Showing results by author "Oscar Wilde" in All Categories

LibriVox volunteers bring you 22 recordings of From Spring Days to Winter by Oscar Wilde. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for January 5, 2025. ------ Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. - Summary by Wikipedia

Oscar Wilde said of his story The Happy Prince that it was "an attempt to treat a tragic modern problem in a form that aims at delicacy and imaginative treatment; it is a reaction against the purely imitative character of modern art.” His Fairy Tales then were only partly written for children and as he said, "partly for those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy, and who find in simplicity a subtle strangeness".In The Happy Prince and The Nightingale and the Rose, Wilde explores love and self sacrifice. The Selfish Giant will not let the children in his garden but repents ...

Devilishly attractive Lord Illingworth is notorious for his skill as a seducer. But he is still invited to all the "best" houses, while his female conquests must hide their shame in seclusion. In this devastating drawing-room comedy, Oscar Wilde uses his celebrated wit to expose English society's narrow view of everything from sexual mores to Americans.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only published novel by Oscar Wilde, appearing as the lead story in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890, printed as the July 1890 issue of this magazine. Wilde later revised this edition, making several alterations, and adding new chapters; the amended version was published by Ward, Lock, and Company in April 1891. The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. ...

Dorian Gray, a young man of wealth and stature in late 1800's London, meets Lord Henry Wotton while posing for a portrait by his friend Basil Hallward. Once the painting is complete, Dorian realizes that it will always be young and attractive, while he will be forced to age and wither with the years. Carelessly, he wishes the opposite were true. What happens is a treatise on morals, self-indulgence and how crucial personal responsibility is towards one's self. (Summary by John Gonzalez)

600 Quotations from the Great Writers of the 20th Century features the wit and wisdom of some of the 20th Century’s greatest writers and minds. A cherry-picked selection, the collection includes quotes from the likes of famous Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, American-Lebanese writer and poet Khalil Gibran, Winston Churchill, Britain’s celebrated prime minister, and many more.

Included. The Apparition Of Mrs. Veal by Daniel Defoe,. Alice Addertongue by Benjamin Franklin,. The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving,. Prosper Mérimée by Mateo Falcone,. Napoleon And The Spectre by Charlotte Bronte,. The Mortal Immortal by Mary Shelley,. Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne,. Dr. Heidegger's Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne,. Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol,. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe,. The Cask Of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe,. An Honest Thief by Fyodor Dostoyevsky,. Frog by Edgar Allan Poe,. The Knitted Collar by Mary Anne Hoare.

He won't let the children play in his garden. What can give him a change of heart?

Dorian Gray, un joven de inigualable belleza, queda cautivado por una filosofía hedonista y realiza un deseo fatídico: que su retrato envejezca en su lugar, mientras él permanece eternamente joven. Este deseo se convierte en realidad, y con cada acto inmoral, su retrato se transforma grotescamente, reflejando la decadencia de su alma.

Oscar Wilde told and retold his fairy tales to friends in private readings, refining them further each time before finally publishing them in two collections between 1888 and 1891 to great acclaim and lasting popularity ever since. Much of their charm is due to Wilde's intention that the stories be "studies in prose... meant partly for children, and partly for those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy, and who find in simplicity a subtle strangeness."

"Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" is a masterpiece of polished cynicism in which poison, explosive clocks, and finally murder forerun married bliss. Also included are: "The Canterville Ghost", "The Model Millionaire", "The Young King", "The Fisherman and His Soul", "The Happy Prince", "The Devoted Friend", and "The Portrait of Mr. W. H." These eight stories were produced in the heyday of Wilde's career.

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.

In "The Fisherman and his Soul", a young Fisherman finds a Mermaid and wants nothing more than to marry her, but he cannot, for one cannot live underwater if one has a soul. He goes to his priest, but the priest tells him his soul is his most precious possession, and the soulless mermen are lost. He tries to sell it to merchants, who tell him it is not worth anything. He goes to a witch, who tells him his soul is his shadow, and says how it can be cut away with a viper-skin knife after he dances with her.

This is a story from the The Happy Prince and Other Stories collection.

The Irish Short Story tradition is packed with literary leviathans who take the raw ingredients of the land, it’s people and their own talents to create quite dazzling narratives in these perfectly pitched short stories. Genius has many names.

The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic comedy of manners in which two flippant young men, in order to impress their respected beloveds, pretend that their names are "Ernest", which both young ladies believe confers magical qualities on the possessor. It was first performed for the public on February 14, 1895, at the St. James’ Theatre in London, and is regarded by many critics and scholars as being the wittiest play in the English language.

This is a story from the The Happy Prince and Other Stories collection.

The wonderful Stephen Fry reads more stories by Oscar Wilde. The Model Millionaire, The Star Child and The Birthday of the Infanta Immerse yourself in a world where the wonderful Stephen Fry reads some of the more memorable short stories of our time. Stephen's voice takes you into a different...

In this classic 19th century comedy of manners, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrief masquerade under the name of Earnest in order to win the love of Gwendolyn and Cecily. But first they must match wits with the inimitable Lady Bracknell!

Lady Windermere's Fan: A Play About a Good Woman is a four act comedy by Oscar Wilde, published in 1893. As in some of his other comedies, Wilde satirizes the morals of Victorian society, and attitudes between the sexes.The action centres around a fan given to Lady Windermere as a present by her husband, and the ball held that evening to celebrate her 21st birthday. (Summary by Ruth Golding)Cast:Lady Windermere - Kristin HughesLord Windermere - Joe EarleyMrs. Erlynne - Elizabeth KlettLord Darlington - Simon TaylorThe Duchess of Berwick - Ruth GoldingMr. Cecil Graham - ChugoshLord Augustus ...