Showing results by author "Oscar Wilde" in All Categories

"The Ballad of Reading Gaol" was written by Oscar Wilde in France, where he was in exile after his release from Reading Gaol. Wilde had been imprisoned and sentenced to two years hard labor. A hanging took place while Wilde was incarcerated, and the poem is the narrative of the execution.

Oscar Wilde's first play confronts the hypocrisy of public "morality" compared with genuine, private kindness. The reasons for its continued popularity are not difficult to identify: the play's witty dialogue contains many of Wilde's most quoted aphorisms, its stylish setting provides opportunities for elegant presentation, and its cast of memorable characters play out a story which is genuinely moving. This new audio production brings together a full cast worthy of Wilde's creative genius.

A handsome young man, Dorian Gray, wishes that his portrait would age rather than himself. The wish is fulfilled and Dorian pursues hedonistic pleasures. After each of his questionable immoral activities, he finds his portrait continues to become increasingly ugly. Finally, after many years, Dorian stabs the image out of guilt, and the result is that he dies as an old man while the portrait reverts to the original image of the handsome young man.

A terrifying ghost is haunting the ancient mansion of Canterville Chase, complete with creaking floorboards, clanking chains and gruesome disguises - but the new occupants seem strangely undisturbed by his presence. Deftly contrasting the conventional gothic ghost story with the pragmatism of the modern world, Wilde creates a gently comic fable of the conflict between old and new. Rupert Degas's hilarious reading brings the absurdity and theatricality of the story to life.

A stunning new reading of Oscar Wilde's De Profundis (adapted by Frank McGuinness, from the stage production directed by Mark Rosenblatt) and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, performed by one of Britain's greatest actors. One of the most famous and successful writers of his day, Oscar Wilde was celebrated as much for his flamboyant personality and his prodigious wit as for his provocative essays, touching fairy stories and satirical plays.

Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant is a beloved classic fairy tale about kindness, redemption, and the healing power of love. When a giant shuts children out of his beautiful garden, winter settles over the land and refuses to leave. Through a moving story of generosity, innocence, and...

A BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation of Wilde's gothic masterpiece. When Dorian Gray gazes upon his portrait, he is struck by his own youth and beauty and makes a wish that they will last forever. Gradually, his simple good nature is corrupted with the help of his hedonistic friend Lord Henry...

A dark tale of hubris, lust, and self-destruction… as told by a man who famously fell prey to those same impulses in his own life. Oscar Wilde wrote his original interpretation of the Biblical story of Salomé in French, and the play was so controversial that no theatre in England would produce it for nearly four decades. Includes a conversation with director Michael Hackett and Wilde scholar David Rodes. An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast production.

A glittering collection of some of the world's finest short stories.

If only I could remain young while the picture grows old. For that I’d give anything.... When Dorian Gray, a handsome young man about town, makes this wish, he can hardly guess that it will mark the beginning of a life of hedonism and debauchery. Soon enough his webs of deception and deceit catch innocent victims, some of them his closest friends, and the only evidence of his misdeeds is a long-forgotten portrait in his attic.

A tender love story, a serpentine villainess, a glittering setting in London society, and a showering of Wildean witticism are only a few of the reasons why this play has enjoyed hugely successful revivals in London, in New York, and on the silver screen. This 1895 drama is eerily prescient, as it examines the plight of a promising politician, desperate to hide a secret in his past. With empathy and wit, Oscar Wilde explores the pitfalls of holding public figures to higher standards than the rest of us.

The British Classics Collection – Volume 2 steps into the grand world of 18th, 19th, and 20th-century British literature to create a compelling anthology featuring iconic works that span time and genres. From the whimsy of Alice in Wonderland to the mystery of The Woman in White, the philosophical insights of The Waste Land and the unforgettable detective stories of Sherlock Holme, this volume offers a rich variety of British literary masterpieces.

The Picture of Dorian GrayIn the heart of Victorian London, the young and innocent Dorian Gray becomes captivated by his own portrait, painted by Basil Hallward. Under the influence of the cynical and hedonistic Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian makes a desperate wish: that the canvas age and bear the scars of his sins, while he retains his eternal youth. This macabre desire comes true, unleashing a dark spiral of vice, cruelty, and moral decay.

"The Soul of Man under Socialism" is an 1891 essay by Oscar Wilde, following his conversion to anarchist philosophy after having read the works of the philosopher Peter Kropotkin. Propounding a libertarian socialist worldview, Wilde argues that - under capitalism - most people are forced to spoil their lives through an unhealthy altruism trying to solve the social problems caused by capitalism, instead of developing their true talents. He did not object to altruism per se, but was concerned about its misapplication in a way that does not address the root of the problem.

Oscar Wilde's only novel, given a superbly splendid modern reading by the talented Rupert Graves. Many classic Wilde quotes emanate from this horror novel.

An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedy 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, and takes place over the course of 24 hours.

Wit and Wisdom of Oscar Wilde is a timeless collection of the sharpest observations, paradoxes, and epigrams from one of literature’s most brilliant minds. Oscar Wilde’s wit is elegant, mischievous, and relentlessly insightful. With effortless precision, he skewers social conventions, exposes hypocrisy, and reveals enduring truths about love, ambition, beauty, morality, and human folly. Each quotation stands alone yet contributes to a larger portrait of Wilde’s worldview—one that prizes individuality, intellectual courage, and the art of living well.

The most renowned and wittiest of Oscar Wilde's comedies, The Importance of Being Earnest ridicules Victorian sensibilities and is still strikingly relevant to this day. This full-cast audio adaptation featuring Tim Brooke-Taylor as Lady Bracknell is unique yet at the same time reassuringly familiar, with wonderful performances from the Offstage Theatre Group.

If you are a fan of literature in general and enjoy novels that have become classics of their time, then you may have stumbled upon the works of Oscar Wilde from time to time. Here, in the Oscar Wilde Collection, you can own three of his greatest works: The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Canterville Ghost.

A lord, his wife, her admirer and an infamous blackmailer converge in the irreverent satire that launched Wilde's succession of classic social comedies. This delicious comic feast serves up a scandal about good girls, bad husbands and hilarious hypocrisy - utterly contemporary and divinely funny.