Product Description

Flamboyant and controversial, Oscar Wilde was a dazzling personality, a master of wit, and a dramatic genius whose sparkling comedies contain some of the most brilliant dialogue ever written for the English stage. Here in one volume are his immensely popular novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray; his last literary work, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol,” a product of his own prison experience; and four complete plays: Lady Windermere’s Fan, his first dramatic success, An Ideal Husband, which pokes fun at conventional morality, The Importance of Being Earnest, his finest comedy, and Salomé, a portrait of uncontrollable love originally written in French and faithfully translated by Richard Ellmann.

Every selection appears in its entirety–a marvelous collection of outstanding works by the incomparable Oscar Wilde, who’s been aptly called “a lord of language” by Max Beerbohm.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142633 in Books
• Published on: 1983-01-01
• Released on: 1982-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 592 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780553212549
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

From the Publisher
Here in one volume are his immensely popular novel, The Picture Of Dorian Gray ; his last literary work, the Ballad Of Reading Goal, a product of his own prison experience; and four complete plays:Lady Windermere's Fan, his first dramatic success; An Ideal Husband, which continued to poke fun at conventional morality; The Importance Of Being Earnest, his finest comedy; and Salome, a portrait of uncontrollable love originally written in French, now in a new translation by Richard Elman. Every selection appears in its entirely--a marvelous collection of outstanding works by the incomparable Oscar Wilde, whom Max Beerbohm so aptly labeled "a lord of language."

From the Inside Flap
Here in one volume are his immensely popular  novel, The Picture Of Dorian Gray ;  his last literary work, the Ballad Of  Reading Goal, a product of his own prison  experience; and four complete plays:Lady  Windermere's Fan, his first dramatic  success; An Ideal Husband, which  continued to poke fun at conventional  morality; The Importance Of Being Earnest, his  finest comedy; and Salome, a  portrait of uncontrollable love originally written in  French, now in a new translation by Richard Elman.  Every selection appears in its entirely--a  marvelous collection of outstanding works by the  incomparable Oscar Wilde, whom Max Beerbohm so aptly  labeled "a lord of language."

About the Author
Oscar Wilde was born into a socially prominent Anglo-Irish family in Dublin in 1854. A gifted student, he entered Oxford in 1874, where he fell under the aesthetic influence of Walter Pater and John Ruskin. He was soon well known as a dandy, wit, and man-about-town, but married in 1884. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY was published in 1891, as was his essay, "The Soul of Man Under Socialism," but he found critical and popular sucess in the theater with his comedies: Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1892) An Ideal Husband (1895), and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). In 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry sought to end the close relationship between his son, Lord Alfred Douglas, and Wilde, publicly referring to Wilde as a homosexual. After losing a lawsuit against the Marquess for libel, Wilde was arrested and served two years of hard labor at Reading and Pentonville prisons. Wilde was deserted by his wife and friends and upon his release in 1897, he moved to France under an assumed name, where he finished writing "The Ballad of Reading Gaol," and traveled to Italy with Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde died suddenly in Paris in November of 1900.

Customer Reviews

A classic novel about the gift of eternal youth
Basil Harwood talks to his friend, Lord Henry Wotton, about his latest painting, a portrait of a striking young man named Dorian Gray to whom he has taken quite a fancy. He feels that his art has never been alive as it has since meeting this young man. Intrigued at his friends acute interest, Lord Henry determines to meet the young man himself, and quite by chance, manages to remain in the studio as Dorian arrives and stands for the finishing touches to his portrait.

Once it is completed, Lord Henry comments on how youthful the painting is, remarking how unfortunate it is that the portrait will always remain as young as on the day it was painted, whereas Dorian will slowly age, losing his youth and looks to time. Dorian frets over this and says that he would give anything if only his portrait would age instead of him.

Weeks later, after an unfortunate scene with his fiancée, Dorian notices a subtle change to his portrait, a certain cruel turn of the lips. As the days pass, he notices more changes and begins to realize that he can commit every vice and cruelty imaginable without any harm coming to him. His portrait will bear the brunt of his adventures. But at what price? As the years pass, he begins to wonder about the state of his very soul and if he can change, perhaps bring the portrait back to its original beauty.

This is a great novel, dealing for the most part with man's quest for eternal youth. Who wouldn't want to stay young forever? We go through fad diets, gyms, botox, plastic surgery -- all in the name of trying to remain healthy and youthful. Dorian is given a unique opportunity, the consequences of which show him the havoc that all the vices and cruel acts have upon his soul (or his conscience). We also get to see how getting what you wish for doesn't always turn out the way you thought it would.

It's a well-written story, full of unique characters. The majority of the male characters seem to have no problem whatsoever having intimate relationships with other men. By his actions, Basil appears to be in love with Dorian. Dorian, in turn, is infatuated with Lord Henry, even thought both of them do have relationships with women (for Dorian, a fiancée; for Lord Henry, a wife). There's even a bit of jealousy on the part of Lord Henry's wife when she finally meets the man who's been monopolizing her husband's time.

At times, though, it does move slowly due to long passages discussing the place of art in society and philosphizing about the quest for youth and beauty. In these passages the text seems to turn more into a lecture rather than a novel. That, however, does not take away from the enjoyment of the novel.

Merely Vanity
Published in 1890, this novel by Oscar Wilde is a startling, fantastic portrayal of fin de siecle indulgence and hedonism.

The novel is dark in its tone as it describes Dorian's fall from purity, and it involves itself heavily with suicide, death and supernatural occurences. The novel is also somewhat satirical, as Wilde makes reference to the absurd state of social affairs in Victorian London. Ironic and suspenseful, the novel keeps the reader interested in each plot development, and keeps the reader engaged and moved by the beautiful, carefully crafted prose.

The story begins with Lord Harry Wotton, utterly captivated by a painting by a friend, the artist Basil Hallward. The painting is of the handsome and unspotted young Dorian Gray. Dorian is stunned at the worldly knowledge of the older gentleman, and soon finds himself under Lord Wotton's care and attention. Harry, the eternal pessimist, schools Dorian in his existential, hedonistic view. Dorian wishes in his vanity that the beautiful painting might age instead of he. When Dorian falls in love with and coldly rebukes a young actress, he returns home to find that the painting bears a faint expression of cruelty and callous; a certain sneer about the mouth. His wish had come true; "the canvas [bore] the burden of his passions and his sins."

As the story goes on, Dorian falls further and further into his own mind, indulging his every whim, strangling the lives of most everyone he touches by the ropes of scandal that Dorian is entangled in.

Resonating throughout the story are the themes of power and love, overriden by vanity and swept beneath by slight homosexual undertones (easily overlooked by anyone who wants to overlook it).

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel; the characters were well-developed, and I could identify with Dorian's desire to find a balance between his selfish motivation to indulge himself and his moral need to free himself from his sins. It is the endless plight of human existence: The moral drive to overcome the sins of our nature. The way the novel was written gives the reader a deep appreciation for Oscar Wilde, and the way in which he writes. The novel was a little difficult here and there, not because it was verbose or stylistically challenging, but merely because it was very in-depth. The book itself is a beautiful work; but moreso than the book itself are the ideas behind it. This is a book that makes one think about consequences of actions, the importance of emotions, of repentance and redemption.

I would highly recommend this book.

"Something has changed you completely. You look exactly the same wonderful boy who, day after day, used to come down to my studio to sit for his picture. But you were simple, natural and affectionate then. You were the most unspoiled creature in the whole world. Now, I don't know what has come over you. You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you." - Basil Hallward to Dorian Gray, Chapter 9.

Whoa..
Dorian Gray was quite the read.

Dorian Gray is a young man who has exquisite, wonderful features. He is good-looking. He is a model for Basil, a painter. Basil paints a portrait of Dorian Gray. Lord Henry, one of Basil's friends, meets Dorian and remarks how sad it is that Dorian will not always retain his youth and beauty. Dorian grows sad about this - and thinks, if only this picture would grow old and I can always stay young! He envies his own picture, because he thinks that the picture will forever retain its youth - while he will bear the wrinkles of life.

Then things start becoming strange. After an unpleasant experience with his fiancée, an actress, he looks at his picture and notices a cruel twist of the mouth. This is only the beginning. As Dorian makes his descent into debauchery and sinfulness, the picture bears the weight of his actions. Everytime he commits a transgression, the picture grows uglier and uglier. The picture becomes his sort of "conscience."

This book is one worth reading. I had heard of Dorian Gray and was curious. Wilde's writing was descriptive, yet easy to read. It is one of the easier classics, in my opinion.

The only flaw to this novel was, at one point, there is a stage where Dorian collects a lot of things - like embroidery, etc. It describes the things he collects and makes lots of references and allusions to seemingly random people (perhaps famous people in history?). This seemed to me like a non sequitur, and just lots of rambling. Furthermore, it was confusing because I didn't know who the people being mentioned were. It was tedious, although I endured it. I'm glad I did, because the story progressed wonderfully.

The ending is... quite morbid, but didn't come across as a complete surprise.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is worth your while. It will make you think - is eternal youth worth it? It will trigger lots of probing questions in your brain. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a good classic read.