Synopses & Reviews
Oscar Wilde’s infamous wit, taste for scandal, and gift for revealing the hypocrisies of fashionable society are on display here in this collection of his finest plays. A genius both of and ahead of his time, he built his craft on the eternal questions of right and wrong—with pithy dialogue as fresh today as when it was written. In addition to Wilde’s five major plays, this Signet Classics edition contains: • Two interviews with the playwright at the peak of his career, in which Wilde discusses his work—and his critics• Some of his most brilliant critical writing, in which he discusses the nature of art in terms that anticipate much of today’s literary theory• An appendix that restores valuable lines that appeared in the original text of
The Importance of Being EarnestWith an Introduction by Sylvan Barnetand a New Afterword by Marylu Hill
Synopsis
In
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde's full-length novel, a fashionable young man sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Also included in the volume are three of the Irish master storyteller's short works:
- Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
- The Happy Prince
- The Birthbday of the Infanta
Synopsis
This timeless tale of gothic horror is accompanied by three short stories-- "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," "The Happy Prince," and "The Birthday of the Infanta"--and a new introduction by Gary Schmidgall, author of The Stranger Wilde. Reprint.
Synopsis
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 naive 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
Synopsis
LORD ARTHUR SAVILE'S CRIME
THE HAPPY PRINCE
THE BIRTHDAY OF THE INFANTA
In Dorian Gray, Wilde's full-length novel, a fashionable young man sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Also included in the volume are three of the Irish master storyteller's short works.
Synopsis
In
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde's full-length novel, a fashionable young man sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Also included in the volume are three of the Irish master storyteller's short works:
- Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
- The Happy Prince
- The Birthbday of the Infanta
@MajorLeagueAesthole Sadly my beauty will one day cease. Perhaps I could preserve it by having the doc pull and staple the skin of my face? No. A silly thought.
People seem put off by my self-absorption. But I can’t help but tell the truth about my excellence! It is important to be earnest, isn’t it?
From Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less
Synopsis
The master of wit and irony
Published here alongside their evocative original illustrations, these fairy tales, as Oscar Wilde himself explained, were written “partly for children, and partly for those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy.”
Synopsis
A universal favorite, The Importance of Being Earnest displays Oscar Wilde's theatrical genius at its brilliant best. Subtitled "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People", this hilarious attack on Victorian manners and morals turns a pompous world on its head, lets duplicity lead to happiness, and makes riposte the highest form of art. Also included in this special collection are Wilde's first comedy success, Lady Windermere's Fan, and his richly sensual melodrama, Salome.
About the Author
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, on October 16, 1854. He was an outstanding student of classics at Trinity College, and, in 1874, entered Magdalen College, Oxford, where he won the Newdigate Prize with his poem “Ravenna” (1878). An early leader of the “Aesthetic Movement,” which advanced the concept of “Art for Art’s Sake,” Wilde became a prominent personality in literary and social circles. His volume of fairy tales, The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) was followed by The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) and The House of Pomegranates (1892). However, it was not until his play Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892) was presented to the public that he became widely famous. A Woman of No Importance (1893) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) confirmed his stature as a dramatist. In 1895 he brought libel action against the Marquis of Queensbury; revelations at the trial about his relationships led to his being sentenced under the Criminal Law Amendment for homosexual acts. Upon his release in 1897, he settled on the Continent, where he wrote his most powerful and enduring poem, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” (1898). Oscar Wilde died in Paris on November 30, 1900. Sylvan Barnet, who received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, is professor of English at Tufts University, specializing in English drama. He is the General Editor of the Signet Classic Shakespeare series and the author or coauthor of many books, including Types of Drama, 8th edition, and An Introduction to Literature, 13th edition. Marylu Hill is the Director of the Center for Liberal Education at Villanova University. She is the author of Mothering Modernity: Feminism, Modernism, and the Maternal Muse (1999), and coeditor (with Paul Kerry) of Thomas Carlyle Resartus (2010). She has published numerous essays on Victorian subjects, including Thomas Carlyle, Christina Rossetti, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Her current book project is on Oscar Wilde and Platonic dialogue.