Oscar Wilde

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. When Basil Hallward paints the portrait of young, handsome Dorian Gray, he falls prey to his dazzling beauty. Afraid that his youth and looks will waste away, Dorian expresses a wish that his portrait,...

The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's only novel—dark, captivating, and intensely Victorian. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY IRVINE WELSH Dorian is a good-natured young man until he discovers the power of his own exceptional beauty. As he gradually sinks deep into a frivolous, glamorous world of selfish luxury, he apparently remains physically unchanged by the stresses of his corrupt...

A beautiful deluxe gift edition of Oscar Wilde's decadent and disturbing novel with foiled covers, marbled endpapers, sprayed edges, beautiful paper and finished with a silk ribbon. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a tale of a good-natured young man named Dorian, who discovers the power of his own exceptional beauty. As he gradually sinks deep into a frivolous, glamorous...

This beautifully designed, clothbound edition is part of Penguin's hardback Clothbound Classics series, crafted by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. These delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton,...

The Picture of Dorian Gray: Popular Penguins by Oscar Wilde is a haunting exploration of vanity, moral corruption, and the quest for eternal youth. Set against the backdrop of Victorian London, the novel tells the story of a handsome young man, Dorian Gray, who becomes the muse of the painter Basil Hallward. Captivated by Dorian's beauty, Basil creates a magnificent...

A stunning new edition with deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers, and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a Glossary of Victorian and Literary terms produced for the modern reader. The young, beautiful, and highly susceptible Dorian Gray is pulled into the hedonistic haze of London's high society, where he falls under the pernicious influence of Lord...

46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946 'It would be unfair to expect other people to be as remarkable as oneself'

Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, a beloved Gothic masterpiece of supernatural terror and a #booktok sensation, is now available in an exquisite hardcover edition. Featuring a foiled cover and distinctive interior design elements, it's an ideal gift for literature lovers, fans of gothic horror and allegorical literature,...

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics—irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. With warmth, tenderness, and quiet wit, Oscar Wilde's fables and fairy tales have moved and delighted for generations. In far-off kingdoms and ocean realms, in the company of giants and nightingales, Wilde speaks of heartbreak and redemption,...

The new paperback series - Penguin English Library The Penguin English Library Edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 'I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me ... Why did you paint it? It will mock me some day - mock me horribly!' A...

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrid, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young… If it was only the other way! The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde's first and only published novel, recounts the story of handsome Dorian Gray who, upon having his...

De Profundis and Other Prison Writings by Oscar Wilde offers a profound glimpse into the soul of one of literature's most enigmatic figures during his darkest hours. This collection, edited with an insightful introduction by Colm Tóibín, compiles Wilde's poignant letters and poems penned during his incarceration. It reveals the extraordinary depths of Wilde's emotional and intellectual resilience amidst adversity,...

More than 120 years after Oscar Wilde submitted The Picture of Dorian Gray for publication in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, the uncensored version of his novel appears here for the first time in a paperback edition. This volume restores all of the material removed by the novel's first editor. Upon receipt of the typescript, Wilde's editor panicked at what he saw....

LARGE PRINT EDITION. Dorian Gray is arrogant. He is pompous, selfish, devastatingly narcissistic, and for much of his life, he has never had to think twice about the ramifications of his actions. When the arrival of artist Basil Hallward forces Gray to confront his deepest insecurities, Dorian's most vulnerable self is imminently revealed. After trading his righteousness for riches, Dorian...

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the captivating tale of Dorian Gray, whose portrait is being painted by Basil Hallward, an artist charmed by his looks. However, when Sir Henry Wotton visits, he seduces Dorian into the worship of youthful beauty with an intoxicating speech. Dorian makes a wish that he will live to regret: that all the marks of...

A perfect depiction of fin-de-siècle decadence, Oscar Wilde’s only novel highlights the tension between the polished surface and murky depths of Victorian high society. The Picture of Dorian Gray presents the story of Dorian Gray, a young, arrogant, and devastatingly handsome man. Confronted by his beauty in the form of a portrait, and struck by the terrible realisation that he...

Dive into a gothic world of obsession, excess, and debauchery with this stunning edition of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Artist Basil Hallward has sent a gift—a portrait that perfectly captures young Dorian Gray's handsome features. When Lord Henry tempts Dorian with a new lifestyle of hedonism and pleasure, he realises that he would sell his soul for...

Explore Wilde's lavish world of Gothic fiction and his study of lost innocence, full of captivating characters, with this gorgeous, jacketed hardcover edition. Artist Basil Hallward has sent a gift—a portrait that perfectly captures young Dorian Gray's handsome features. When Lord Henry tempts Dorian with a new lifestyle of hedonism and pleasure, he realises that he would sell his soul...

Puffin Classics - the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child. Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this charming edition of The Happy Prince and Other Stories. A haunting, magical fairy-tale collection, in which Oscar Wilde beautifully evokes (among others) the happy prince who was not so happy after...

Gloriously adapted and illustrated by the winner of the British Book Awards Nibbie for Children’s Illustrated Book of the Year and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. This gorgeous version of Oscar Wilde's classic fable is a heartwarming delight - Waterstones, Best Children's Books June 2024 Swallow is a homeless boy who’s just arrived in the big city. He settles down...

Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life The Decay of Lying includes two of Wilde's most comprehensive—and witty—explorations of his aesthetic philosophy: The Decay of Lying and The Critic as Artist. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves—and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war, and...

Triumphs of the imagination Stephen Fry The treasured fairy tales of Oscar Wilde in a stunning gift edition featuring exquisite illustrations by the celebrated artist Philippe Jullian with an afterword by Wilde's son, Vyvyan Holland. For nearly 150 years, the classic fairy stories of Oscar Wilde have been cherished by readers of all ages. Rediscover all nine of the stories...

Fairy tales, ghost stories, detective fiction and comedies of manners - the stories collected in this volume made Oscar Wilde's name as a writer of fiction, showing breathtaking dexterity in a wide range of literary styles. Victorian moral justice is comically inverted in Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and The Canterville Ghost, and society's materialism comes under sharp, humorous criticism in...

The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays by Oscar Wilde is part of the Penguin Classics relaunch. Wilde was both a glittering wordsmith and a social outsider. His drama emerges out of these two perhaps contradictory identities, combining epigrammatic brilliance and shrewd social observation. This collection includes Lady Windermere's Fan, Salome, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband,...

In this haunting, magical fairy-tale collection, Oscar Wilde beautifully evokes (among others) the Happy Prince who was not so happy after all, the Selfish Giant who learned to love little children and the Star Child who did not love his parents as much as he should. Each of the stories shines with poetry and magic and will be enjoyed by...

A selection of Oscar Wilde's best and most important plays - sharp, relevant and brilliant to this day. Who would have thought a comedy of manners written more than a hundred years ago would still be so apt and so funny? Oscar Wilde was a genius of play-writing, and his deftness, wit and sharp eye for social satire keep audiences...

HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. When Basil Hallward paints the portrait of young, handsome Dorian Gray, he falls prey to his dazzling beauty. Afraid that his youth and looks will waste away, Dorian expresses a wish that his portrait, and...

A Poet Can Survive Everything But a Misprint by Oscar Wilde is one of 90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books. "All art," Oscar Wilde once announced, "is quite useless." Selected here are some of his finest prose works on the subject of art—useless, illuminating, artificial, uplifting, radical, gorgeous, boring, sublime—and his most brilliant aphorisms on the creative...

Vintage Minis bring you the world's greatest writers on the experiences that make us human – from birth to death and everything in between. "The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility." Is lying simply an uncomfortable truth about life or something to be...

Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend, Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a succes...

An innovative new edition of nine classic short stories from one of the greatest writers of the Victorian era. "I cannot think other than in stories," Oscar Wilde once confessed to his friend André Gide. In this new selection of his short fiction, Wilde's gifts as a storyteller are on full display, accompanied by informative facing-page annotations from Wilde biographer...

A complete collection of Oscar Wilde's dazzling fairytales. Celebrated as the writer of The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde is equally beloved for his fairy tales, written 'partly for children and partly for those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy'. With warmth, tenderness and quiet wit, these fables have...

After all, who has the right to cast a stone against one who has suffered? Cannot repentance wipe out an act of folly? Why should there be one law for me and another for women? Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, a 'trivial play for serious people', is a sparkling comedy of manners that epitomises wit and style. This...

Gorgeously collectable Little Clothbound Classic editions of beloved short stories for children Rediscover the magic of Oscar Wilde's fairy-tales in this beautiful, collectable new Little Puffin Clothbound Classic. 'I have many beautiful flowers; but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.' From the newfound generosity of 'The Selfish Giant' to the haunting bravery of 'The Nightingale and the...

High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt. The Happy Prince and Other Tales is a collection of five stories: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and...

A timeless story of beauty, hedonism, and morality A new addition to the widely read Capstone Classics series, The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Gothic Classic, by Oscar Wilde, explores the brutal consequences of hedonism, loose morals, and an obsessive focus on beauty and pleasure. Wilde’s novel follows a young man, Dorian Gray, who becomes infatuated with his own beauty...

An authoritative edition of Oscar Wilde's critical writings shows how the renowned dramatist and novelist also transformed the art of commentary. Though he is primarily acclaimed today for his drama and fiction, Oscar Wilde was also one of the greatest critics of his generation. Annotated and introduced by Wilde scholar Nicholas Frankel, this unique collection reveals Wilde as a writer...

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a classic tale of a man who, exhilarated by his friends' praise of his youth and beauty, asks to be able to retain them eternally. This timeless story has been elegantly transformed in this adaptation. The adaptation retains all the wonder of Oscar Wilde's text while portraying the story in a...

An increasing amount of attention is being given to Wilde as a proto-feminist, a proto-republican, an embryonic postmodernist, and a sort of secular saint. The Soul of Man Under Socialism and Selected Critical Prose collects all of Wilde's journalism, criticism, lectures, and occasional writings. It will also contain a section on aphorisms and dicta attributed to Wilde in conversation.

When Dorian Gray discovers the devastating power of his good looks—not just on women but on everyone who crosses his path—his wholesome existence gives way to a sordid life of excess, corruption, and worse. Dorian, it seems, can get away with anything. But hidden away in his attic is a portrait whose surface tells a very different story... The Picture...

Oscar Wilde's surreal and haunting story of a beautiful young man who bargains his soul for eternal youth, now freshly repackaged for the Union Square & Co. Signature Clothbound Editions line. When handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter's stunning portrait of him, he is transfixed by its reflection of his own beauty. He is also troubled by the knowledge...

The Picture of Dorian Gray altered the way Victorians understood the world they inhabited. It heralded the end of a repressive Victorianism, and after its publication, literature had—in the words of biographer Richard Ellmann—"a different look." Yet the Dorian Gray that Victorians never knew was even more daring than the novel the British press condemned as "vulgar," "unclean," "poisonous," "discreditable,"...

Discover the brilliance of Oscar Wilde with this deluxe hardbound edition, showcasing his greatest works. Immerse yourself in the witty charm and profound insights of Wilde's literary masterpieces, presented in a luxurious and durable format. A must-have for Wilde enthusiasts and collectors. Tales of beauty, irony, and the boldest truths. Deluxe hardbound edition featuring the greatest works of Oscar Wilde...

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple,” declares Algernon early in Act One of The Importance of Being Earnest, and were it either, modern literature would be “a complete impossibility.” It is a moment of sly, winking self-regard on the part of the playwright, for The Importance is itself the sort of complex modern literary work in which the...

Indulge in the captivating world of Oscar Wilde's masterpiece, The Picture of Dorian Gray. This exquisite edition presents Wilde's iconic novel in a visually stunning format, offering readers a luxurious reading experience. Immerse yourself in the decadence, beauty, and moral complexity of Dorian Gray's haunting tale. A tale of art, obsession, and the soul's decay. Features Wilde's signature wit and...

The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the most enduringly popular British comic dramas and a mainstay of English literature and drama courses at college and university level. This is an ideal edition for students, featuring on-page notes to help clarify meaning and a completely new introduction. In the new introduction, Francesca Coppa explores recent critical approaches to the...

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. When Dorian Gray has his portrait painted, he is captivated by his own beauty. Tempted by his world-weary, decadent friend Lord Henry Wotton, he wishes to stay forever young and pledges his very soul to keep his good looks. Set in fin-de-siècle London, the novel traces...

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a familiar story of greed, sin, and arrogance. A young man, infatuated with his own handsomeness and youth as depicted in a perfect portrait, makes a bargain he will come to regret. No one can save him from his appetite for pleasure and his awful fate—not the man who idolizes him, not the woman...

Oscar Wilde was already one of the best known literary figures in Britain when he was persuaded to turn his extraordinary talents to the theatre. Between 1891 and 1895, he produced a sequence of distinctive plays which spearheaded the dramatic renaissance of the 1890s and retain their power today. The social comedies, Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance,...

Oscar Wilde's enduringly popular story of a beautiful and corrupt man and the portrait that reveals all his secrets—The Picture of Dorian Gray—is a novel as flamboyant and controversial as its incomparable author. Entranced by the perfection of his recently painted portrait, the youthful Dorian Gray expresses a wish that the figure on the canvas could age and change in...

Discover Puffin Clothbound Classics - gorgeously giftable editions of the best-loved classics for young readers. Bound in high-quality cloth with a dazzling new foil-stamped cover design, Puffin's Clothbound Classics are a gift that book lovers of all ages will treasure forever. The Happy Prince and Other Stories is a magical fairy-tale collection that tells the story of (among others) The...

This Norton Critical Edition includes: The 1890 (Lippincott's Magazine) version and the 1891 (book) version of the novel. Under the editorial guidance of Wilde scholar Michael Patrick Gillespie, students have the opportunity to comparatively read and analyse both texts of this controversial novel. Editorial matter by Michael Patrick Gillespie. "Backgrounds" and "Reviews and Reactions" sections that allow readers to gauge...

Oscar Wilde's children's stories explore timeless themes of good and evil, freedom and responsibility, love and death, beauty and self-sacrifice. Featuring princesses, ogres, and talking animals, the questions they pose are as pertinent now as they were at the turn of the century. The Happy Prince poses the question, what is love? The Nightingale and the Rose asks, how do...

Handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter’s stunning portrait of him and becomes transfixed by his own beauty. Troubled by the knowledge that the painting will remain handsome while he himself will wither, Dorian exchanges his soul for eternal youth. From that point on, Dorian lives a life of hedonistic indulgence, knowing that only the painting will show his moral...

Discover the story of The Picture of Dorian Gray with this striking collector's edition from Union Square & Co.'s Signature Editions series! The classic texts that shaped our culture feature exclusive cover art by distinguished artist Malika Favre. Her bold, graphic style gives each classic literature book a small masterpiece for a jacket. Collect the set or prize this The...

When handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter's stunning portrait of him, he is transfixed by its reflection of his own beauty. He is also troubled by the knowledge that the image in the painting will remain forever youthful and handsome while he himself will grow older and less desirable. He wishes aloud that the roles were reversed, saying that...

Horror hides behind an attractive face in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde's tale of a notorious Victorian libertine and his life of evil excesses. Though Dorian's hedonistic indulgences leave no blemish on his ageless features, the painted portrait imbued with his soul proves a living catalogue of corruption, revealing in its every new line and lesion the manifold...

In The Critic as Artist, arguably the most complete exploration of his aesthetic thinking, and certainly the most entertaining, Oscar Wilde harnesses his famous wit to demolish the supposed boundary between art and criticism. Subtitled Upon the Importance of Doing Nothing and Discussing Everything, the essay takes the form of a leisurely dialogue between two characters: Ernest, who insists upon...

"It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious." The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) proclaims that it is "A Trivial Play for Serious People." In fact, collected here alongside Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), Salome (1891, 1894), A Woman of No Importance (1893), and An Ideal Husband (1895), Earnest shows that the questions...

A Trivial Comedy for Serious People Being sensible can be excessively boring. At least Jack thinks so. While assuming the role of dutiful guardian in the country, he lets loose in town under a false identity. Meanwhile, his friend Algy takes on a similar facade. Unfortunately, living a double life has its drawbacks, especially when it comes to love. Hoping...

In a town where a lot of poor people suffer and where there are a lot of miseries, 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 in reality has never experienced true sorrow, for he lived in a palace where sorrow isn't allowed...

"And I? May I say nothing, my lord?" With these words, Oscar Wilde's courtroom trials came to a close. The lord in question, High Court justice Sir Alfred Wills, sent Wilde to the cells, sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour for the crime of "gross indecency" with other men. As cries of "shame" emanated from the gallery,...

This box set brings together 8 outstanding mystery books: Classic Tales of Detection and Adventure by Edgar Allan Poe Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins The Phantom of...

Penguin Readers is a graded reading series for English Language Teaching (ELT) markets, designed for teenagers and young adults learning English as a foreign or second language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practice activities and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction,...

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reading series, designed for teenagers and young adults learning English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practise activities, and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. The Happy Prince, a...

Rediscover Puffin Classics. An entirely new package bringing the best-loved stories to a new generation. A haunting, magical fairy-tale collection, in which Oscar Wilde beautifully evokes (among others) The Happy Prince who was not so happy after all, The Selfish Giant who learned to love little children and The Star Child who did not love his parents as much as...

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary Lord Arthur Savile's Crime He was not blind to the fact that murder, like the religions of the Pagan world, requires a victim as well as a priest...