Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy of manners set in Victorian England. Algernon lives in London and says he has a sick friend in the country. He uses visits to his imaginary friend to get out of things. His best friend, Ernest, is also Jack and is doing the exact same thing. Misunderstandings abound in this comedy. 'The truth is rarely pure, and never simple.', '...in married life three is company and two is none.' Is this play a 'unique work of art' as Oscar Wilde believed? Or, as a first-night reviewer claimed in 1895, it 'represents nothing, means nothing, is nothing'? This is for you to decide.

Wilde's scintillating drawing-room comedy revolves around a blackmail scheme that forces a married couple to reexamine their moral standards. A supporting cast of young lovers, society matrons, and a formidable femme fatale exchange sparkling repartee, keeping the action of the play at a lively pace.

Wilde's literary reputation has survived so much that I think it proof against any exhumation of articles which he or his admirers would have preferred to forget. As a matter of fact, I believe this volume will prove of unusual interest; some of the reviews are curiously prophetic; some are, of course, biassed by prejudice hostile or friendly; others are conceived in the author's wittiest and happiest vein; only a few are colourless. And if, according to Lord Beaconsfield, the verdict of a continental nation may be regarded as that of posterity, Wilde is a much greater force in our literature than even friendly contemporaries ever supposed he would become. It should be remembered, however, that at the time when most of these reviews were written Wilde had published scarcely any of the works by which his name has become famous in Europe, though the protagonist of the sthetic movement was a well-known figure in Paris and London. (Summary from Introduction by Robert Ross)

De Profundis (Latin: "from the depths") is a letter written by Oscar Wilde during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol, to "Bosie" (Lord Alfred Douglas). In its first half Wilde recounts their previous relationship and extravagant lifestyle which eventually led to Wilde's conviction and imprisonment for gross indecency. He indicts both Lord Alfred's vanity and his own weakness in acceding to those wishes. In the second half, Wilde charts his spiritual development in prison and identification with Jesus Christ, whom he characterises as a romantic, individualist artist. The letter began "Dear Bosie" and ended "Your Affectionate Friend". Wilde wrote the letter between January and March 1897, close to the end of his imprisonment. Contact had lapsed between Douglas and Wilde and the latter had suffered from his close supervision, physical labour, and emotional isolation. Nelson, the new prison governor, thought that writing might be more cathartic than prison labour. He was not allowed to send the long letter which he was allowed to write "for medicinal purposes"; each page was taken away when completed, and only at the end could he read it over and make revisions. Nelson gave the long letter to him on his release on 18 May 1897. Wilde entrusted the manuscript to the journalist Robert Ross (another former lover, loyal friend and rival to "Bosie"). Ross published the letter in 1905, five years after Wilde's death, giving it the title "De Profundis" from Psalm 130. It was an incomplete version, excised of its autobiographical elements and references to the Queensberry family; various editions gave more text until in 1962 the complete and correct version appeared in a volume of Wilde's letters.

A House of Pomegranates is a collection of whimisical short stories by Oscar Wilde. This collections includes the following tales: The Young King, The Birthday of the Infanta, The Fisherman and his Soul, and The Star-child. Readers of all ages will be delighted by these fanciful tales. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

Lady Windermere's Fan: A Play About a Good Woman is a play by Oscar Wilde, who uses his sharp wit to satirize Victorian ideals about marriage. Lady Windemere suspects her husband of infidelity and retaliates by taking a lover. Her husband's suspected lover follows her, begging her to return to Lord Windemere. The lover sacrifices her own reputation for that of Lady Windemere, in order to save that lady's marriage.

It was Lady Windermere's last reception before Easter, and Bentinck House was even more crowded than usual. Six Cabinet Ministers had come on from the Speaker's Lev e in their stars and ribands, all the pretty women wore their smartest dresses, and at the end of the picture-gallery stood the Princess Sophia of Carlsr he, a heavy Tartar-looking lady, with tiny black eyes and wonderful emeralds, talking bad French at the top of her voice, and laughing immoderately at everything that was said to her. It was certainly a wonderful medley of people. Gorgeous peeresses chatted affably to violent Radicals, popular preachers brushed coat-tails with eminent sceptics, a perfect bevy of bishops kept following a stout prima-donna from room to room, on the staircase stood several Royal Academicians, disguised as artists, and it was said that at one time the supper-room was absolutely crammed with geniuses. In fact, it was one of Lady Windermere's best nights, and the Princess stayed till nearly half-past eleven.

Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince and Other Tales is a collection of stories for children each of which is so poignant and exquisite that they are as treasured by adults as they are by children. The stories included in this collection are: The Happy Prince The Nightingale and the Rose The Selfish Giant The Devoted Friend The Remarkable Rocket

Dorian Gray. Så ung, så vacker, så oförstörd. Det syns inte minst på porträttet som Dorians gode vän, konstnären Basil Hallward målar av honom. När den cyniske och kvicke lord Henry Wotton håller ett tal för Dorian Gray om ungdomens övergående prakt, sår detta ett frö i Dorian: han inser att han sakta men säkert kommer att åldras, vissna och förtvina. Är detta oundvikligt eller går det till något pris att undvika? Och är Dorian i så fall villig att betala det priset? Dorian Grays porträtt publicerades första gången 1890. Romanen sades vara djupt omoralisk, till och med pervers. Under 1800-talets viktorianska England skulle konsten verka i mora - liskt och uppfostrande syfte, något som Oscar Wilde motsatte sig till, inte minst i detta verk som med tiden visat sig vara en odödlig klassiker. Dorian Grays porträtt har återutgivits gång på gång, den har filmatiserats, satts upp på operahus och teaterscener världen över. Varje ny generation har trollbundits av detta tidlösa mästerverk.

While best known for his comedies of the 1890s, including The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde was a master of many forms. This grand reproduction of a rare 1910 edition includes five of his very best fairy tales: "The Happy Prince," "The Nightingale and the Rose," "The Selfish Giant," "The Devoted Friend," and "The Remarkable Rocket." Charles Robinson, one of the most successful artists of the Golden Age, enhances the text with 12 remarkable full-color plates and scores of other line drawings: decorated initial caps, illustrated vignettes, and other embellishments.

Inhalt: - Roman - Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray - Erz hlungen - Das Gespenst von Canterville - Lord Arthur Saviles Verbrechen: Eine Studie ber die Pflicht - Der Modellmillion r: Ein Zeichen der Bewunderung - Die Sphinx ohne Geheimnis: Eine Radierung - M rchen - Der gl ckliche Prinz - Die Nachtigall und die Rose - Der selbsts chtige Riese - Der ergebene Freund - Die vornehme Rakete - Der junge K nig - Der Geburtstag der Infantin - Der Fischer und seine Seele - Das Sternenkind - Drama - Salome - Essays - Der Sozialismus und die Seele des Menschen - Aus dem Zuchthaus zu Reading - Aesthetisches Manifest - Zwei Gespr che von der Kunst und vom Leben - Aphorismen - Autobiografische Schriften: - De Profundis - Epistola: in carcere et vinculus - Briefe aus dem Zuchthaus - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) war ein irischer Schriftsteller. Als Lyriker, Romanautor, Dramatiker und Kritiker wurde er zu einem der bekanntesten und - im Viktorianischen England - auch umstrittensten Schriftsteller seiner Zeit. 1888 ver ffentlichte er die f r seine S hne geschriebene M rchensammlung Der gl ckliche Prinz und andere M rchen und 1891 den Roman Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray. In diesem Werk, seinem einzigen Roman, fanden Kritiker einerseits autobiographische Elemente, andererseits eine direkte Antwort auf den franz sischen Symbolismus, insbesondere auf Gegen den Strich von Joris-Karl Huysmans. In den folgenden Jahren schrieb Oscar Wilde etwa j hrlich ein neues Werk, vor allem Gesellschaftskom dien. Oscar Wilde schrieb auch eine Kriminalerz hlung: Lord Arthur Saviles Verbrechen.

Die Seele des Menschen unter dem Sozialismus ist ein Essay von Oscar Wilde mit einer libert r-sozialistischen Weltsicht, die auf sthetischen Idealen statt auf konomischen Theorien beruht. Die Sozialisierung des Privateigentums sei nur ein Schritt auf dem Weg des eigentlichen Ziels des Sozialismus: die Verwirklichung des Individualismus. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) war ein irischer Schriftsteller, der sich nach Schulzeit und Studium in Dublin und Oxford in London niederlie . Als Lyriker, Romanautor, Dramatiker und Kritiker wurde er zu einem der bekanntesten und - im Viktorianischen Gro britannien - auch umstrittensten Schriftsteller seiner Zeit. Inhalt: - Der Sozialismus und die Seele des Menschen - Aus dem Zuchthaus zu Reading - Aesthetisches Manifest - Zwei Gespr che von der Kunst und vom Leben

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 person 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.

Reproduction of the original: The Importance of Being Earnest - A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde

Reproduction of the original: The Importance of Being Earnest - A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde

Reproduction of the original: For Love of the King by Oscar Wilde

Reproduction of the original: A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde