Oscar Wild

When a na�ve young Dorian arrives in Victorian London, he is swept into a social whirlwind by the charismatic Lord Wotton, who introduces Dorian to the pleasures of the city. Henry's friend Basil Hallward paints a portrait of Dorian to capture the full power of his youthful beauty. When the portrait is unveiled, Dorian makes a flippant pledge: he would give anything to stay as he is in the picture - even his soul.

The Picture of Dorian Grey

Charles Gill (prosecuting): What is "the love that dare not speak its name"? Oscar Wilde: "The love that dare not speak its name" in this century is such a great affection of an elder for a younger man as there was between David and Jonathan, such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy, and such as you find in the sonnets of Michelangelo and Shakespeare. It is that deep spiritual affection that is as pure as it is perfect. It dictates and pervades great works of art, like those of Shakespeare and Michelangelo, and those two letters of mine, such as they are. It is in this century misunderstood, so much misunderstood that it may be described as "the love that dare not speak its name," and on that account of it I am placed where I am now. It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection. There is nothing unnatural about it. It is intellectual, and it repeatedly exists between an older and a younger man, when the older man has intellect, and the younger man has all the joy, hope and glamour of life before him. That it should be so, the world does not understand. The world mocks at it, and sometimes puts one in the pillory for it. - Oscar Wilde was incarcerated between 25 May 1895 and 18 May 1897.

From the Shorthand Reports

The Trial of Oscar Wilde

The Canterville Ghost

Único romance de Oscar Wilde, publicado inicialmente em 1890, O retrato de Dorian Gray é considerado a obra-prima do autor, com um texto repleto de diálogos, um dos clássicos modernos da literatura ocidental. O jovem Dorian Gray, protagonista do livro, torna-se modelo para uma pintura do artista Basil Hallward. Por sua beleza física, Dorian passou a ser não apenas modelo de Basil, mas também fonte de inspiração para outras obras e, conforme fica implícito no texto, uma paixão platônica por parte do pintor. Este livro tornou-se um símbolo da juventude intelectual da época e de suas críticas à cultura vitoriana, além de ter despertado grande polêmica em relação ao seu conteúdo homoerótico. Oscar Wilde teve obra ampla e bela, também escreveu dramas para teatro, poesia, novelas e contos infantis.

O retrato de Dorian Gray (Edição de bolso)

By Oscar Wild Book Paperback

De Profundis

"The Canterville Ghost" begins with the sale of an old British mansion called Canterville Chase to Horace B. Otis, an American minister. Though the former owner, Lord Canterville, warns Mr. Otis that the mansion is haunted, Mr. Otis is not worried and replies that ghosts do not exist. Soon after, Mr. Otis moves into the Chase with the rest of his family: his wife, Lucretia; his eldest son, Washington; his fifteen-year-old daughter, Virginia; and his two young twin boys. Upon moving in, Mrs. Otis notices a dull red stain on the floor and requests that it be cleaned. Their housekeeper reveals that it is a bloodstain from the murder of Lady Eleanore de Canterville, who was killed in 1575 by her husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, and that it cannot be removed. She warns Mrs. Otis that Sir Simon's guilty ghost still haunts Canterville Chase. Dismissing the housekeeper's story as nonsense, Washington quickly pulls out a container of Pinkerton's Champion Stain Remover, scrubbing it onto the spot until the stain is gone. As soon as the stain is removed, lightning flashes, and a peal of thunder rocks the house. The housekeeper faints in terror. The next morning, the Otises find that the stain has mysteriously returned. For the next few days, they routinely clean the stain only to see it reappear the next morning. Intrigued, the Otis family decides that the house is, in fact, haunted. A few nights later, Mr. Otis is awakened in the middle of the night by a clanking noise. Venturing into the hallway, he encounters the ghost of Sir Simon. Rather than being frightened by Sir Simon's glowing red eyes, matted hair, and rusty manacles, Mr. Otis politely insists that the ghost oil his chains and gives him a bottle of Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator for this purpose. Utterly humiliated, Sir Simon retreats down the hallway until he encounters the twins, who throw pillows at his head. Returning to his chamber, Sir Simon remembers his long and successful career as a ghost, fuming that never in three hundred years of haunting maids and guests has he been so insulted. Determined to scare these "wretched modern Americans," Sir Simon stays up all night plotting his revenge. Though the bloodstain remains, the Otises humorously note that it is changing in color on a daily basis. Virginia Otis, however, does not find the changing stain amusing and appears inexplicably distressed by it. One day, the family discovers Sir Simon in an embarrassing position: he has fallen over while trying to put on a suit of armor. The twins shoot at him with pea shooters and when Sir Simon tries to scare the family with his most evil laugh, Mrs. Otis adds insult to injury by suggesting that he may be suffering from indigestion. For several days afterward, Sir Simon is ill and keeps mostly to his room. Soon, however, he resolves to make a third attempt at scaring the Otises and picks out a suitably terrifying outfit. As he makes his way to Washington's room, however, he is stopped by the twins, who are disguised as a ghost. Believing them to be a real ghost, Sir Simon flees in utter terror. Depressed, Sir Simon retreats from his ghostly duties, deciding not to replace the bloodstain and...

With Illustrated

The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Some contemporary reviews praised the play's humour and the culmination of Wilde's artistic career, while others were cautious about its lack of social messages. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.

By Oscar Wild Play Ernest Book

The Importance Of Being Earnest

De Profundis (Latin: "from the depths") is a letter written by Oscar Wilde during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol, to "Bosie" (Lord Alfred Douglas). In its first half, Wilde recounts their previous relationship and extravagant lifestyle which eventually led to Wilde's conviction and imprisonment for gross indecency. He indicts both Lord Alfred's vanity and his own weakness in acceding to those wishes. In the second half, Wilde charts his spiritual development in prison and identification with Jesus Christ, whom he characterises as a romantic, individualist artist. The letter began "Dear Bosie" and ended "Your Affectionate Friend". Wilde wrote the letter between January and March 1897, close to the end of his imprisonment. Contact had lapsed between Douglas and Wilde and the latter had suffered from his close supervision, physical labour, and emotional isolation. Nelson, the new prison governor, thought that writing might be more cathartic than prison labour. He was not allowed to send the long letter which he was allowed to write "for medicinal purposes"; each page was taken away when completed, and only at the end could he read it over and make revisions. Nelson gave the long letter to him on his release on 18 May 1897. Wilde entrusted the manuscript to the journalist Robert Ross (another former lover, loyal friend, and rival to "Bosie"). Ross published the letter in 1905, five years after Wilde's death, giving it the title "De Profundis" from Psalm 130. It was an incomplete version, excised of its autobiographical elements and references to the Queensberry family; various editions gave more text until in 1962 the complete and correct version appeared in a volume of Wilde's letters.

Oscar Wild

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