Oscar Wilde

A Woman of No Importance is a play by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. The play premi red on 19 April 1893 at London's Haymarket Theatre. Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirizes English upper class society. It has been performed on stages in Europe and North America since his death in 1900.

Lord Arthur Savile recibe una fuerte impresi n durante una fiesta a la que acude junto a su prometida. Un quirom ntico lee en su mano que va a cometer un asesinato. Como no hay nada como el deber cumplido, lord Arthur decide posponer su matrimonio para despu s de cometido el crimen e inicia una estretagia urgente para matar a alg n familiar pr ximo, camuflando el delito como si fuera un accidente. El ilustrador Emilio Urberuaga ha elegido esta deliciosa y mordaz novela corta de Oscar Wilde para ilustrarla a todo color y con plena libertad. Premio Nacional de Ilustraci n 2011, Urberuaga, padre gr fico de Manolito Gafotas, retrata minusiosamente la poca victoriana donde se desarrolla la acci n y ofrece una lectura clara y alegre de uno de los textos m s ingeniosos de Wilde

COLLECTION EXCEPTIONNELLE Plongez dans la lecture des plus grands chefs-d'oeuvre d'Oscar Wilde, r unis dans une tr s belle dition broch e. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) tait un crivain Irlandais s'illustrant dans plusieurs genres litt raires, qui se construisit un personnage d'esth te et de dandy h doniste. Indissociables de son immense talent litt raire, sa personnalit hors du commun, le mordant de son esprit, le brillant de sa conversation et de ses costumes assuraient sa renomm e. Cette dition contient en un seul ouvrage les plus grands chefs-d'oeuvre d'Oscar Wilde. Le Portrait de Dorian Gray, unique roman d'Oscar Wilde, conte l'histoire d'un jeune homme qui vend son me pour la jeunesse et la beaut ternelle. Le r cit de la d sint gration morale de Dorian Gray a provoqu un scandale quand il parut en 1890, confront aux rigueurs de la morale Victorienne. Le fant me de Canterville et autres nouvelles est un recueil de quatre nouvelles, d'abord publi en 1891. Le fant me de Canterville est la nouvelle la plus populaire d'Oscar Wilde. Elle nous entra ne dans un ch teau hant achet par une famille Am ricaine pragmatique, o le fant me se donne bien du mal pour essayer de continuer faire peur. Les trois autres nouvelles - Le crime de Lord Arthur Savile, Le sphinx qui n'a pas de secret, Le mod le millionnaire - sont des histoires tout autant savoureuses, qui m lent myst re et humour. L'Importance d' tre Constant ("The importance of being Earnest" - earnest signifiant s rieux, fid le) est la pi ce de th atre ma tresse de Wilde, qui fit un triomphe Londres d s ses premi res repr sentations en 1895. Le quiproquo la base de l'intrigue est fond sur le pr nom du personnage principal: Constant (Ernest en Anglais), fr re imaginaire de Jack. Cette com die, satire de la soci t Victorienne, manifeste l'inventivit subversive de l'auteur, son esprit g n reux et tincelant d' l gance et de dr lerie. Ces chefs-d'oeuvre d'Oscar Wilde l'apog e de son art sont des incontournables de la litt rature classique et raviront les lecteurs de tous ges.

During 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 (an ex-lover, 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.

Der K nstler ist der Sch pfer sch ner Dinge. Kunst zu offenbaren und den K nstler zu verbergen, ist die Aufgabe der Kunst. Ein Kritiker ist, wer seinen Eindruck von sch nen Dingen in eine andere Form oder in einen anderen Stoff zu bertragen vermag. Die h chste wie die niederste Form der Kritik ist eine Art Autobiographie. Wer in sch nen Dingen einen h lichen Sinn findet, ist verderbt, ohne anmutig zu sein. Das ist ein Fehler.

This classic collection of essays and excepts from Oscar Wilde includes: THE TOMB OF KEATS, KEATS'S SONNET ON BLUE, DINNERS AND DISHES, SHAKESPEARE ON SCENERY, and 'HENRY THE FOURTH' AT OXFORD, among many others.

De profundis es la ep stola que Oscar Wilde escribi para su compa ero, Lord Alfred Douglas en la prisi n de Reading en marzo de 1897, dos meses antes de que cumpliera su sentencia, la cual fue impuesta por el delito de sodom a. Bella, emp tica, triste, conmovedora, irritante, reflexiva, espiritual... muchos adjetivos pueden definir esta obra, dependiendo del lector. Lo cierto es que, a pesar de la confrontaci n de diversos sentimientos, el autor redacta cada palabra de esta obra con esperanza; esperanza de recibir una respuesta, cualquiera que esta fuera, del principal responsable de su estancia en prisi n.

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 honour. The action is set in London, in "the present", and takes place over the course of twenty-four hours. "Sooner or later," Wilde notes, "we shall all have to pay for what we do." But he adds that, "No one should be entirely judged by their past." Together with The Importance of Being Earnest, it is often considered Wilde's dramatic masterpiece. After Earnest, it is his most popularly produced play. In the summer of 1893, Oscar Wilde began writing An Ideal Husband, and he completed it later that winter. His work began at Goring-on-Thames, after which he named the character Lord Goring, and concluded at St. James Place. He initially sent the completed play to the Garrick Theatre, where the manager rejected it, but it was soon accepted by the Haymarket Theatre, where Lewis Waller had temporarily taken control. Waller was an excellent actor and cast himself as Sir Robert Chiltern. The play gave the Haymarket the success it desperately needed. After opening on 3 January 1895, it continued for 124 performances. In April of that year, Oscar Wilde was arrested for "gross indecency" and his name was publicly removed from the play. On 6 April, the same day as Wilde's arrest, the play moved to the Criterion Theatre where it ran from 13-27 April. The play was published in 1899, although Wilde was not listed as the author. This published version differs slightly from the performed play, for Oscar Wilde added many passages and cut others. Prominent additions included written stage directions and character descriptions. Wilde was a leader in the effort to make plays accessible to the reading public.

Intentions (1891) Wilde revised his dialogues on aesthetic subjects for publication in this volume, which comprises: The Critic as Artist The Decay of Lying Pen, Pencil and Poison The Truth of Masks Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 - 30 November 1900) was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams and plays, and the circumstances of his imprisonment which was followed by his early death.

Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorian's beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: 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 and amoral experiences; all the while his portrait ages and records every soul-corrupting sin.

A Florentine Tragedy/ For Love of the King is a compilation of two classic works by the great Irish humorist, Oscar Wilde. The very interesting and richly coloured masque or pantomimic play which is here printed in book form for the first time, was invented sometime in 1894 or possibly a little earlier. It was written, not for publication, but as a personal gift to the author's friend and friend of his family, Mrs. Chan Toon, and was sent to her with the letter that follows and explains its origin.

Selected Poems of Oscar Wilde is a classic Irish poetry collection that includes the following titles: The Ballad Of Reading Gaol Ave Imperatrix To My Wife - With A Copy Of My Poems Magdalen Walks Theocritus - A Villanelle Greece Portia Fabien Dei Franchi Phedre Sonnet On Hearing The Dies Irae Sung In The Sistine Chapel Ave Maria Gratia Plena Libertatis Sacra Fames Roses And Rue From 'The Garden Of Eros' The Harlot's House From 'The Burden Of Itys' Flower of Love Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 - 30 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death. Wilde's parents were successful Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. Their son became fluent in French and German early in life. At university, Wilde read Greats; he proved himself to be an outstanding classicist, first at Dublin, then at Oxford. He became known for his involvement in the rising philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles. As a spokesman for aestheticism, he tried his hand at various literary activities: he published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on the new "English Renaissance in Art", and then returned to London where he worked prolifically as a journalist. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with larger social themes, drew Wilde to write drama. He wrote Salome (1891) in French while in Paris but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Unperturbed, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London. At the height of his fame and success, while The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) was still being performed in London, Wilde had the Marquess of Queensberry prosecuted for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and trial for gross indecency with men. After two more trials he was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison, he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in 1905), a long letter which discusses his spiritual journey through his trials, forming a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. Upon his release, he left immediately for France, never to return to Ireland or Britain. There he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. He died destitute in Paris at the age of 46.

Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first produced on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is having an affair with another woman. She confronts him with it but although he denies it, he invites the other woman, Mrs Erlynne, to his wife's birthday ball. Angered by her husband's supposed unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere decides to leave her husband for another lover. After discovering what has transpired, Mrs Erlynne follows Lady Windermere and attempts to persuade her to return to her husband and in the course of this, Mrs Erlynne is discovered in a compromising position. It is then revealed Mrs Erlynne is Lady Windermere's mother, who abandoned her family twenty years before the time the play is set. Mrs Erlynne sacrifices herself and her reputation to save her daughter's marriage. The best-known line of the play sums up the central theme: We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Lord Darlington By the summer of 1891 Wilde had already written three plays: Vera; or, The Nihilists and The Duchess of Padua had found little success, and Salome had been censored. Unperturbed, he decided to write another play but turned from tragedy to comedy. 2] He went to the Lake District in the north of England, where he stayed with a friend and later met Robert Ross. Numerous characters in the play appear to draw their names from the north of England: Lady Windermere from the lake and nearby town Windermere (though Wilde had used "Windermere" earlier in Lord Arthur Savile's Crime), the Duchess of Berwick from Berwick-upon-Tweed, Lord Darlington from Darlington. 3] Wilde began writing the play at the prodding of Sir George Alexander, the actor manager of St James's Theatre. 4] The play was finished by October. 5] Alexander liked the play, and offered him an advance of 1,000 for it. Wilde, impressed by his confidence, opted to take a percentage instead, from which he would earn 7,000 in the first year alone (worth 698,600 today). Alexander was a meticulous manager and he and Wilde began exhaustive revisions and rehearsals of the play. Both were talented artists with strong ideas about their art. Wilde, for instance, emphasised attention to aesthetic minutiae rather than realism; he resisted Alexander's suggested broad stage movements, quipping that "Details are of no importance in life, but in art details are vital". 8] These continued after the opening night, when at the suggestion of both friends and Alexander, Wilde made changes to reveal Mrs Erylnne's relationship with Lady Windermere gradually throughout the play, rather than reserving the secret for the final act. 9] Despite these artistic differences, both were professional and their collaboration was a fruitful one. There is an extant manuscript of the play held in the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at the University of California in Los Angeles.

"The Soul of Man under Socialism" is an 1891 essay by Oscar Wilde in which he expounds a libertarian socialist worldview and a critique of charity. The writing of "The Soul of Man" followed Wilde's conversion to anarchist philosophy, following his reading of the works of Peter Kropotkin. In "The Soul of Man" Wilde argues that, under capitalism, "the majority of people spoil their lives by an unhealthy and exaggerated altruism-are forced, indeed, so to spoil them": instead of realising their true talents, they waste their time solving the social problems caused by capitalism, without taking their common cause away. Thus, caring people "seriously and very sentimentally set themselves to the task of remedying the evils that they see in poverty but their remedies do not cure the disease: they merely prolong it" because, as Wilde puts it, "the proper aim is to try and reconstruct society on such a basis that poverty will be impossible." Wilde did not see kindness or altruism per se as a problem; what worried him was its misapplication in a way which leaves unaddressed the roots of the problem: "the altruistic virtues have really prevented the carrying out of this aim. Just as the worst slave-owners were those who were kind to their slaves, and so prevented the horror of the system being realised by those who suffered from it, and understood by those who contemplated it, so, in the present state of things in England, the people who do most harm are the people who try to do most good" while preserving the system. Wilde's deepest concern was with man's soul; when he analysed poverty and its causes and effects in "The Soul of Man under Socialism" it was not simply the material well-being of the poor that distressed him, but how society does not allow them to reach a form of self-understanding and enlightenment. He adopted Jesus of Nazareth as a symbol of the supreme individualist. 4] Wilde advocated socialism, which, he argued, "will be of value simply because it will lead to individualism" and "substituting cooperation for competition will restore society to its proper condition ... and ensure material well being for each member of the community." Wilde examined the political conditions necessary for full self-development and devotion to art, arguing, "Art is individualism, and individualism is a disturbing and disintegrating force. There lies its immense value. For what it seeks to disturb is monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit, and the reduction of man to the level of a machine." 5] 1895 book edition under the truncated title "The Soul of Man," "privately printed" in 50 copies at Chiswick Press, 30 May 1895, five days after Wilde's conviction for gross indecency. He made a point of delineating "individual" socialism from "authoritarian" (government-centered) socialism, advocating a more libertarian approach, "What is needed is Individualism. If the Socialism is Authoritarian; if there are Governments armed with economic power as they are now with political power; if, in a word, we are to have Industrial Tyrannies, then the last state of man will be worse than the first." In a socialist society, people will have the possibility to realise their talents; "each member of the society will share in the general prosperity and happiness of the society." Wilde added that "upon the other hand, Socialism itself will be of value simply because it will lead to individualism" since individuals will no longer need to fear poverty or starvation. This individualism would, in turn, protect against governments leveraging their power over their citizens. However, Wilde advocated non-capitalist individualism: "of course, it might be said that the Individualism generated under conditions of private property is not always, or even as a rule, of a fine or wonderful type" a critique which is "quite true."