{"title":"Oscar Wilde","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-picture-of-dorian-gray","title":"The Picture of Dorian Gray","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLippincott’s Monthly Magazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e in 1890 and expanded into book form in 1891, Oscar Wilde’s only novel tells the story of a young man whose extraordinary beauty becomes both his blessing and his undoing. After sitting for a portrait by the artist Basil Hallward, Dorian Gray wishes that he might remain forever young while the painting bears the marks of his age and experience. Under the influence of the seductive Lord Henry Wotton, he embraces a life devoted to pleasure, while the portrait becomes a hidden record of his increasingly troubled conscience. Wilde weaves together Gothic suspense and sparkling social dialogue to explore beauty, vanity, corruption and the divided nature of the self.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eControversial upon its appearance, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Picture of Dorian Gray\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e became one of the defining novels of late Victorian literature, challenging the moral conventions of its time and giving provocative expression to Wilde’s belief in the autonomy of art. Its fascination lies in the tension between surface and substance: the immaculate face presented to the world, and the secret life concealed behind it. Rich in wit, atmosphere and psychological unease, the novel remains a compelling meditation on the price of pursuing beauty and pleasure without regard for their consequences.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Youth smiles without any reason. It is one of its chiefest charms.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Oscar Wilde, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Picture of Dorian Gray\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Picture of Dorian Gray\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“He has given us a work of serious art, strong and fascinating, in spite of its blemishes.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Speaker\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, 5 July 1890\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64185430081866,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"the-importance-of-being-earnest","title":"The Importance of Being Earnest","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst performed at London’s St James’s Theatre on 14 February 1895, Oscar Wilde’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Importance of Being Earnest\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a comedy of mistaken identities, romantic complications and impeccable social absurdity. Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff have each invented an alternative identity to escape the demands of respectable society, but their deceptions become increasingly difficult to maintain when love enters the picture. As Jack pursues Gwendolen Fairfax and Algernon takes an interest in the young Cecily Cardew, a country-house visit brings their carefully constructed worlds into comic collision. Wilde turns the conventions of Victorian courtship, family and social propriety into a sparkling game of paradoxes, misunderstandings and wonderfully precise dialogue.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDescribed by its author as “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People”, the play is both a brilliant social satire and a celebration of artifice, wit and theatrical invention. Its apparently frivolous world conceals a sharp understanding of the absurdities of class, respectability and romantic expectation. First published in book form in 1899, it has since become one of the most frequently performed comedies in the English language, and the crowning achievement of Wilde’s dramatic career.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Oscar Wilde, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Importance of Being Earnest\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Importance of Being Earnest\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Beneath the unbroken surface of wit and absurdity there lies a vein of genuine, if deliberately concealed, meaning.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, 15 February 1895\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64185517572426,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"de-profundis","title":"De Profundis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWritten during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol between January and March 1897, and first published in an abridged form in 1905, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDe Profundis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is Oscar Wilde’s extraordinary letter to Lord Alfred Douglas, the young aristocrat whose relationship with him had become a source of both devotion and ruin. From his prison cell, Wilde revisits their turbulent attachment, confronting betrayal, vanity, suffering and the collapse of the life he once knew. Yet the letter reaches far beyond personal accusation: it becomes an intimate meditation on art, faith, humility and the possibility of spiritual renewal. In the face of disgrace and isolation, Wilde examines the meaning of suffering with a candour and seriousness rarely seen in his earlier work.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStripped of the social brilliance and comic ease that made his reputation, Wilde’s prose here acquires a new gravity without losing its characteristic elegance. The letter reveals an artist rethinking his relationship with beauty, ambition and the world, and finding in sorrow a difficult path towards self-understanding. Published after his death in its fuller form, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDe Profundis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e stands among the most moving documents of literary self-examination: at once a personal reckoning, a defence of the imagination and a profound record of a life transformed by suffering.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“I forgot that every little action of the common day makes or unmakes character.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Oscar Wilde, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDe Profundis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDe Profundis\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“It remains one of the greatest and most complex love letters ever written.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Colm Tóibín, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64185576456522,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"the-happy-prince-and-other-tales","title":"The Happy Prince and Other Tales","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in 1888, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Happy Prince and Other Tales\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e brings together five stories in which Oscar Wilde turns the fairy tale into something at once enchanting and quietly unsettling. From the gilded statue who gives away his riches to relieve the suffering of the poor, to the Nightingale who sacrifices herself for an idea of love, Wilde’s characters inhabit a world of beauty shadowed by cruelty, vanity and indifference. In “The Selfish Giant”, a garden becomes a delicate parable of generosity and belonging, while “The Devoted Friend” and “The Remarkable Rocket” expose the absurdities of self-importance and social pretension.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWritten with the clarity of fable and the precision of Wilde’s celebrated wit, these stories move effortlessly between tenderness, satire and melancholy. Their apparent simplicity conceals a searching moral intelligence: compassion is tested, beauty is questioned, and the values of a comfortable society are gently but unmistakably challenged. Among the most distinctive works of Wilde’s early career, the collection remains a remarkable achievement in the literary fairy-tale tradition, appealing as much to adult readers as to children.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Love is wiser than Philosophy, though she is wise, and mightier than Power, though he is mighty.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Oscar Wilde, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Happy Prince and Other Tales\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Happy Prince and Other Tales\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“These five tales are all cleverly told, and contain some pretty flights of imagination, many quaint conceits, and plenty of smart sayings.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Pall Mall Gazette\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, 4 June 1888\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64185596412234,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/fr\/collections\/oscar-wilde.oembed","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}