Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Gerald Arbuthnot receives a promotion from Lord Illingworth, a worldly politician who has a sordid history of women, one of whom is Gerald's widowed mother. When their connection is revealed, the young man questions his past, present and future aspirations.
A Woman of No Importance opens with a high-class party featuring a group of society's most illustrious citizens. In the midst of the event, Gerald Arbuthnot enters and announces his new position...
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
First performed in 1895, "An Ideal Husband" is Oscar Wilde's classic and much-loved comedic drama. The play tells the story of an up-and-coming politician, Sir Robert Chiltern, who tries to hide his secret past from his judgmental wife and the blackmail scheme he is forced to participate in to keep that secret quiet. Lady Chiltern has a very particular idea of what makes the "ideal husband" which leaves her with little tolerance for Sir Robert's all...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Originally published in 1898, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" is a poem written by Oscar Wilde. Composed after his release from the titular prison whilst he was in exile in Berneval-le-Grand, the poem deals with the hanging at Reading Goal of Charles Thomas Wooldridge, a 30-year-old man who was imprisoned for cutting his wife's throat. Within the poem, Wilde narrates the execution in full and explores the brutal nature of the punishment that all inmates...
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
"Wilde's 'trivial play for serious people', a sparkling comedy of manners, is the epitome of wit and style. This brilliantly constructed satire with its celebrated characters and much-quoted dialogue turns accepted ideas inside out and is generally regarded as Wilde's masterpiece. This Methuen Drama Student Edition of the play includes commentary and notes by Lucie Sutherland, Assistant Professor in Drama at the University of Nottingham, UK, which...