Oscar Wilde
The supreme wit of Victorian drama, Wilde wrote comedies that concealed profound social criticism behind brilliant epigrams. His imprisonment for homosexuality gave him the subject of The Ballad of Reading Gaol and De Profundis. The Importance of Being Earnest is the greatest comedy in the English language.
Works
- The Picture of Dorian GrayGothic novel of a man who remains eternally young while his portrait ages
- Lord Arthur Savile's CrimeThriller about a man compelled by fate to commit an aristocratic murder
- The Happy Prince and Other TalesFairy tales exploring generosity, sacrifice, and moral transformation
- A House of PomegranatesSymbolic fairy tales combining myth and social allegory
- The Importance of Being EarnestComic play of mistaken identities and witty repartee about engagement
- An Ideal HusbandPlay exploring idealism, corruption, and love in high society
- Lady Windermere's FanComedy of a woman using jealousy to reform an unfaithful husband
- A Woman of No ImportancePlay examining women's social position through drawing-room intrigue
- SaloméTragic one-act play of a princess's dangerous obsession with a saint
- SalomeTragic one-act play of a princess's dangerous obsession with a saint