story of the wealthy and handsome Londoner Dorian, whose obsession with his portrait leads him down a path of self-destruction. This literary classic is now available in a limited Olive Edition from HarperPerennial.
Olive Editions are exclusive small format editions of some of our bestselling and celebrated titles, featuring beautiful and unique hand-drawn cover illustrations. All Olive Editions are available for a limited time only.

The Model Millionaire: Stories (Harper Perennial Classic Stories)

by Oscar Wilde

Playwright, poet, essayist, flamboyant man-about-town, Oscar Wilde pack an astonishing amount of work, genius, and controversy into two short decades, producing masterworks in every literary genre. This selection includes almost all of his short stories, including "The Canterville Ghost," "The Fisherman and his Soul," and "The Remarkable Rocket."
Alongside THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE, Harper Perennial will publish the short fiction of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Herman Melville, Willa Cather, Leo Tolstoy, and Stephen Crane to be packaged in a beautifully designed, boldly colorful boxset in the aim to attract contemporary fans of short fiction to these revered masters of the form. Also, in each of these selections will appear a story from one of the new collections being published in the "Summer of the Short Story." A story from Simon Van Booy's forthcoming collection, LOVE BEGINS IN WINTER, will be printed at the back of this volume.

De Profundis and Other Prison Writings (Penguin Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

A definitive new collection of Oscar Wilde’s best prison letters and poetry, with an introduction by Colm Toibin

Bankrupt and with his reputation in ruins, Oscar Wilde wrote the astonishing letter “De Profundis” to his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, while in prison. Editor Colm Toibin, the acclaimed author of The Blackwater Lightship, The Master, and Brooklyn, describes it as Wilde’s “greatest piece of prose writing.” Also included is “The Ballad of Reading Gaol,” Wilde’s most famous poem and one of the greatest ballads in the English language, as well as other letters Wilde wrote from prison that reveal the true effects of incarceration on the people he met. Based on the Penguin Classics edition of the Complete Letters, this collection features a new introduction, notes, and appendices.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Happy Prince and Other Stories (Puffin Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

A haunting, magical fairy-tale collection, in which Oscar Wilde beautifully evokes (among others) The Happy Prince who was not so happy after all, The Selfish Giant who learned to love little children and The Star Child who did not love his parents as much as he should. Each of the stories shines with poetry and magic and will be enjoyed by children of every age. A perfect collection for children young and old, introduced by Markus Zusak, bestselling author of The Book Thief.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Penguin Clothbound Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a succès de scandale and the book was later used as evidence against Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895. It has lost none of its power to fascinate and disturb.

The Decay of Lying: And Other Essays (Penguin Great Ideas)

by Oscar Wilde

A selection of Oscar Wilde's writings that underscore his notion that "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life"

The Decay of Lying includes two of Wilde's most comprehensive--and witty--explorations of his aesthetic philosophy: The Decay of Lying and The Critic as Artist.

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives--and upended them. Now Penguin brings you a new set of the acclaimed Great Ideas, a curated library of selections from the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

The Star-Child (Little Clothbound Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short works by the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith

A Penguin Classic Hardcover

With warmth, tenderness and quiet wit, Oscar Wilde's fables and fairy tales have moved and delighted for generations. In far-off kingdoms and ocean realms, in the company of giants and nightingales, Wilde speaks of heartbreak and redemption, of cruelty and compassion, of love lost, of love gained, of love lasting. Included in this selection are stories from The Happy Prince and A House of Pomegranates.

The Picture of Dorian Gray: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

by Oscar Wilde

Wilde's masterful and wonderfully entertaining exploration of art and morality, in a chic new deluxe edition

Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman inthe eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a succès de scandale and the book was later used as evidence against Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895. It has lost none of its power to fascinate and disturb.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Importance of Being Earnest (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays)

by Oscar Wilde

Here is Oscar Wilde's most brilliant tour de force, a witty and buoyant comedy of manners that has delighted millions in countless productions since its first performance in London's St. James' Theatre on February 14, 1895.

The Importance of Being Earnest is celebrated not only for the lighthearted ingenuity of its plot, but for its inspired dialogue, rich with scintillating epigrams still savored by all who enjoy artful conversation.

Rich in humor, and memorable characters, Wilde offers a captivating satire of Victorian society and its repressive values and traditions, particularly in the pursuit of love and marriage. To recapture their freedom, the characters liberate themselves by leading double lives.

From the play's effervescent beginnings in Algernon Moncrieff's London flat to its hilarious dénouement in the drawing room of Jack Worthing's country manor in Hertfordshire, this comic masterpiece keeps audiences breathlessly anticipating a new bon mot or a fresh twist of plot moment to moment.

From ancient Greek dramas to great 20th-century masters, Dover publishes low-priced editions of just about every major work of drama, including those by William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, and Henrik Ibsen. Bestsellers include A Doll's House, Cyrano de Bergerac, Dr. Faustus, The Importance of Being Ernest, Medea, Oedipus Rex, Pygmalion, Romeo and Juliet, among many others.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Norton Critical Edition)

by Oscar Wilde

As featured on PBS’s The Great American Read
This Norton Critical Edition is the only edition available that includes both the 1890 Lippincott’s and the 1891 book versions of The Picture of Dorian Gray, allowing students to compare the two published versions with the editorial guidance of Michael Patrick Gillespie. “Backgrounds” and “Reviews and Reactions” allow readers to gauge the novel’s sensational reception and to consider the heated public debate over art and morality that the novel engendered.

“Criticism” includes seven new essays on the novel that reflect key changes in interpretive theory in recent years and reveal the broad range of interpretive perspectives on Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Michael Patrick Gillespie, Simon Joyce, Donald L. Lawler, Sheldon W. Liebman, Maureen O’Connor, Elli Ragland-Sullivan, and John Paul Riquelme provide their varied assessments.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

by Oscar Wilde

In this celebrated work, his only novel, Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray And Other Writings

by Oscar Wilde

Flamboyant and controversial, Oscar Wilde was a dazzling personality, a master of wit, and a dramatic genius whose sparkling comedies contain some of the most brilliant dialogue ever written for the English stage. Here in one volume are his immensely popular novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray; his last literary work, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol,” a product of his own prison experience; and four complete plays: Lady Windermere’s Fan, his first dramatic success, An Ideal Husband, which pokes fun at conventional morality, The Importance of Being Earnest, his finest comedy, and Salomé, a portrait of uncontrollable love originally written in French and faithfully translated by Richard Ellmann.

Every selection appears in its entirety–a marvelous collection of outstanding works by the incomparable Oscar Wilde, who’s been aptly called “a lord of language” by Max Beerbohm.

The Picture of Dorian Gray: An Annotated, Uncensored Edition

by Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray altered the way Victorians understood the world they inhabited. It heralded the end of a repressive Victorianism, and after its publication, literature had—in the words of biographer Richard Ellmann—";a different look."; Yet the Dorian Gray that Victorians never knew was even more daring than the novel the British press condemned as ";vulgar,"; ";unclean,"; ";poisonous,"; ";discreditable,"; and ";a sham."; Now, more than 120 years after Wilde handed it over to his publisher, J. B. Lippincott & Company, Wilde’s uncensored typescript is published for the first time, in an annotated, extensively illustrated edition.The novel’s first editor, J. M. Stoddart, excised material—especially homosexual content—he thought would offend his readers’ sensibilities. When Wilde enlarged the novel for the 1891 edition, he responded to his critics by fur

The Annotated Prison Writings of Oscar Wilde

by Oscar Wilde

“And I? May I say nothing, my lord?” With these words, Oscar Wilde’s courtroom trials came to a close. The lord in question, High Court justice Sir Alfred Wills, sent Wilde to the cells, sentenced to two years in prison with hard labor for the crime of “gross indecency” with other men. As cries of “shame” emanated from the gallery, the convicted aesthete was roundly silenced.

But he did not remain so. Behind bars and in the period immediately after his release, Wilde wrote two of his most powerful works―the long autobiographical letter De Profundis and an expansive best-selling poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol. In The Annotated Prison Writings of Oscar Wilde, Nicholas Frankel collects these and other prison writings, accompanied by historical illustrations and his rich facing-page annotations. As Frankel shows, Wilde experienced prison conditions designed to break even the toughest spirit, and yet his writings from this period display an imaginative and verbal brilliance left largely intact. Wilde also remained politically steadfast, determined that his writings should inspire improvements to Victorian England’s grotesque regimes of punishment. But while his reformist impulse spoke to his moment, Wilde also wrote for eternity.

At once a savage indictment of the society that jailed him and a moving testimony to private sufferings, Wilde’s prison writings―illuminated by Frankel’s extensive notes―reveal a very different man from the famous dandy and aesthete who shocked and amused the English-speaking world.

Plays, Prose Writings and Poems (Everyman's Library)

by Oscar Wilde

Introduction by Terry Eagleton
Oscar Wilde has been acknowledged as the wittiest writer in the English language. This collection proves that he was also one of the most versatile. Effortlessly achieved, each revealing a different aspect of his brilliance, all of the plays, prose writings, and poems gathered here support Wilde’s belief that entertainment provides the best kind of edification. The works gathered here include Wilde’s once-controversial and now classic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, the rioutously (sic) comic plays “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” and the famous poem he wrote after being released from prison, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol.” This expanded new edition now includes the complete version of Wilde’s moving letter from prison, De Profundis, and his teasing parable about Shakespeare, The Portrait of Mr. W. H. Other notable included writings are the semi-comic mystery story “Lord Arthur’s Savile’s Crime” and the essay The Soul of Man Under Socialism.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Illustrated Classics): A Graphic Novel

by Oscar Wilde, Ian Edginton

“Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world worth having but youth!”
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a graphic adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic work, stunningly re-imagined by writer Ian Edginton and artist I.N.J. Culbard. This Gothic morality tale is the story of a man who, taken by his own beauty, pledges his soul in a desperate bid for eternal youth. But when his wish is granted, things go terribly wrong. A painting of Dorian begins to age in his place, while Dorian himself becomes a dangerous narcissist who destroys everyone standing in his way until the day he is forced to come face to face with the ugliness of his own conscience.

De Profundis by Oscar Wilde, Fiction, Literary, Classics, Literary Collections

by Oscar Wilde

De Profundis (Latin: "from the depths") is a letter written by Oscar Wilde during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol, to "Bosie" (Lord Alfred Douglas).
De Profundis does not resemble any of the other works that made Wilde famous; and it's a work that often seems to make critics uncomfortable. Perhaps justly so: in the end it's a response to Wilde's imprisonment for homosexuality. In our modern context, that makes the work easy to look away from -- but it also speaks to things that concern and disturb many people, even today.

A House of Pomegranates (Calla Editions)

by Oscar Wilde

Wilde's second collection of fairy tales, originally published in 1891, following "The Happy Prince" in 1888. The volume includes "The Young King," "The Birthday of the Infanta," and "The Star-Child." While these stories are clearly intended for a younger audience, Wilde, with typical sardonic quip declared that the stories were "intended neither for the British child nor the British public."

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Calico Illustrated Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's classic tale of horror begins when Dorian Gray's portrait is painted and reveals him to be a man of outer beauty. Gray realizes then that he cannot possibly stay as young as that time. He makes a shocking wish, which comes true. No matter how he behaved, he stayed youthful and his portrait became older and older. Discover the greed, corruption, and redemption in the Calico Illustrated Classics adaptation of Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The Critic as Artist (ekphrasis)

by Oscar Wilde

In The Critic as Artist, arguably the most complete exploration of his aesthetic thinking, and certainly the most entertaining, Oscar Wilde harnesses his famous wit to demolish the supposed boundary between art and criticism.

Subtitled Upon the Importance of Doing Nothing and Discussing Everything, the essay takes the form of a leisurely dialogue between two characters: Ernest, who insists upon Wilde’s own belief in art’s freedom from societal mandates and values, and a quizzical Gilbert. With his playwright’s ear for dialogue, Wilde champions idleness and contemplation as prerequisites to artistic cultivation. Beyond the well-known dictum of art for art’s sake, Wilde’s originality lays argument for the equality of criticism and art. For him, criticism is not subject to the work of art, but can in fact precede it: the artist cannot create without engaging his or her critical faculties first. And, as Wilde writes, “To the critic the work of art is simply a suggestion for a new work of his own.”

The field of art and criticism should be open to the free play of the mind, but Wilde plays seriously, even prophetically. Writing in 1891, he foresaw that criticism would have an increasingly important role as the need to make sense of what we see increases with the complexities of modern life. It is only the fine perception and explication of beauty, Wilde suggests, that will allow us to create meaning, joy, empathy, and peace out of the chaos of facts and reality.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde Classic Novel, (Gothic Literature; Victorian Morality), Ribbon Page Marker, Perfect for Gifting

by Oscar Wilde, Paper Mill Press

This edition of Oscar Wilde's classic novel features a suede-like custom cover with beautiful metallic foiling and a ribbon marker.
Widely recognized as a philosophical masterpiece in Gothic literature, The Picture of Dorian Gray presents a twisted take on Victorian morality and controversial topics prevalent during this era. The story follows a charming young man who sells his soul in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. Meanwhile, his portrait slowly ages as it documents every sin. Oscar Wilde's expressive and scandalous writing caused a lot of turmoil when it first appeared in 1890, contributing to the novels historical significance.

In Praise of Disobedience: The Soul of Man Under Socialism and Other Writings (Revolutions)

by Oscar Wilde

Works of Wilde’s annus mirabilis of 1891 in one volume, with an introduction by renowned British playwright.

The Soul of Man Under Socialism draw on works from a single miraculous year in which Oscar Wilde published the larger part of his greatest works in prose—the year he came into maturity as an artist. Before the end of 1891, he had written the first of his phenomenally successful plays and met the young man who would win his heart, beginning the love affair that would lead to imprisonment and public infamy.

In a witty introduction, playwright, novelist and Wilde scholar Neil Bartlett explains what made this point in the writer’s life central to his genius and why Wilde remains a provocative and radical figure to this day.

Included here are the entirety of Wilde’s foray into political philosophy, The Soul of Man Under Socialism; the complete essay collection Intentions; selections from The Portrait of Dorian Gray as well as its paradoxical and scandalous preface; and some of Wilde’s greatest fictions for children. Each selection is accompanied by stimulating and enlightening annotations. A delight for fans of Oscar Wilde, In Praise of Disobedience will revitalize an often misunderstood legacy.

In Praise of Disobedience: The Soul of Man Under Socialism and Other Writings

by Oscar Wilde

Works of Wilde’s annus mirabilis of 1891 in one volume, with an introduction by renowned British playwright.

The Soul of Man Under Socialism draw on works from a single miraculous year in which Oscar Wilde published the larger part of his greatest works in prose—the year he came into maturity as an artist. Before the end of 1891, he had written the first of his phenomenally successful plays and met the young man who would win his heart, beginning the love affair that would lead to imprisonment and public infamy.

In a witty introduction, playwright, novelist and Wilde scholar Neil Bartlett explains what made this point in the writer’s life central to his genius and why Wilde remains a provocative and radical figure to this day.

Included here are the entirety of Wilde’s foray into political philosophy, The Soul of Man Under Socialism; the complete essay collection Intentions; selections from The Portrait of Dorian Gray as well as its paradoxical and scandalous preface; and some of Wilde’s greatest fictions for children. Each selection is accompanied by stimulating and enlightening annotations. A delight for fans of Oscar Wilde, In Praise of Disobedience will revitalize an often misunderstood legacy.

The Portrait of Mr W.H (Hesperus Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

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. 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 shares his conviction, he resolves to find another way to convince them.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray (Chiltern Classic)

by Oscar Wilde

Chiltern creates the most beautiful editions of the World’s finest literature.
Your favourite classic titles in a way you have never seen them before; the tactile layers, fine details and beautiful colours of these remarkable covers make these titles feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf.
This book has a matching lined journal (sold separately). They make a great gift when paired together but are also just as beautiful on their own.
Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorian's beauty is responsible for the new mood in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic world view: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful; all the while, his portrait ages and records every sin.

Beautiful and Impossible Things: Selected Essays of Oscar Wilde

by Oscar Wilde

This selection of Oscar Wilde’s writings provides a fresh perspective on his character and thinking. Compiled from his lecture tours, newspaper articles, essays and epigrams, these pieces show that beneath the trademark wit, Wilde was a deeply humane and visionary writer, as challenging today as he was in the late 1800s. This edition includes essays on interior design, prison reform, Shakespeare, the dramatic dialogue Decay of Lying and the seminal Soul of Man.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Vintage Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde’s enduringly popular story of a beautiful and corrupt man and the portrait that reveals all his secrets—The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel as flamboyant and controversial as its incomparable author.

Entranced by the perfection of his recently painted portrait, the youthful Dorian Gray expresses a wish that the figure on the canvas could age and change in his place. When his wish comes true, the portrait becomes his hideous secret as he follows a downward trajectory of decadence and cruelty that leaves its traces only in the portrait’s degraded image.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde’s unforgettable portrayal of a Faustian bargain and its consequences, is narrated with his characteristic incisive wit and diamond-sharp prose.

Art and Decoration: Being Extracts from Reviews and Miscellanies

by Oscar Wilde

The essence of Oscar Wilde’s aesthetic credo: a gorgeous, pocket-sized, clothbound facsimile of a key 1920 collection
Oscar Wilde was one of the most influential writers on art and design in the late 19th century. Alongside his acclaimed plays, novel and short stories, he wrote and lectured extensively on the subject. This exquisite centenary facsimile edition of a posthumous collection that was first published in 1920 brings together some of his most significant writings on art, craft, design, fashion and decoration. Among them are musings on the nature of beauty and utility; what makes an artist and what does an artist make; the importance of handicrafts over machine art; radical ideas on the state of fashion; how to decorate one’s home; the “American invasion” of English society; the various qualities of models of different nationalities; and the rise of historical criticism. Selections of his celebrated epigrams―or “phrases and philosophies for the use of the young,” as he put it―supply a testament to the brilliant, incisive wit and flamboyant style for which Wilde is known. With a specially designed silkscreened clothbound cover and gilt edging, this beautiful volume will delight, enchant and amuse.

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) is regarded as one of the greatest writers and dramatists of the Victorian era, acclaimed for his brilliant wit and flamboyant style. In his lifetime, he wrote nine plays, one novel and numerous poems, short stories and essays. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic Movement of the 1880s and 1890s that advocated art for art’s sake.

Complete Short Fiction (Penguin Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

The complete short stories of the masterful Irish writer

Fairy tales, ghost stories, detective fiction and comedies of manners—the stories collected in this volume made Oscar Wilde's name as a writer of fiction, showing breathtaking dexterity in a wide range of literary styles. Victorian moral justice is comically inverted in "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" and "The Canterville Ghost," and society's materialism comes under sharp, humorous criticism in "The Model Millionaire," while "The Happy Prince" and "The Nightingale and the Rose" are hauntingly melancholic in their magical evocations of selfless love. These small masterpieces convey the brilliance of Wilde's vision, exploring complex moral issues through an elegant juxtaposition of wit and sentiment.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Importance of Being Earnest

by Oscar Wilde

The crowning plays of one of Ireland's most heralded artists

Oscar Wilde was at once a family man and a homosexual outsider, a socialite, socialist, and Irish nationalist. His contradictions inspired him to ponder the roles and masks donned in conventional society, and his acute and wry insights are wonderfully displayed in this collection of his essential plays. Known not only for his brilliant, epigrammatic language, but also for his sense of theatrical design, color, and staging, Wilde created an enduring body of finely crafted works, whose delights and ironies still speak to modern audiences. In addition to Lady Windermere's Fan, Salomé, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, A Florentine Tragedy, and The Importance of Being Earnest, this edition contains an introduction, notes and commentaries, and an excised scene from The Importance of Being Earnest.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Soul of Man Under Socialism and Selected Critical Prose (Penguin Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Illuminating essays on philsophy, literature, soceity, and art by one of Ireland's greatest wits

Oscar Wilde—witty raconteur, flamboyant hedonist, and self-destructive lover—is most familiar as the author of brilliant comedies, including The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, and the decadent novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. This selection of critical writings reveals a different side of the great writer—the deep and serious reader of literature and philosophy, and the eloquent and original thinker about society and art. This illuminating collection includes "The Portrait of Mr. W. H.," "In Defense of Dorian Gray," reviews, and the writings from Intentions (1891), including "The Decay of Lying," "Pen, Pencil, Poison," and "The Critic as Artist."

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Importance of Being Earnest: Revised Edition (New Mermaids)

by Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the most enduringly popular of British comic dramas, and a mainstay of English literature and drama courses at college and university level. This is an ideal edition for students with on-page notes to help clarify meaning, and a completely new introduction. In the new introduction, Francesca Coppa explores recent critical approaches to the play, including queer and postcolonial readings, as well as giving the context in which the play was written and how it relates to Wilde's personal life and public persona. The introduction also discusses the play's stage history, providing students with an ideal overview of the play and its resonances for contemporary audiences.

Penguin Classics Nothing...except My Genius: The Wit And Wisdom Of Oscar Wilde

by Oscar Wilde

'I have nothing to declare,' Wilde once told an American customs official, 'except my genius.' A socialite, a wit, a man who flaunted convention and was unafraid to shock, Oscar Wilde was a great writer and a great man. This new collection of wit and wisdom demonstrates the brilliance of his vision, the audacity of his style. Such is the scope of the material, it brings to life the Wilde of great feeling as well as the Wilde of great art.

El retrato de Dorian Gray (Clásicos ilustrados) (Spanish Edition)

by Oscar Wilde

El retrato de Dorian Gray stands out not only because it is the only novel by Oscar Wilde but because it is his most lasting work. The misadventures of Dorian Gray, a paradigmatic and witty dandy obsessed with the ephemeral and a panic at the thought of aging, gives us great and absorbent twists and turns that had never been given to a novel before.

El retrato de Dorian Gray (1890) destaca no sólo por ser la única novel de Oscar Wilde, sino también por ser su trabajo más perdurable. Las desventuras de Dorian Gray, ese dandi paradigmático y ocurrente obsesionado con lo efímero, y su pánico a envejecer nos deparan la más genial y absorbente de las vueltas de tuerca que jamás se le hayan dado a la novela fáustica. «La belleza es, de las formas del genio, la más elevada, porque no tiene necesidad de ser explicada, es uno de los hechos absolutos del mundo.»

Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde: The Complete Paperback Set 1–5

by Oscar Wilde, P. Craig Russell

A complete collection of the prize-winning and greatly acclaimed adaptations of Oscar Wilde’s works, this specially priced set brings each story to life with brilliant illustrations by a master of comic art. Each of the paperback volumes of Wilde’s compelling tales are assembled here with close to 200 pages of exquisite comics, including such classics as “The Selfish Giant” who won’t let the children play in his garden until the dire consequences make him see the light, “The Devoted Friend” on what constitutes real friendship, “The Nightingale and the Rose” a stirring story of sacrifice to love with a cruel twist, “The Birthday of the Infanta” where a hideous dwarf discovers that his good humor and tricks may not be the reason he receives such attention, and “The Happy Prince” where a once spoiled young prince finds what it means to make sacrifices. Perfect for middle school students as an introduction to the world-famous author, the dazzling illustrations in this book suit the finely crafted prose of Wilde.

The Complete Short Stories (Oxford World's Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was already famous as a brilliant wit and raconteur when he first began to publish his short stories in the late 1880s. Admired by George Orwell and W. B. Yeats, the stories include poignant fairy-tales such as "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant," the extravagant comedy of "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" and "The Canterville Ghost," and the daring narrative experiments of "The Portrait of Mr. W. H.," Wilde's fictional investigation into the identity of the dedicatee of Shakespeare's sonnets. John Sloan's Introduction argues for Wilde's originality and literary achievement as a short-story writer, emphasizing his literary skill and sophistication, and arguing for the centrality of Wilde's shorter fiction in his literary career. The collection includes a useful and up-to-date bibliography and extensive and helpful explanatory notes, and an Appendix reprints an important passage from the book-length version of "The Portrait of Mr. W. H." on the Neo-Platonic ideal of friendship between men, an important key to the short story's meaning.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Happy Prince and Other Fairy Tales

by Oscar Wilde

This captivating collection contains all 9 of Wilde’s charming, sensitive stories for young readers. Included are "The Happy Prince,” a tale of a young nobleman who in his lifetime sought only pleasure, but in death, as a gold-encrusted statue, provides aid to the needy; “The Selfish Giant,” in which children are prohibited from playing in the garden of an unfeeling colossus; and “The Star-Child,” the tale of a beautiful boy whose ugly spirit causes his physical appearance to become equally grotesque. Also here are “The Nightingale and the Rose,” “The Birthday of the Infanta,” “The Remarkable Rocket,” “The Devoted Friend,” “The Young King,” and “The Fisherman and His Soul.”

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Lady Windermere's Fan; Salome; A Woman of No Importance; An Ideal Husband; The Importance of Being Earnest: "Lady Windermere's Fan", "Salome", "A Woman of No Importance", "An Ideal Husband", "The Importance

by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was already one of the best-known literary figures in Britain when he was persuaded to turn his extraordinary talents to the theatre. Between 1891 and 1895 he produced a sequence of distinctive plays which spearheaded the dramatic renaissance of the 1890s and retain their power today. This collection offers newly edited texts of Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, Salome, An Ideal Husband, and, arguably the greatest farcical comedy in English, The Importance of Being Earnest.

Under the General Editorship of Dr Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction and detailed annotation.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Salome

by Oscar Wilde

Salome is Oscar Wilde’s most experimental―and controversial―play. In its own time, the play, written in French, was described by a reviewer as “an arrangement in blood and ferocity, morbid, bizarre, repulsive.” None, however, could deny the importance of Wilde’s creation. Contemporary audiences and reviewers variously regarded Salome as the symbol of a thrilling modernity, a challenge to patriarchy, a confession of desire, a sign of moral decay, a new form of art, and a revolt against the restraints of Victorian society. Less well known than Wilde’s beloved comedies, Salome is as enduringly modern and relevant.
This edition uses the English translation done by Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, and overseen and corrected by Wilde himself. Appendices detail the play’s sources and provide extensive materials on its contemporary reception and dramatic productions.

new-9780199535989

by Oscar Wilde

Since its first publication in 1890, Oscar Wilde's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, has remained the subject of critical controversy. Acclaimed by some as an instructive moral tale, it has been denounced by others for its implicit immorality. After having his portrait painted, Dorian Gray is captivated by his own beauty. Tempted by his world-weary friend, decadent friend Lord Henry Wotton, he wished to stay young forever and pledges his very soul to keep his good looks. As Dorian's slide into crime and cruelty progresses, he stays magically youthful, while his beautiful portrait changes, revealing the hideous corruption of moral decay. Set in fin-de-siécle London, the novel traces a path from the studio of painter Basil Howard to the opium dens of the East End. The text of this edition is derived from the Oxford English Texts, which prints acritically established version of the first book edition of 1891. Also included is a new, fuller introduction, which considers the difference between the 1890 and 1891 texts, Wilde's range of sources, significant critical approaches to the novel and its reputation since 1891, full explanatory notes that identify Wilde's sources, and an up-to-date-bibliography.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Modern Library Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Introduction by Jeffrey Eugenides • Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

Written in his distinctively dazzling manner, Oscar Wilde’s story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is the author’s most popular work. The tale of Dorian Gray’s moral disintegration caused a scandal when it first appeared in 1890, but though Wilde was attacked for the novel’s corrupting influence, he responded that there is, in fact, “a terrible moral in Dorian Gray.” Just a few years later, the book and the aesthetic/moral dilemma it presented became issues in the trials occasioned by Wilde’s homosexual liaisons, which resulted in his imprisonment. Of Dorian Gray’s relationship to autobiography, Wilde noted in a letter, “Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.”

Oscar Wilde: 'The Importance of Being Earnest' (Cambridge Literature)

by Oscar Wilde

Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America has been recognized as an indispensable starting point for understanding American politics. From the publication of the second volume in 1840 until his death in 1859, Tocqueville continued to monitor political developments in America and committed many of his thoughts to paper in letters to his friends in America. He also made frequent references to America in many articles and speeches. Did Tocqueville change his views on America outlined in the two volumes of Democracy in America published in 1835 and 1840? If so, which of his views changed and why? The texts translated in Tocqueville on America after 1840: Letters and Other Writings answer these questions and offer English-speaking readers the possibility of familiarizing themselves with this unduly neglected part of Tocqueville’s work. The book points out a clear shift in emphasis especially after 1852 and documents Tocqueville’s growing disenchantment with America, triggered by such issues as political corruption, slavery, expansionism, and the encroachment of the economic sphere upon the political.

Oscar Wilde - The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's dramatic private life has sometimes threatened to overshadow his great literary achievements. His talent was prodigious: the author of brilliant social comedies, fairy stories, critical dialogues, poems, and a novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. In addition to Dorian Gray, this volume represents all these genres, including such works as Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest, 'The Happy Prince', 'The Critic as Artist', and 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol'.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Howards End

by Oscar Wilde

A fashionable young man sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty in Oscar Wilde's fascinating gothic tale.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde’s only full-length novel, is the enduringly eerie story of a naïve and irresistible young man lured by decadent Lord Henry Wotton into a life of depravity. Though Dorian is steeped in sin, his face remains perfect, unlined as years pass—while only his portrait, locked away, reveals the blackness of his soul. This timeless tale of Gothic horror and fable, reveling in the unabashed hedonism and cynical wit of its characters, epitomizes Wilde’s literary revolt against the proprieties of the Victorian era.

Sharing this volume with The Picture of Dorian Gray are Wilde’s clever and sophisticated story “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime” and two of his delicate fairy tales, “The Happy Prince” and “The Birthday of the Infanta.”

With an Introduction by Gary Schnidgall
and an Afterword by Peter Raby

An Ideal Husband (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays)

by Oscar Wilde

Although Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) created a wide range of poetry, essays, and fairy tales (and one novel) in his brief, tragic life, he is perhaps best known as a dramatist. His witty, clever drama, populated by brilliant talkers skilled in the art of riposte and paradox, are still staples of the theatrical repertoire.
An Ideal Husband revolves around a blackmail scheme that forces a married couple to reexamine their moral standards — providing, along the way, a wry commentary on the rarity of politicians who can claim to be ethically pure. A supporting cast of young lovers, society matrons, an overbearing father, and a formidable femme fatale continually exchange sparkling repartee, keeping the play moving at a lively pace.
Like most of Wilde's plays, this scintillating drawing-room comedy is wise, well-constructed, and deeply satisfying. An instant success at its 1895 debut, the play continues to delight audiences over one hundred years later. An Ideal Husband is a must-read for Wilde fans, students of English literature, and anyone delighted by wit, urbanity, and timeless sophistication.

The Picture of Dorian Gray Vintage Classics x MADE.COM

by Oscar Wilde

VINTAGE CLASSICS X MADE.COM

Dorian is a good-natured young man until he discovers the power of his own exceptional beauty. As he gradually sinks deep into a frivolous, glamorous world of selfish luxury, he apparently remains physically unchanged by the stresses of his corrupt lifestyle and untouched by age. But in a locked room, hidden behind a curtain, his portrait tells a very different story...

This series is a collaboration between Vintage Classics and MADE.COM. Using their furniture and fabrics as a starting point, MADE.COM have recreated the settings and atmosphere from three of Vintage Classics’s best-loved novels: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Great Gatsby and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The Picture of Dorian Greyhound (Classic Tails 4) Beautifully illustrated classics, as told by the finest breeds!

by Oscar Wilde

CLASSIC TAILS - the greatest works of literature, as told by the finest breeds

We all have our favourite classic tales; books that have been beloved to us since childhood, whose wonderful stories and rich tapestry of characters are unsurpassed in modern literature. How, you may ask, could these marvellous works ever be improved upon?

Reader, ask no more...for we present

The Picture of Dorian Greyhound

Dorian Greyhound is the best of his breed - well-tempered, beautiful and pure of heart. So Basil Basset, an artist, paints a portrait that reflects the very essence of Dorian's soul.
But soon Dorian befriends selfish hedonist Lord Henry Wooffon, and then the moral corruption of this sweet creature begins. On the outside, Dorian remains young and sleek - but as his naughtiness increases, the portrait starts to reveal the extent of his inner decay...

What readers are saying about The Picture of Dorian Greyhound:

'The whole book is hilarious. I need more of these Classic Tails editions in my life'

'Clever text, lovely illustrations'

'Fun references and amazing artwork. It's certainly made me want to read the original'

The Happy Prince & Other Stories

by Oscar Wilde

This is one of the most famous and beloved of Oscar Wilde's tales. This volume also includes two more of Wilde's most treasured stories, “The Selfish Giant” and “The Nightingale and the Rose”.

After the death of a young prince, his subjects erect a statue of him. From this new perch high above the city, the soul of the Happy Prince surveys the lives of its inhabitants, witnessing their poverty and desperation. He resolves to alleviate his people's misery, enlisting the help of a swallow heading south for the winter. Moved, the swallow obliges the prince… with unforgettably poignant results.

Wilde described this story of love and sacrifice as being meant partly for children, and partly for those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Collins Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Product Description
HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.
‘The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.’
When Basil Hallward paints the portrait of young, handsome Dorian Gray, he falls prey to his dazzling beauty. Afraid that his youth and looks will waste away, Dorian expresses a wish that his portrait, and not he, will age and fade over time. His wish is granted, and over the ensuing years, Dorian indulges in every kind of vice and pleasure, never ageing nor disfiguring. Only his portrait, hidden to the world, bears the marks of his actions, and as his soul grows ever more wasted and corrupted, devastatingconsequences lie in wait.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is an exploration of the purpose of art, the superficial nature of youth and beauty, and the conflict between morality and intemperance. First published in its complete, uncensored form in 1891, it is Oscar Wilde’s only novel.
About the Author
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on the 16th October 1854 and died on the 30th November 1900. He was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest.

The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

“Now, for the first time, we can read the version that Wilde intended…Both the text and Nicholas Frankel’s introduction make for fascinating reading.” ―Paris Review

More than 120 years after Oscar Wilde submitted The Picture of Dorian Gray for publication in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, the uncensored version of his novel appears here for the first time in a paperback edition. This volume restores all of the material removed by the novel’s first editor.

Upon receipt of the typescript, Wilde’s editor panicked at what he saw. Contained within its pages was material he feared readers would find “offensive”―especially instances of graphic homosexual content. He proceeded to go through the typescript with his pencil, cleaning it up until he made it “acceptable to the most fastidious taste.” Wilde did not see these changes until his novel appeared in print. Wilde’s editor’s concern was well placed. Even in its redacted form, the novel caused public outcry. The British press condemned it as “vulgar,” “unclean,” “poisonous,” “discreditable,” and “a sham.” When Wilde later enlarged the novel for publication in book form, he responded to his critics by further toning down its “immoral” elements.

Wilde famously said that The Picture of Dorian Gray “contains much of me”: Basil Hallward is “what I think I am,” Lord Henry “what the world thinks me,” and “Dorian what I would like to be―in other ages, perhaps.” Wilde’s comment suggests a backward glance to a Greek or Dorian Age, but also a forward-looking view to a more permissive time than his own repressive Victorian era. By implication, Wilde would have preferred we read today the uncensored version of his novel.

Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act

by Oscar Wilde

Unique among his works, Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé (1893) was written originally in French. Joseph Donohue’s new translation of the horrific New Testament story has recast Wilde’s shockingly radical drama in the natural idiomatic language of our own day. Presenting a colloquial and spare American English version of Wilde’s consciously stylized French, Donohue’s approach gives full value to the Irish author’s dark ruminations on evil and perversity in a world on the brink of a new, unsettling Christian dispensation.
The play was first translated into English in 1894 by Wilde’s young friend Lord Alfred Douglas, but Wilde was far from pleased with the outcome. And yet Douglas’s stilted, inaccurate version has somehow retained a long-standing place on the stage and in the study. Donohue’s lucid vernacular transformation of Douglas’s safe, thee-and-thou faux-biblical language has the quality of a startling modern-dress remounting of an overly familiar classic play. This new Salomé is calculated to bring both readers and playgoers into close, disturbing confrontation with one of the most erotic and bloodiest sequences of testamentary lore.
Brilliantly complementing Donohue’s unprecedented approach is a set of engravings by a master illustrator of our time. Barry Moser is an artist who speaks the blunt yet fluent language of present-day communication through the penetrating gestural vocabulary of the graphic arts. The resulting combination of words and images directly engages with Wilde’s characters and their story, setting a bold new standard for the melding of literary and pictorial excellence. At the same time, it leads readers and audiences alike to rediscover perennially significant themes―of love, death, power, and individuality.
A signed and numbered limited edition is available for $100.00.

A Novel Journal: The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

Once considered too scandalous to publish, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is the story of a young man who is granted his wish to have his portrait age in his place. But his resulting youthful handsomeness is exploited in hedonistic pursuits that horribly disfigure the once beautiful painting. The complexity and intrigue of the novel has led to its continued popularity for more than a century, the moral implications continuing to fascinate readers of today.

A Novel Journal: The Picture of Dorian Gray allows readers and writers to interact with this classic novel in a new way, as they pen their own stories, thoughts, and dilemmas between the lines of Wilde’s tale. In a font so tiny that it nearly disappears, the entire text of this novel serves as the page lines of this fun fan journal.

Packaged in a luxurious heat-burnished cover with stunningly illustrated endpapers and a colored elastic band to close pages tight, this book is a great gift or collectible for admirers of Wilde’s work

The Importance of Being Earnest: And Other Plays (Modern Library Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde created his final and most lasting play, comic masterpieces of all time, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, in 1895. Considered one of the greatest THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a farce, playing with love, religion, and truth as it tells the tale of two men. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who bend the truth in order to add excitement to their lives. Jack invents an imaginary brother, Ernest, whom he uses as an excuse to escape from his dull country home and gallavant in town. Meanwhile, Algernon follows Jack's scam, but his imaginary friend, Bumbury, provides a convenient method of adventuring in the country. However, their deceptions eventually cross paths, resulting in a series of crises that threaten to spoil their romantic pursuits. Hailed as the first modern comedy in England, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is Wilde's most famous work. This collection also features two other plays that Wilde penned earlier in his career, LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN and AN IDEAL HUSBAND, that also display his ability to convey warmth and wit through his hilarious characters and their outlandish situations.

A Novel Journal: The Picture of Dorian Gray (Compact)

by Oscar Wilde

Published in 1890, The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde’s only novel, and at first, it was considered too salacious to publish. In this story of greed, sin, and arrogance, a young, handsome man makes a devil’s bargain to have his portrait age instead of his body. A cautionary tale of innocence sacrificed for the sake of vanity, The Picture of Dorian Gray is a time-honored story that remains relevant today.

In A Novel Journal: The Picture of Dorian Gray, the famously insightful novel serves as the lines of this journal in tiny type. Packaged with a deluxe Svepa cover, brilliant endpapers, colored edges, and matching elastic band to close pages tight, this book is a great gift or collectible for admirers of Wilde’s work. And the compact size makes this journal easy to slip into a purse, briefcase, or backpack so you can record and revisit your thoughts on the go.

The Annotated Importance of Being Earnest

by Oscar Wilde

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple,” declares Algernon early in Act One of The Importance of Being Earnest, and were it either, modern literature would be “a complete impossibility.” It is a moment of sly, winking self-regard on the part of the playwright, for The Importance is itself the sort of complex modern literary work in which the truth is neither pure nor simple. Wilde’s greatest play is full of subtexts, disguises, concealments, and double entendres. Continuing the important cultural work he began in his award-winning uncensored edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Nicholas Frankel shows that The Importance needs to be understood in relation to its author’s homosexuality and the climate of sexual repression that led to his imprisonment just months after it opened at London’s St. James’s Theatre on Valentine’s Day 1895.

In a facing-page edition designed with students, teachers, actors, and dramaturges in mind, The Annotated Importance of Being Earnest provides running commentary on the play to enhance understanding and enjoyment. The introductory essay and notes illuminate literary, biographical, and historical allusions, tying the play closely to its author’s personal life and sexual identity. Frankel reveals that many of the play’s wittiest lines were incorporated nearly four years after its first production, when the author, living in Paris as an exiled and impoverished criminal, oversaw publication of the first book edition. This newly edited text is accompanied by numerous illustrations.

The Importance of Being Earnest (Norton Critical Editions)

by Oscar Wilde

The text of this Norton Critical Edition of The Importance of Being Earnest is the established three-act version. Originally in four acts, Wilde shortened it to three at the urging of George Alexander, the owner of the St. James Theatre and first actor to play Jack Worthing. The play is accompanied by explanatory annotations and by an appendix of excised portions. "Backgrounds" includes essays on Wilde and the 1890s by prominent cultural critics Joseph Donohue, Regenia Gagnier, and Karl Beckson. "Reviews and Reactions" collects contemporary responses to The Importance of Being Earnest, among them George Bernard Shaw’s famous dissenting view and the American assessment by H. F.

"Essays in Criticism" includes six diverse assessments of Wilde and the play by E. H. Mikhail, Camille Paglia, Christopher Craft, Michael Patrick Gillespie, Peter Raby, and Richard Haslam.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

The Canterville Ghost (minedition Classic)

by Oscar Wilde

The house at Canterville Chase has been haunted for centuries–but that isn’t about to stop the determined American family who has come to live there. In fact, even when evidence of the haunting proves indisputable, they remain undaunted, and take to teasing and pranking the poor old ghost, until he’s at his wits’ end. This satirically funny case of ghostly culture shock won’t get resolved until young Virginia learns that love can be stronger than fear.Here is whimsical ghost story turned on its head, from the renowned Victorian writer Oscar Wilde, sure to delight anyone not otherwise trapped in an ethereal plane.

The Happy Prince and Other Tales Illustrated by Charles Robinson

by Oscar Wilde

A pleasure seeking prince, a selfish giant, and more: Wilde's fairy tales, first published in 1888, for childlike people from eighteen to eighty."

De Profundis

by Oscar Wilde

Written from Wilde's prison cell at Reading Gaol to his friend and lover Lord Alfred Douglas, De Profundis explodes the conventions of the traditional love letter and offers a scathing indictment of Douglas's behavior, a mournful elegy for Wilde's own lost greatness, and an impassioned plea for reconciliation. At once a bracingly honest account of ruinous attachment and a profound meditation on human suffering, De Profundis is a classic of gay literature. Richard Ellmann calls De Profundis "a love letter...One of the greatest, and the longest, ever written."


This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition contains newly commissioned notes.

Salomé A Tragedy in One Act

by Oscar Wilde

Salomé, the haunting one-act tragedy that marks Wilde's first great success in the theatre, retells the Biblical story in which the stepdaughter of the tetrarch Herod Antipas demands the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter as a reward for her dancing for her stepfather's amusement. Written in 1891, and prepared for its first run in 1892, rehearsals of Salomé had to be cancelled when the play was banned by the Lord Chamberlain due to its depiction of religious characters.Undaunted, Wilde moved on to the drawing-room and society comedies he is today best known for, wowing London audiences with Lady Windermere's Fan and A Woman of No Importance, and it was only in 1894 that Salomé saw the light of day in an English translation, with a series of specially commissioned illustrations by the up-and-coming Aubrey Beardsley.If I craved for entertaining conversation by a first-class raconteur, I should choose Oscar Wilde.George Bernard ShawAn extraordinarily illuminating intellect.William Rothenstein

Collected Poems of Oscar Wilde

by Oscar Wilde

With an Introduction, Notes and Bibliography by Anne Varty, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Wilde, glamorous and notorious, more famous as a playwright or prisoner than as a poet, invites readers of his verse to meet an unknown and intimate figure. The poetry of his formative years includes the haunting elegy to his young sister and the grieving lyric at the death of his father. The religious drama of his romance with Rome is captured here, as well as its resolution in his renewed love of ancient Greece.

He explores forbidden sexual desires, pays homage to the great theatre stars and poets of his day, observes cityscapes with impressionist intensity. His final masterpiece, 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol', tells the painful story of his own prison experience and calls for universal compassion.

This edition of Wilde's verse presents the full range of his achievement as a poet.

Oscar Wilde - The Major Works

by Oscar Wilde

This authoritative edition was formerly published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Wilde's poetry and prose short stories, plays, critical dialogues and his only novel - to give the essence of his work and thinking. - ;This authoritative edition was formerly published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Wilde's poetry and prose short stories, plays, critical dialogues and his only novel - to give the essence of his work and thinking. Oscar Wilde's dramatic private life has sometimes threatened to overshadow his great literary achievements. His talent was prodigious: the author of brilliant social comedies, fairy stories, critical dialogues, poems, and a novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. In addition to Dorian Gray, this volume represents all these genres, including such works as Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest, 'The Happy Prince', 'The Critic as Artist', and 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol'. -

The Picture Of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

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The Picture Of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's surreal and haunting story of a beautiful young man who bargains his soul for eternal youth, now freshly repackaged for the Union Square & Co. Signature Clothbound Editions line.



When handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter's stunning portrait of him, he is transfixed by its reflection of his own beauty. He is also troubled by the knowledge that the image in the painting will remain forever youthful and handsome while he himself will grow older and less desirable. He wishes aloud that the roles were reversed, saying that he would give his soul if only the painting would suffer the ravages of time and he were to remain forever young. From that point on, Dorian lives a life of hedonistic indulgence, knowing that only the painting will show his moral corruption.



This edition also includes four additional stories from Oscar Wilde's fairy tale collection, A House of Pomegranates.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

Dive into a gothic world of obsession, excess, and debauchery with this stunning edition of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Artist Basil Hallward has sent a gift. A portrait that perfectly captures young Dorian Gray's handsome features. When Lord Henry tempts Dorian with a new lifestyle of hedonism and pleasure, he realizes that he would sell his soul for an eternity of debauchery. Oscar Wilde's only published novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is a dark and sinful story of excess and vice.

This collectible edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray features:

• An elegant faux-leather cover with foil-embossed designs
• Introduction by notable scholar John Kenny
• Unabridged text

Essential volumes for the shelves of every classic literature lover, Chartwell Deluxe Editions offer beautifully presented works from some of the most important authors in literary history. Other deluxe classics from Chartwell include Little Women, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, Anne of Green Gables, The Inferno, Dracula, The Republic, The Iliad, Meditations, and Irish Fairy and Folk Tales.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

Handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter's stunning portrait of him and becomes transfixed by his own beauty. Troubled by the knowledge that the painting will remain handsome while he himself will wither, Dorian exchanges his soul for eternal youth. From that point on, Dorian lives a life of hedonistic indulgence, knowing that only the painting will show his moral corruption.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

In Oscar Wilde’s famous novel, Dorian Gray is tempted by Henry Wotton to sell his soul in order to hold on to beauty and youth. Dorian succumbs and murders the portrait painter Basil Haliward, who stands between him and his goal. Though in the end vice is punished and virtue rewarded, the novel remains one of the most important expressions of fin de siècle decadence. It is in the preface to the expanded edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray that Wilde coined the most famous expression of his aesthetic: “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well-written or badly-written. That is all.”

Like other Broadview Editions, this edition includes a wide range of materials from the period that help to set the text in context. In particular, the editor locates the text both in relation to elements in the mainstream culture of the day (such as the aesthetes); and in relation to the gay subculture.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Masterpiece Library Edition)

by Oscar Wilde

Though Dorian Gray remains forever young and beautiful, the portrait hidden in his manor bears the truth.

• Rediscover Oscar Wilde's enthralling tale in this elegant yet affordable Masterpiece Library Edition, honoring the Peter Pauper Press founders' tradition of publishing beautiful books.
• Deluxe, durably bound hardcover keepsake volume.
• Embossed cover with iridescent highlighting.
• Gold foil-stamped spine.
• Reinforced cloth quarter-binding for durability
• Premium acid-free archival-quality paper for longevity.
• Cream-color pages with font, type size, and line spacing chosen for a comfortable reading experience, even under imperfect lighting.
• Comes with a matching satin ribbon bookmark with which to keep your place.
• A must-have for every home library.
• 232 pages.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Irish poet, novelist, and playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) both allured and scandalized Victorian audiences with its sensuality. Ultimately, the novella once condemned for its perversions endures as a classic, leaving readers to determine which sins are concealed and which are laid bare in a society where, as Wilde said himself, ''Life holds the mirror up to Art.''

The Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde An Annotated Selection

by Oscar Wilde

An authoritative edition of Oscar Wilde’s critical writings shows how the renowned dramatist and novelist also transformed the art of commentary.

Though he is primarily acclaimed today for his drama and fiction, Oscar Wilde was also one of the greatest critics of his generation. Annotated and introduced by Wilde scholar Nicholas Frankel, this unique collection reveals Wilde as a writer who transformed criticism, giving the genre new purpose, injecting it with style and wit, and reorienting it toward the kinds of social concerns that still occupy our most engaging cultural commentators.

“Criticism is itself an art,” Wilde wrote, and The Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde demonstrates this philosophy in action. Readers will encounter some of Wilde’s most quotable writings, such as “The Decay of Lying,” which famously avers that “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates life.” But Frankel also includes lesser-known works like “The American Invasion,” a witty celebration of modern femininity, and “Aristotle at Afternoon Tea,” in which Wilde deftly (and anonymously) carves up his former tutor’s own criticism. The essays, reviews, dialogues, and epigrams collected here cover an astonishing range of themes: literature, of course, but also fashion, politics, masculinity, cuisine, courtship, marriage—the breadth of Victorian England. If today’s critics address such topics as a matter of course, it is because Wilde showed that they could. It is hard to imagine a twenty-first-century criticism without him.

El Retrato de Dorian Gray (Novela Gótica) / the Picture of Dorian Gray (a Gothic Novel)

by Oscar Wilde

Una piedra angular en los debates entre la ética y la estética, en las relaciones que mantienen el bien y el mal, el alma y el cuerpo, el arte y la vida.

Cuando se publicó El retrato de Dorian Gray, la crítica moralizante acusó a su protagonista de ser una figura satánica, corrompida y corruptora, sin comprender que era el héroe de una novela que reflejaba la fatalidad de los románticos: Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) había querido hacer de la belleza un refinamiento de la inteligencia; y para ello sumió a su protagonista en una atmósfera de perversión dominada por el arte y los poderes de un misterio que está más allá de la realidad.

Pero el autor no se conforma con la simple descripción: incrusta a su personaje en un crimen y, como Edgar Allan Poe en sus relatos, lo rodea de un misterio que la razón no puede explicar. Dorian Gray sigue siendo, más de cien años después de la muerte de su autor, una piedra angular en los debates entre la ética y la estética, en las relaciones que mantienen el bien y el mal, el alma y el cuerpo, el arte y la vida. Presidida por la ley de la fatalidad, Dorian Gray no deja de alcanzar el objetivo que el propio Wilde quería para su libro: «Venenoso si ustedes quieren, pero no podrán negar que también es perfecto, y la perfección es la meta a la que apuntamos nosotros los artistas».

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

A cornerstone in the debates between ethics and aesthetics, in the relationships between good and evil, soul and body, art and life.

When The Picture of Dorian Gray was published, moralistic critics accused its protagonist of being a satanic, corrupt, and corrupting figure, not understanding that he was the hero of a novel reflecting the fatalism of the Romantics. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) aimed to make beauty a refinement of intelligence; to achieve this, he immersed his protagonist in an atmosphere of perversion dominated by art and the powers of a mystery beyond reality.

But the author does not settle for mere description: he embeds his character in a crime and, like Edgar Allan Poe in his tales, surrounds him with a mystery that reason cannot explain. Dorian Gray remains, more than a hundred years after the author's death, a cornerstone in the debates between ethics and aesthetics, in the relationships between good and evil, soul and body, art and life. Governed by the law of fatality, Dorian Gray continues to achieve the goal Wilde wanted for his book: "Poisonous if you like, but you cannot deny that it is also perfect, and perfection is the goal we artists aim for."

The Happy Prince and Other Stories

by Oscar Wilde

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

'Dear Prince, I must leave you, but I will never forget you, and next spring I will bring you back two beautiful jewels in place of those you have given away. The ruby shall be redder than a red rose, and the sapphire shall be as blue as the great sea.'

In 'The Happy Prince' a statue - jewelled and opulent - keeps careful watch over the city and its inhabitants. Enlisting the help of a swallow, his selfless acts bring comfort to those most in need. 'The Nightingale and the Rose' is a tragic tale of personal sacrifice in the name of love, while in 'The Selfish Giant' the end of an eternal winter finally brings springtime and happiness.

In this collection of enchanting tales from a master storyteller, Oscar Wilde has entranced readers both young and old since publication in the late nineteenth century.

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays

by Oscar Wilde

'It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.'

The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) proclaims that it is 'A Trivial Play for Serious People'. In fact, collected here alongside Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), Salome (1891, 1894), A Woman of No Importance (1893), and An Ideal Husband (1895), Earnest shows that the questions raised by Wilde's plays are anything but trivial. Witty and radical, they elegantly challenge Victorian social proprieties, featuring lies, blackmail, illicit desires, seductions, and double lives.

This volume, edited by Kate Hext, positions Wilde's major plays in the context of Wilde's life, career, and late-Victorian culture. Its introduction provides a readable overview with stylistic analyses to help readers understand the plays and why they are still fresh and relevant today, followed by sections on each play which explain key figures, plot devices, and Wilde's evolution as a dramatist.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (DK Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Oscar Wilde's decadent and disturbing novel with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, and a silk ribbon bookmark.

"The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it."

Dorian is a good-natured young man until he discovers the power of his own exceptional beauty. As he gradually sinks deep into a frivolous, glamorous world of selfish luxury, he apparently remains physically unchanged by the stresses of his corrupt lifestyle and untouched by age. But up in his attic, hidden behind a curtain, his portrait tells a different story...

This hardback is part of DK CLASSICS, a luxurious series of classic titles, thoughtfully crafted for collectors and fans of beautiful special editions. Each complete, unabridged book features sumptuous design and the highest quality finishes. Discover timeless classics beautifully bound for every bookshelf.

A Poet Can Survive Everything But a Misprint

by Oscar Wilde

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books

'All art,' Oscar Wilde once announced, 'is quite useless.' Selected here are some of his finest prose works on the subject of art - useless, illuminating, artificial, uplifting, radical, gorgeous, boring, sublime - and his most brilliant aphorisms on the creative life. Whether lamenting the crass urge to hold art to realist or natural standards or arguing against morality as a guiding principle, Wilde defends the artist while delighting the audience.