The publication in 1890 of Wilde's only novel led to a furious public debate over art and morality. Dorian Gray's double life in elegant high society and in London's most degraded slums express the essence of aestheticism and fin de siècle decadence and shows up the hypocrisies of Victorian society.

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!' Wilde's first and only published novel recounts the story of handsome Dorian Gray who upon having his portrait painted desires that it will age and grow ugly while he may remain eternally beautiful. The painting, which reflects each of Gray's sins and transgressions in its hideousness, haunts him until it finally becomes unbearable. In this dark tale of duplicity and mortality, Wilde creates a world where art and reality collide.

Playwright, novelist, essayist, poet and epigrammatist, Oscar Wilde was Ireland's greatest and most inspired wit. Today he is remembered for the brilliance of his writing, and this complete edition of his works contains all his plays, his only novel, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, as well as his essays, poems and stories for children, The Happy Prince and Other Tales, and his more worldly stories for adults, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories. Illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley, illustrator, caricaturist, poster-designer and novelist, and Charles Robinson, one of the most popular black-and-white artists of the Edwardian era.

Beautiful, aristocratic, an adored wife and young mother, Lady Windermere is 'a fascinating puritan' whose severe moral code leads her to the brink of social suicide. The only one who can save her is the mysterious Mrs Erlynne whose scandalous relationship with Lord Windermere has prompted her fatal impulse. And Mrs Erlynne has a secret — a secret Lady windermere must never know if she is to retain her peace of mind.

Gwendolen thinks that she loves Ernest. Cecily thinks that she loves Ernest too. But who is Ernest really? What kind of man is he? Read this funny play and laugh. Or act it to your friends and they will laugh. This is a wonderful play by one of the greatest writers of his time.

This poem — originally published anonymously, written after Wilde's two year's hard labor in Reading prison — is the tale of a man who has been sentenced to hang for the murder of the woman he loved. The Ballad of Reading Gaol follows the inmate through his final three weeks, as he stares at the sky and silently drinks his beer ration. Heart-wrenching and eye-opening, the ballad also expresses perfectly Wilde's belief that humanity is made up only of offenders, each of us deserving a greater charity for the severity of our crimes.

'I have nothing to declare', Wilde once told an American customs official, 'except my genius'. A socialite, a wit, a man who flaunted convention and was unafraid to shock, Oscar Wilde was a great writer and a great man. This new collection of wit and wisdom demonstrates the brilliance of his vision, the audacity of his style. Such is the scope of the material, it brings to life the Wilde of great feeling as well as the Wilde of great art.

One of a graded series of retold versions of popular classic and contemporary titles and specially written stories, The Importance of Being Earnest is Oscar Wilde's comic masterpiece of love and mistaken identity. It first appeared on the stage in 1895 and has been hugely popular ever since.

Afterword, brief biography of the author and a further reading list. The afterword for this edition is by David Stuart Davies. The challenge and pleasure of these stories is the simultaneous appeal to both child and adult with their themes of love, truth and sacrifice, which are as relevant today as when they were written. In this collection are to be found some of the brightest gems from the treasure trove of Oscar Wilde's incomparable writing.

'Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!' A powerful poem of universal guilt and a protest against capital punishment, The Ballad of Reading Gaol is Wilde's best-known poem, yet it is quite unlike the rest of his poetry. At Oxford Wilde discarded the passion and politics of his mother's Irish nationalistic anti-famine poetry and opted to follow an English Romantic tradition, paying tribute to Keats, Swinburne, and the Pre-Raphaelites. Admiration of French masters gradually led to his writing Impressionist, even decadent poems and his collection Poems (1881) brought accusations of obscenity and plagiarism as well as scathing reviews. Unabashed, Wilde revised and reprinted his final 'Author's Edition' in 1892, by which time he was the successful author of fiction, criticism, and Lady Windermere's Fan. This volume follows as closely as possible the chronological order of composition, highlighting autobiographical elements including the young Wilde's conflicting attitudes to Greece and Rome, pagan and Christian, and his fluctuating attraction to Roman Catholicism. The Appendix shows Wilde's original ordering, constructed with great care around a 'musical' arrangement of themes. The poems reveal unexpected aspects of a literary chameleon usually identified with sparkling wit and social comedy.

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful politician and an honest man. He is an ideal husband for the beautiful and serious Lady Chiltern. But somebody knows a dangerous secret about Sir Robert. Can Sir Robert's charming Society friends save his job and his marriage? This Penguin Reader play is written for acting making English come alive.

The famous Canterville Ghost haunts an old house, but the ghost becomes unhappy when the new owners play tricks on him! In the other stories, we meet Lord Arthur Savile, who has to murder someone before he can get married, and we discover the secret life of beautiful Lady Alroy.

An artist paints a picture of the young and handsome Dorian Gray. When he sees it, Dorian makes a wish that changes his life. As he grows older, his face stays young and handsome. But the picture changes. Why can’t Dorian show it to anybody? What is its terrible secret?

Three short stories by one of the most witty and popular writers of the nineteenth century. Stories include: The Canterville Ghost, The Model Millionaire and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime.

«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», and «An Ideal Husband», offer a moving as well as witty dissection of society and its morals, with a sharp focus on sexual politics. By contrast, the experimental, symbolist Salome, written originally in French, was banned for public performance by the English censor. His final dramatic triumph was his `trivial' comedy for serious people, «The Importance of Being Earnest» arguably the greatest farcical comedy in English. Under the General Editorship of Dr Michael Cordner of the University of York, the texts of the plays have been newly edited and are presented with modernized spelling and punctuation. In addition, there is a scholarly introduction and detailed annotation.»

«'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-siécle London, the novel traces a path from the studio of painter Basil Hallward to the opium dens of the East End. As Dorian's slide into crime and cruelty progresses he stays magically youthful, while his beautiful portrait changes, revealing the hideous corruption of moral decay. Ever since its first publication in 1890 Wilde's only novel has remained the subject of critical controversy. Acclaimed by some as an instructive moral tale, it has been denounced by others for its implicit immorality. Combining elements of the supernatural, aestheticism, and the Gothic, «The Picture of Dorian Gray» is an unclassifiable and uniquely unsettling work of fiction.»

«This authoritative edition was formerly published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Wilde's poetry and prose short stories, plays, critical dialogues and his only novel — to give the essence of his work and thinking. Oscar Wilde's dramatic private life has sometimes threatened to overshadow his great literary achievements. His talent was prodigious: the author of brilliant social comedies, fairy stories, critical dialogues, poems, and a novel, «The Picture of Dorian Gray». In addition to «Dorian Gray», this volume represents all these genres, including such works as «Lady Windermere's Fan» and «The Importance of Being Earnest», «The Happy Prince», «The Critic as Artist», and «The Ballad of Reading Gaol».»

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful politician and an honest man. He is an ideal husband for the beautiful and serious Lady Chiltern. But somebody knows a dangerous secret about Sir Robert. Can Sir Robert's charming Society friends save his job and his marriage? This Penguin Reader play is written for acting making English come alive.