Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was a brilliant Irish playwright, poet, and novelist born on October 16, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. Known for his sharp wit and flamboyant style, Wilde became a prominent figure in the late 19th-century literary scene. He studied at Trinity College Dublin and later at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he developed his distinctive aesthetic philosophy. Wilde's most famous works, including "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "The Importance of Being Earnest," showcase his talent for blending humor with profound social commentary, making him a beloved figure in literature.

Beyond his literary achievements, Wilde's life was marked by a vibrant personality and a penchant for challenging societal norms. His public persona and controversial trials for his sexuality captured the attention of Victorian society, leading to his imprisonment and eventual exile. Despite the challenges he faced, Wilde's legacy endures through his timeless works that continue to resonate with readers today. As you explore his writings in this app, you'll discover the unique charm and insight that make Wilde a remarkable voice in the Western literary tradition.

De Profundis

Read by Aaron Elliott 4.3
This short work of Wilde's was written during his two year incarceration for "gross indecency". This work is a letter which sorts …

Lady Windermere's Fan (Version 2)

Read by Phil Chenevert 4.7
Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first produced 22 February 1892 at the St James's Thea…

The Importance of Being Earnest (version 5)

Read by LibriVox Volunteers 4.6
In this most popular of all Oscar Wilde’s plays, two fashionable bachelors, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, discover that each has bee…

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Read by John Gonzalez 4.5
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 Basi…

A House of Pomegranates (version 2)

Read by NoelBadrian 4.8
A House of Pomegranates (1891) is the title of the second collection of Fairy Tales by Oscar Wilde. This book contains four tales: 1. &quo…

The Happy Prince and Other Tales (version 5)

Read by NoelBadrian 4.6
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…

The Fisherman and his Soul

Read by Gregg Margarite (1957-2012) 4.3
”The Fisherman and his Soul” is a fairy tale first published in November of 1891 in Wilde’s “A House of Pomegranates”. It tells of a fisherm…

Letters of Oscar Wilde, Volume 1 (1868-1890)

Read by Rob Marland 4.6
This first collection of the correspondence of Oscar Wilde begins with the Irish playwright's earliest extant letter, thanking his mother fo…

Oscar Wilde - Earnest

4.3
Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is a delightful farce filled with rapid-fire wit and eccentric characters. This madcap tale of…

Salome

Read by LibriVox Volunteers 4.2
The original 1891 version of the play was in French. Three years later an English translation was published. The play tells in one act the B…

The Portrait of Mr. W. H.

Read by Rob Marland 4.6
Wilde's short story about an attempt to uncover the identity of Mr. W. H., the dedicatee of Shakespeare's sonnets, was first published in Bl…

A Florentine Tragedy and La Sainte Courtisane

Read by LibriVox Volunteers 4.2
Two short fragments: an unfinished and a lost play. A Florentine Tragedy, left in a taxi (not a handbag), is Wilde’s most successful attempt…

The Poems of Oscar Wilde

Read by LibriVox Volunteers 4.2
Complied by Thomas B. Mosher and released in 1906, this collection contains nearly every poem published by Oscar Wilde during his lifetime. …

Letters of Oscar Wilde, Volume 2 (1890-1895)

Read by Rob Marland 4.7
This second collection of the correspondence of Oscar Wilde includes letters written when the Irish playwright was at the height of his succ…

The Duchess of Padua

Read by LibriVox Volunteers 3.8
Guido Ferranti, a young man, travels to Padua with his friend Ascanio after receiving a mysterious letter from a stranger, claiming to know …

Selected Poems of Oscar Wilde

Read by LibriVox Volunteers 5
This is a selection of the early poetry of Oscar Wilde, selected by Robert Ross. As he puts it, "It is thought that a selection from Os…

The Fisherman and His Soul (Version 2)

Read by Phil Chenevert 4.2
To get what we want is often the greatest curse of all. The fisherman here accidentally catches a mermaid in his net. He falls in love with…

The Importance of Being Earnest (version 2)

Read by LibriVox Volunteers 4.2
In Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, the lives of two young men, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, intertwine in a web of m…

The Happy Prince and Other Tales (version 2)

Read by om123 4.2
The Happy Prince and Other Tales (also sometimes called The Happy Prince and Other Stories) is an 1888 collection of stories for children by…

Vera; or the Nihilists

Read by LibriVox Volunteers 4.7
Vera; or, The Nihilists is Oscar Wilde's first play, a melodramatic tragedy that unfolds against the backdrop of 19th-century Russia. The st…

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