Penguin Books Australia

A story of evil, debauchery, and scandal, Oscar Wilde's only novel tells of Dorian Gray, a beautiful yet corrupt man. When he wishes that a perfect portrait of himself would bear the signs of ageing in his place, the picture becomes his hideous secret, as it follows Dorian's own downward spiral into cruelty and depravity.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a masterpiece of deals made in fear and ignorance...

A universal favorite, The Importance of Being Earnest displays Oscar Wilde's wit and theatrical genius at their brilliant best.  Subtitled 'A Trivial Comedy for Serious People,' this hilarious attack on Victorian manners and morals turns a pompous world on its head, lets duplicity lead to happiness, and makes riposte the highest form of art.  Written, according to Wilde, 'by a butterfly for...

In this haunting, magical fairy-tale collection, Oscar Wilde beautifully evokes (among others) the Happy Prince who was not so happy after all, the Selfish Giant who learned to love little children and the Star Child who did not love his parents as much as he should. Each of the stories shines with poetry and magic and will be enjoyed by children of every age.

COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED

'Good people do a great deal of harm in this world.  Certainly the greatest harm they do is that they make badness of such extraordinary importance.  It is absurd to divide people into good and bad.  People are either charming or tedious . . . '

Selection includes The Portrait of Mr W.H., Wilde's defence of Dorian Gray, reviews, and the writings from 'Intentions' (1891): 'The Decay of Lying, 'Pen, Pencil, Poison', and 'The Critic as Artist'.

Wilde was both a glittering wordsmith and a social outsider. His drama emerges out of these two perhaps contradictory identities, combining epigrammatic brilliance and shrewd social observation. Includes Lady Windermere's Fan, Salome, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, A Florentine Tragedy and The Importance of Being Earnest, which appears in full with the 'Grigsby' scene which originally...