Complete Stories  (English, Paperback, Wilde Oscar)

Complete Stories is a collection that contains the only novel and the various short stories written by Oscar Wilde.

Summary Of The Book

Complete Stories compiles some of the rare narrations of Oscar Wilde, reflecting his talent at exposing the hypocritical world around him. The book contains the only novel written by the author, The Picture Of Dorian Gray. The Picture Of Dorian Gray was widely criticized as immoral and poisonous, and was heavily protested against by the Victorian society. Some passages from the book became especially famous.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray is about a handsome young man, Dorian Gray, who under the influence of another man, starts believing in a hedonic lifestyle and sets out to explore his senses. He gets a portrait of himself made by an artist. While admiring his own portrait, he wishes that his portrait ages in his place. He meets a beautiful and young actress known as Sibyl, who performs plays written by Shakespeare. A few days down the line, when Dorian invites his friends to watch Sibyl’s play, he realizes that the only beauty she sees is in her play and rejects her. He returns home only to see his wish having been fulfilled, as his portrait starts to get older. Why has his portrait started ageing? What is it that he has done to cause this? Will he be able to reconcile with Sibyl?

Over several years, he indulges in a number of vices including killing Basil, the artist who painted his portrait. Several years later, he is pursued by Sibyl’s brother, who wants to kill him. Will Dorian lead a good life? This book answers such questions and more. The Picture Of Dorian Gray was published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. Complete Stories contains other stories as well, which are all unabridged.

About Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was an Irish author and a playwright. The most famous play by the author was The Importance Of Being Earnest. Other stories by him are the The Canterville Ghost, The Happy Prince and Lady Windermere’s Fan.

Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. He propagated aestheticism and moved about in the elite social circles of London, where he also worked as a journalist for a brief period. Post his conviction, the author had been declared insolvent by the British court of law, and a lot of his works had been confiscated. This included books, manuscripts, letters and other literary works. A number of his letters, correspondences and manuscripts can now be found at museums and some are owned privately in England, the United States and even France. He largely wrote children’s books and poems. He died in 1900 at the age of 46 due to cerebral meningitis.