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HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved,
essential classics.
'How sad it is I shall grow old, and horrid, and dreadful. But
this picture will remain always young If it was only the other way
'
Wilde's first and only published novel recounts the story of
handsome Dorian Gray who upon having his portrait painted desires
that it will age and grow ugly while he may remain eternally
beautiful. The painting, which reflects each of Gray's sins and
transgressions in its hideousness, haunts him until it finally
becomes unbearable. In this dark tale of duplicity and mortality,
Wilde creates a world where art and reality collide."
'It would be unfair to expect other people to be as remarkable as
oneself' Wilde's celebrated witticisms on the dangers of sincerity,
duplicitous biographers, the stupidity of the English - and his own
genius. One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black
Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in
1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range
and diversity, with works from around the world and across the
centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales,
satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.
Witty and buoyant comedy of manners is brilliantly plotted from its effervescent first act to its hilarious denouement, and filled with some of literature's most famous epigrams. Widely considered Wilde's most perfect work, the play is reprinted here from an authoritative early British edition. Note to the Dover Edition.
Wilde's only novel, first published in 1890, is a brilliantly
designed puzzle, intended to tease conventional minds with its
exploration of the myriad interrelationships between art, life, and
consequence. From its provocative Preface, challenging the reader
to believe in 'art for art's sake', to its sensational conclusion,
the story self-consciously experiments with the notion of sin as an
element of design. Yet Wilde himself underestimated the
consequences of his experiment, and its capacity to outrage the
Victorian establishment. Its words returned to haunt him in his
court appearances in 1895, and he later recalled the 'note of doom'
which runs like 'a purple thread' through its carefully crafted
prose.
Horror hides behind an attractive face in The Picture of Dorian
Gray, Oscar Wilde's tale of a notorious Victorian libertine and his
life of evil excesses. Though Dorian's hedonistic indulgences leave
no blemish on his ageless features, the painted portrait imbued
with his soul proves a living catalogue of corruption, revealing in
its every new line and lesion the manifold sins he has
committed. Desperate to hide the physical evidence of his
unregenerate spirit, Dorian will stop at nothing—not even
murder—to keep his picture's existence a secret.  A
scandalous story when it was first published in 1890, The
Picture of Dorian Gray is acknowledged as a landmark of literature
today and a tale emblematic of its time. This volume is one of
Barnes & Noble's Collectible Editions classics. Each
volume features authoritative texts by the world's greatest authors
in an exquisitely designed foil-stamped binding, with
distinctive colored edging and an attractive ribbon bookmark.
Decorative, durable, and collectible, these books offer hours of
pleasure to readers young and old and are an indispensable
cornerstone for any home library.
When handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter’s stunning
portrait of him, he is transfixed by its reflection of his own
beauty. He is also troubled by the knowledge that the image in the
painting will remain forever youthful and handsome while he himself
will grow older and less desirable. He wishes aloud that the roles
were reversed, saying that he would give his soul if only the
painting would suffer the ravages of time and he were to remain
forever young. From that point on, Dorian lives a life of
hedonistic indulgence, knowing that only the painting will show his
moral corruption.
Oscar Wilde's only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who
sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Now, distinctively
packaged with a beautifully designed jacket by noted illustrator
Malika Favre. When handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter's
stunning portrait of him, he is transfixed by its reflection of his
own beauty. He is also troubled by the knowledge that the image in
the painting will remain forever youthful and handsome while he
himself will grow older and less desirable. He wishes aloud that
the roles were reversed, saying that he would give his soul if only
the painting would suffer the ravages of time and he were to remain
forever young. From that point on, Dorian lives a life of
hedonistic indulgence, knowing that only the painting will show his
moral corruption.
In these delightful tales, Oscar Wilde employs all his grace,
artistry and wit. The Happy Prince tells of the statue of a once
pleasure-loving Prince which, with the help of a selfless Swallow
helps people in distress. As well as The Nightingale and the Rose,
The Devoted Friend and The Remarkable Rocket, this collection
contains The Selfish Giant, a remarkable story of the redemptive
power of love.
In a town where a lot of poor people suffer and where there are a
lot of miseries, a swallow who was left behind after his flock flew
off to Egypt for the winter, meets the statue of the late ‘Happy
Prince’, who in reality has never experienced true sorrow, for he
lived in a palace where sorrow isn’t allowed to enter. Viewing
various scenes of people suffering in poverty from his tall
monument, the Happy Prince asks the swallow to take the ruby from
his hilt, the sapphires from his eyes, and the golden leaf covering
his body to give to the poor. As the winter comes and the Happy
Prince is stripped of all of his beauty, his lead heart breaks when
the swallow dies as a result of his selfless deeds and severe cold.
The statue is then brought down from the pillar and melted in a
furnace leaving behind the broken heart and the dead swallow and
they are thrown in a dust heap. These are taken up to heaven by an
angel that has deemed them the two most precious things in the
city. This is affirmed by God and they live forever in his city of
gold and garden of paradise.
Oscar Wilde's children's stories explore timeless themes of good
and evil, freedom and responsibility, love and death, beauty and
self-sacrifice. Featuring princesses, ogres and talking animals,
the questions they pose are as pertinent now as they were at the
turn of the century. What is love? asks 'The Happy Prince'. How do
you get what you need? asks 'The Nightingale and the Rose'. How do
you win friends (and avoid alienating people)? asks 'The Selfish
Giant'. Can you have too much compassion? asks 'The Devoted
Friend'. How can you set the world on fire? asks 'The Remarkable
Rocket'. Wilde's stories have given pleasure to generations of
readers. By turns moving and funny, they gently teach free thinking
rather than giving prescriptive lessons. This beautiful collectors'
edition with original watercolour illustrations and decorative
motifs from the 1913 edition by Charles Robinson and an
introduction by Wilde expert Michele Mendelssohn is certain to
surprise and delight adults and children alike.
'Triumphs of the imagination' Stephen Fry The treasured fairy tales
of Oscar Wilde in a stunning gift edition featuring exquisite
illustrations by the celebrated artist Philippe Jullian with an
afterword by Wilde's son, Vyvyan Holland. For nearly 150 years, the
classic fairy stories of Oscar Wilde have been cherished by readers
of all ages. Rediscover all nine of the stories first published in
The Happy Prince and other stories (1888) and A House of
Pomegranates (1891).
New Way is a series of carefully graded phonic readers, providing a
wide reading experience at similar levels of language. Learners are
encouraged to take pleasure in becoming readers in their own right.
Phonic copymasters help to develop and assess learnersA language
skills. Features and Benefits Pre-reading, reading and post-reading
graded material Multi-cultural and lifeskills oriented Suitable for
classes of mixed ability, allowing learners to progress at their
own pace Lays a firm foundation for literacy and promotes learning
in an OBE curriculum
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of
best-loved, essential classics. 'Dear Prince, I must leave you, but
I will never forget you, and next spring I will bring you back two
beautiful jewels in place of those you have given away. The ruby
shall be redder than a red rose, and the sapphire shall be as blue
as the great sea.' In 'The Happy Prince' a statue - jewelled and
opulent - keeps careful watch over the city and its inhabitants.
Enlisting the help of a swallow, his selfless acts bring comfort to
those most in need. 'The Nightingale and the Rose' is a tragic tale
of personal sacrifice in the name of love, while in 'The Selfish
Giant' the end of an eternal winter finally brings springtime and
happiness. In this collection of enchanting tales from a master
storyteller, Oscar Wilde has entranced readers both young and old
since publication in the late nineteenth century.
An innovative new edition of nine classic short stories from one of
the greatest writers of the Victorian era. “I cannot think other
than in stories,†Oscar Wilde once confessed to his friend André
Gide. In this new selection of his short fiction, Wilde’s gifts
as a storyteller are on full display, accompanied by informative
facing-page annotations from Wilde biographer and scholar Nicholas
Frankel. A wide-ranging introduction brings readers into the world
from which the author drew inspiration. Each story in the
collection brims with Wilde’s trademark wit, style, and sharp
social criticism. Many are reputed to have been written for
children, although Wilde insisted this was not true and that his
stories would appeal to all “those who have kept the childlike
faculties of wonder and joy.†“Lord Arthur Savile’s Crimeâ€
stands alongside Wilde’s comic masterpiece The Importance of
Being Earnest, while other stories—including “The Happy
Prince,†the tale of a young ruler who had never known sorrow,
and “The Nightingale and the Rose,†the story of a nightingale
who sacrifices herself for true love—embrace the theme of tragic,
forbidden love and are driven by an undercurrent of seriousness,
even despair, at the repressive social and sexual values of
Wilde’s day. Like his later writings, Wilde’s stories are a
sweeping indictment of the society that would imprison him for his
homosexuality in 1895, five years before his death at the age of
forty-six. Published here in the form in which Victorian readers
first encountered them, Wilde’s short stories contain much that
appeals to modern readers of vastly different ages and
temperaments. They are the perfect distillation of one of the
Victorian era’s most remarkable writers.
HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved,
essential classics. 'The only way to get rid of a temptation is to
yield to it.' When Basil Hallward paints the portrait of young,
handsome Dorian Gray, he falls prey to his dazzling beauty. Afraid
that his youth and looks will waste away, Dorian expresses a wish
that his portrait, and not he, will age and fade over time. His
wish is granted, and over the ensuing years, Dorian indulges in
every kind of vice and pleasure, never ageing nor disfiguring. Only
his portrait, hidden to the world, bears the marks of his actions,
and as his soul grows ever more wasted and corrupted, devastating
consequences lie in wait. The Picture of Dorian Gray is an
exploration of the purpose of art, the superficial nature of youth
and beauty, and the conflict between morality and intemperance.
First published in its complete, uncensored form in 1891, it is
Oscar Wilde's only novel.
Oscar Wilde is one of the world's most beloved writers.
Oscar Wilde's only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who
sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Now, distinctively
packaged with a beautifully designed jacket by noted illustrator
Malika Favre. When handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter's
stunning portrait of him, he is transfixed by its reflection of his
own beauty. He is also troubled by the knowledge that the image in
the painting will remain forever youthful and handsome while he
himself will grow older and less desirable. He wishes aloud that
the roles were reversed, saying that he would give his soul if only
the painting would suffer the ravages of time and he were to remain
forever young. From that point on, Dorian lives a life of
hedonistic indulgence, knowing that only the painting will show his
moral corruption.
An authoritative edition of Oscar Wilde's critical writings shows
how the renowned dramatist and novelist also transformed the art of
commentary. Though he is primarily acclaimed today for his drama
and fiction, Oscar Wilde was also one of the greatest critics of
his generation. Annotated and introduced by Wilde scholar Nicholas
Frankel, this unique collection reveals Wilde as a writer who
transformed criticism, giving the genre new purpose, injecting it
with style and wit, and reorienting it toward the kinds of social
concerns that still occupy our most engaging cultural commentators.
"Criticism is itself an art," Wilde wrote, and The Critical
Writings of Oscar Wilde demonstrates this philosophy in action.
Readers will encounter some of Wilde's most quotable writings, such
as "The Decay of Lying," which famously avers that "Life imitates
Art far more than Art imitates life." But Frankel also includes
lesser-known works like "The American Invasion," a witty
celebration of modern femininity, and "Aristotle at Afternoon Tea,"
in which Wilde deftly (and anonymously) carves up his former
tutor's own criticism. The essays, reviews, dialogues, and epigrams
collected here cover an astonishing range of themes: literature, of
course, but also fashion, politics, masculinity, cuisine,
courtship, marriage-the breadth of Victorian England. If today's
critics address such topics as a matter of course, it is because
Wilde showed that they could. It is hard to imagine a
twenty-first-century criticism without him.
"Backgrounds" includes essays on Wilde and the 1890s by prominent
cultural critics Karl Beckson, Sharon Marcus, and Michael Patrick
Gillespie. "Early Reviews and Reactions" collects contemporary
responses to The Importance of Being Earnest, including George
Bernard Shaw's famous dissenting review and other commentary by H.
G. Wells, Hamilton Fyfe, and William Archer. "Essays in Criticism"
includes seven diverse assessments-six of them new to the Second
Edition-of Wilde and the play by E. H. Mikhail, Burkhard
Niederhoff, Christopher S. Nassaar, Clifton Snider, Brigitte
Bastiat, Eibhear Walshe, and Maneck H. Daruwala. A chronology and
selected bibliography are also included.
Exam board: Edexcel Level & Subject: AS and A Level English
Literature First teaching: September 2015 First examination: June
2017
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