Showing results by author "Oscar Wilde" in All Categories

Oscar Wilde's collection of fairy stories are among the greatest and most poignant classics for children and adults alike. Humour, pathos, delightful little characters abound in the stories of The Happy Prince and the Swallow who agrees to keep him company despite approaching winter; The Selfish Giant, who doesn't want children playing in his garden, and The Remarkable Rocket.

The Importance of Being Earnest is a very popular play written by Oscar Wilde. In the satire, Algernon and Jack are two young members of the English gentry who pursue their romantic desires dishonestly. Both men want to adopt the name "Ernest," who is Jack's imaginary younger brother. The idea of name changing comes about when Algernon wants to marry Cecily, and Jack wants to marry Gwendolen. However, it just so happens that Cecily and Gwendolen are only interested in marrying men named Ernest!

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.

A House of Pomegranates is a collection of four long stories, which was first was published in 1891: "The Young King"; "The Birthday of the Infanta"; "The Fisherman and His Soul"; and "The Star-Child".

A collection of stories that children absolutely adore. The brilliant Robin and Brenda Markwell voice a fabulous retelling of classics, from The King's New Clothes to the story of Black Beauty and much more. So go on and delve into a series of enchanting worlds that we all know and love.

The poem written by Wilde while in exile about his time in Reading Prison and the hanging of Charles Thomas Wooldridge.

A glittering collection of some of the world's finest short stories.

In a town full of suffering poor people, a swallow who was left behind after his flock flew off to Egypt for the winter meets the statue of the late "Happy Prince", who has never experienced true sorrow, for he lived in a palace where sorrow was not allowed to enter. Viewing various scenes of people suffering in poverty from his tall monument, the Happy Prince asks the swallow to take the ruby from his hilt, the sapphires from his eyes, and the gold leaf covering his body to give to the poor.

Dorian Gray, giovane e bellissimo dandy della società londinese del diciannovesimo secolo, plagiato e iniziato dall'amico esteta Lord Henry, esprime, contemplando un proprio ritratto, il desiderio di poter rimanere sempre giovane e bello. Per un terribile sortilegio è il dipinto a portare i segni dell'età che avanza e della decadenza umana e morale ...

The Nightingale and the Rose is a short tragic fantasy story for children. It was first published in 1888 in the anthology The Happy Prince and Other Tales, which, in addition to its title story, also includes "The Happy Prince", "The Devoted Friend", "The Selfish Giant" and "The Remarkable Rocket". In The Nightingale and the Rose by Oscar Wilde we have theme of love, sacrifice, selflessness, pity, materialism and gratitude.

600 Quotations from the Great Writers of the 20th Century features the wit and wisdom of some of the 20th Century’s greatest writers and minds. A cherry-picked selection, the collection includes quotes from the likes of famous Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, American-Lebanese writer and poet Khalil Gibran, Winston Churchill, Britain’s celebrated prime minister, and many more.

Oscar Wilde's story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is one of his most popular works. Written in Wilde's characteristically dazzling manner, full of stinging epigrams and shrewd observations, the tale of Dorian Gray's moral disintegration caused something of a scandal when it first appeared in 1890.

An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honor. The action is set in London, in "the present", and takes place over the course of 24 hours. Together with The Importance of Being Earnest, it is often considered Wilde's dramatic masterpiece. After The Importance of Being Earnest, it is his most popularly produced play. Performed by Michael Ward.

The Importance of Being Earnest is Wilde's most famous and oft-produced play. First performed in 1895, and subtitled "A Trivial Comedy for Serious People", it shows Wilde at his satirical and scathingly witty best. It follows the misadventures of Algy and Jack as they attempt to woo and wed Cecily and Gwendolen under the assumed name "Ernest", much to the disapproval of the aristocratic Lady Bracknell.

Oscar Wilde's most popular and enduring play is set in Victorian England and concerns characters who maintain false identities in order to escape their social obligations. The play, which satirises Victorian society, is full of wit and humour.

A palmist’s prediction leads to murder; an enigmatic woman’s lifestyle is a mystery to be solved; a ghost tries to frighten the new tenants of his home; a man has discovered the dedicatee of Shakespeare’s Sonnets; a millionaire wants to be painted as a pauper. Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories is a collection of fascinating short stories which are subversive as well as entertaining.

Oscar Wilde's wit and meaning is at its best in this ghost story, considered by many the best ever written. Wilde's dialogue lends himself to narration because of his quick wit and delivery. Here he presents a traditional English ghost that Americans refuse to accept, but both parties finally work together to end the controversy. One of the great short stories of all time.

In this wickedly funny play, a seemingly ideal couple and their charming, privileged friends surmount such details as selling government secrets, theft, and bribery with love triumphant over all.

A terrifying ghost is haunting the ancient mansion of Canterville Chase, complete with creaking floorboards, clanking chains and gruesome disguises - but the new occupants seem strangely undisturbed by his presence. Deftly contrasting the conventional gothic ghost story with the pragmatism of the modern world, Wilde creates a gently comic fable of the conflict between old and new. Rupert Degas's hilarious reading brings the absurdity and theatricality of the story to life.

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.