Plays, Prose Writings and Poems (Everyman's Library) [Hardcover]

Oscar Wilde (Author)

Book Description

Series: Everyman's Library | Publication Date: November 26, 1991

(Book Jacket Status: Not Jacketed)

Introduction by Terry Eagleton

Oscar Wilde has been acknowledged as the wittiest writer in the English language. This collection proves that he was also one of the most versatile. Effortlessly achieved, each revealing a different aspect of his brilliance, all of the plays, prose writings, and poems gathered here support Wilde’s belief that entertainment provides the best kind of edification. The works gathered here include Wilde’s once-controversial and now classic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, the rioutously (sic) comic plays “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” and the famous poem he wrote after being released from prison, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol.” This expanded new edition now includes the complete version of Wilde’s moving letter from prison, De Profundis, and his teasing parable about Shakespeare, The Portrait of Mr. W. H. Other notable included writings are the semi-comic mystery story “Lord Arthur’s Savile’s Crime” and the essay The Soul of Man Under Socialism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Apologia
The Ballad Of Reading Gaol
Requiescat
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

From the Publisher

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 728 pages
• Publisher: Everyman's Library (November 26, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679405836
• ISBN-13: 978-0679405832
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.6 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #853,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford where, a disciple of Pater, he founded an aesthetic cult. In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd, and his two sons were born in 1885 and 1886.
His novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), and social comedies Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895), and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), established his reputation. In 1895, following his libel action against the Marquess of Queesberry, Wilde was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for homosexual conduct, as a result of which he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), and his confessional letter De Profundis (1905). On his release from prison in 1897 he lived in obscurity in Europe, and died in Paris in 1900.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars well structured anthology, May 31, 2006

By 

Joseph M. Powers (South Bend, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plays, Prose Writings and Poems (Everyman's Library) (Hardcover)

Having enjoyed some of Wilde's plays and some movie versions of his work, I looked forward to reading his words, and I was not disappointed: Wilde's wit is well known and is fully on display in this collection. What I particularly enjoyed was tracing the threads and development of ideas through both his high points and decline. Terry Eagleton is a good choice to give the introduction, and he too does not disappoint. I may not be as careful a reader as a previous reviewer as typographical errors were not obvious to me.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sloppy work., December 7, 2005

By 

A. Lowry (Madison, MS United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plays, Prose Writings and Poems (Everyman's Library) (Hardcover)

The selections led me to buy this volume, but the book is ridiculously full of typos. I am looking for another Wilde anthology for that reason alone.