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Cover of The plays of Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde

The plays of Oscar Wilde

  • 446 pages · about 7 hours
  • First published 1905
  • 49 editions
  • Free to read

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1 About this book

Oscar Wilde took London by storm with his first comedy, Lady Windermere's Fan. The combination of dazzling wit, subtle social criticism, sumptuous settings and the theme of a guilty secret proved a winner, both here and in his next three plays, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and his undisputed masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest.

This volume includes all Wilde's plays from his early tragedy Vera to the controversial Salome and the little known fragments, La Sainte Courtisane and A Florentine Tragedy. The edition affords a rare chance to see Wilde's best known work in the context of his entire dramatic output, and to appreciate plays which have hitherto received scant critical attention.

Good for readers who want: a true life story, a play, and a book they can read free online.

  • English wit and humor
  • Historical drama
  • Biography
  • Correspondence
  • Criticism
  • Theory
  • Drama
  • Poetic works

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3 About Oscar Wilde

1854–1900

Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential dramatists in London in the early 1890s. He was a key figure in the emerging Aestheticism movement of the late 19th century and is widely regarded as the greatest playwright of the Victorian era.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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