Showing results by author "Oscar Wilde" in All Categories

Dorian Gray, a beautiful young man, sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty after viewing a picture of himself drawn by artist Basil Hallward. Dorian Gray's picture grows old and corrupt while he continues to appear fresh and innocent. After he kills a young woman, "as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife," Dorian Gray is surprised to find no difference in his vision or surroundings. "The roses are not less lovely for all that. The birds sing just as happily in my garden."

Oscar Wilde was one of the most versatile writers who ever lived. He wrote classic plays, including The Importance of Being Ernest; one wildly popular and influential novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray; and a number of inventive and moving stories in The Happy Prince and Other Tales.

Stories included in this volume are: "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Devoted Friend", "The Happy Prince", "The Remarkable Rocket", and "The Selfish Giant".

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a Gothic and philosophical novel by Oscar Wilde, first published complete in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. 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.

"You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit." One day, the artist Basil Hallward is painting a picture of his muse Dorian Gray with his friend Lord Henry watching. Dorian listens as Lord Henry confidentially presents his hedonistic world view, saying beauty is the only thing in life that truly matters. It makes Dorian wish that his painting would age instead of him. Not long thereafter, Dorian sees his girl perform Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and is so turned off by her bad performance that he rejects her.

A charming short story by Oscar Wilde. Hugh Erskine is a fine young man with a big heart, but without means. In order to marry his sweetheart, he must first placate his lover's father, the Colonel, and amass a great fortune. First published in 1887 and later included in the "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories" collection of 1891.

A man was hanged in Reading Gaol during Wilde's imprisonment there. In "The Ballad", written after his release, he tells of the horror of the event and its effect on himself and his fellow prisoners. First published 1898, under the pseudonym C.3.3 - the number by which Wilde was known in the prison, consisting of the cell block, landing number and cell number of his cell.

A House of Pomegranates is a collection of four fairy tales, published in 1891, as a follow on collection for The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888). Written in the form of parables with strong evidence of a Christian tone, Oscar Wilde again revisits the themes of suffering and sacrifice, in a collection which he once claimed was ‘intended neither for the British child nor the British public.’ “Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it”

Pensées d'auteurs célèbres : Alfred de Musset, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, François Voltaire, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, Lord Byron, Gustave Flaubert, et bien d'autres !

A fabulous collection of stories about the fabulously rich, the grindingly poor, sudden wealth, odd inheritances, greed and generosity.

Hughie Erskine drops in to see his artist friend Alan Trevor who is painting what appears to be a street beggar. Feeling sympathy for the poor wretch, Erskine gives him money. What he does not realize is that the "beggar" is merely posing for the artist and is actually one of the richest men in the world, Baron Hausberg, who does not reveal his identity until Erskine has made a complete fool of himself. Renowned vocal actor David Ian Davies performs Oscar Wilde's classic short story.

Un racconto ironico e surreale, una satira dell'alta società londinese di fine 800.

Un grande classico di Oscar Wilde racconta come l'amore compie i suoi miracoli, sciogliendo il cuore ghiacciato di un gigante egoista.

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!

The Canterville Ghost is a novella by Oscar Wilde. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts in The Court and Society Review, 23 February and 2 March 1887. The story is about an American family who move to a castle haunted by the ghost of a dead nobleman, who killed his wife and was starved to death by his wife's brothers. It has been adapted for the stage and screen several times.

Meet the Otis family: Mister and Missus and their four children - Washington, the twins called Stars and Stripes, and their daughter Virginia. They've just moved from America and into the English country manor of Canterville Chase. Though rumors persist that the house is haunted, the Otis' have none of it and set about making the house their own. Then comes the mysterious clanking chains and the bloodstains on the floor, and soon even the Otis family must come face-to-face with that most feared of creatures - the Canterville Ghost.

Oscar Wilde’s delightful story comes to life with vivid performances by Mark Redfield and Mackenzie Menter (as Virginia), with an original music score by Jennifer Rouse. One of the first stories Wilde published in 1887, “The Canterville Ghost” tells the story of an American family that moves into a haunted country house in England. At first disbelieving in ghosts, the family soon accepts, and then combats, the ghostly antics of Sir Simon de Canterville.

Wilde's first collection of verse, published in 1881, contains many poems which had already been published individually. Among the 61 poems can be found four major works, "The Garden of Eros", "The Burden of Itys", "Charmides", and "Humanitad". Although the initial critical reaction was not particularly enthusiastic, Wilde's poetry aroused enough attention for him to become the object of ridicule in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera Patience, in which he is characterized as the "fleshly poet", Reginald Bunthorne.

The Happy Prince and Other Tales (sometimes called The Happy Prince and Other Stories) is a collection of stories for children by Oscar Wilde first published in May 1888. It contains five stories: "The Happy Prince", "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Selfish Giant", "The Devoted Friend", and "The Remarkable Rocket".

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.

This beautiful collection contains five fairy tales by the celebrated British writer Oscar Wilde: "The Happy Prince", "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Selfish Giant", "The Devoted Friend", and "The Remarkable Rocket." These timeless tales are performed by a full cast, and will delight listeners of all ages with their whimsical characters, moving situations, and touches of ironic humor. Presented by The Online Stage.