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Oscar WildeA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, and later studied at Oxford University before moving to London. After delivering lectures across America and England, Wilde became an editor of Lady’s World Magazine in 1885. During this time, he also married and fathered two children with Constance Lloyd, a wealthy Englishwoman. Shortly after their marriage, Wilde would produce his most recognized works, including his well-known novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). At the time of its publication, it was widely criticized as immoral because the protagonist pursued pleasure at any price.
In the novel’s preface, Wilde argued for the aesthetic value of such a work. This was in keeping with Wilde’s broader philosophy of aestheticism. During his time in London, before he was imprisoned for his relationships with other men and then exiled to France, Wilde became one of the founders of this movement, creating work that privileged craft while simultaneously critiquing Victorian morals—something evident in An Ideal Husband, which uses wit and satire to reveal the hypocrisy of Victorian high society.
By Oscar Wilde
A Woman of No Importance
Oscar Wilde
De Profundis
Oscar Wilde
Lady Windermere's Fan
Oscar Wilde
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
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Salome
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The Ballad Of Reading Gaol
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The Canterville Ghost
Oscar Wilde
The Decay of Lying
Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde
The Nightingale and the Rose
Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde
The Selfish Giant
Oscar Wilde
The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Oscar Wilde