Oscar Wilde

With an Introduction and Notes by John M.L. Drew, University of Buckingham.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.

The picture of Dorian Gray

Classic / British English An artist paints a picture of the young and handsome Dorian Gray. When he sees it, Dorian makes a wish that changes his life. As he grows older, his face stays young and handsome. But the picture changes. Why can't Dorian show it to anybody? What is its terrible secret?

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Boken skildrer en vakker, ung mann. Utskeielsene hans setter merker på det portrettet som er blitt malt av ham, mens han selv forblir like inntagende, ung og vakker. Etter hvert blir hans liv mer og mer en dobbelttilværelse. Boken er et kunstnerportrett og samtidig forfatterens skjulte selvbiografi.

collectors classics

The young, beautiful and highly susceptible Dorian Gray is pulled into the hedonistic haze of London's high society, where he falls under the pernicious influence of Lord Henry Wotton. Oscar Wilde's nightmarish tale gorges on pleasure and sin, corruption and vanity, as the story takes further dark twists and a Faustian deal threatens Gray's very soul. He will go to any lengths to keep his fleeting beauty and youth, but his painted portrait reveals the truth of his dark and twisted nature, changing its appearance at every misdeed, until the monstrous horror of Dorian's scarred soul is too much for him to bear.

Includes pictures and a section on Wilde's life and works Dorian Gray is having his picture painted by Basil Hallward, who is charmed by his looks. But when Sir Henry Wotton visits and seduces Dorian into the worship of youthful beauty with an intoxicating speech, Dorian makes a wish he will live to regret: that all the marks of age will now be reflected in the portrait rather than on Dorian s own face. The stage is now set for a masterful tale about appearance, reality, art, life, truth, fiction, and the burden of conscience. Oscar Wilde s only full-length novel is a lasting gem of sophisticated wit and playfulness, which brings together all the best elements of his talent in a reinterpretation of the Faustian myth."

VINTAGE CLASSICS X MADE.COMDorian is a good-natured young man until he discovers the power of his own exceptional beauty. As he gradually sinks deep into a frivolous, glamorous world of selfish luxury, he apparently remains physically unchanged by the stresses of his corrupt lifestyle and untouched by age. But in a locked room, hidden behind a curtain, his portrait tells a very different story...This series is a collaboration between Vintage Classics and MADE.COM. Using their furniture and fabrics as a starting point, MADE.COM have recreated the settings and atmosphere from three of Vintage Classics's best-loved novels: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Great Gatsby and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Packaged in handsome and affordable trade editions, Clydesdale Classics is a new series of essential literary works. From the musings of literary geniuses like Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to the striking personal narrative of Harriet Jacobs in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, this new series is a comprehensive collection of our literary history through the words of the exceptional few.The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde's masterpiece and lone novel, has endured as a significant piece of literature partly due to its philosophical nature and artful prose, and partly because of the stir it caused upon its initial publication. Published originally in 1890 in Lippincott's Magazine, The Picture of Dorian Gray often deemed by Wilde's contemporaries to be "indecent" tells the story of an attractive young man eponymous with the title who desires to be eternally young. Dorian is the subject of a portrait by a painter named Basil Hallward, who deems Gray's beauty to be inconceivably great. Rather than having to age himself, young and egotistical Dorian longs for the painting to age instead so that he can remain young and beautiful. When he sells his soul in exchange for eternal youth a concept Wilde derived from the German legend of Faust Dorian begins a life of vice and debauchery with its sole aim being pleasure. Meanwhile, the painting documents each of his sins within its appearance. When Dorian confronts the painting again with Hallward, a slew of unfortunate events unfold.Abundant with rich, philosophical themes and commentary, The Picture of Dorian Gray is a classic tale that warns its readers of the dangers that come with narcissism, self-indulgence, and ignorance.

From the original 1890 text. Verito classics.

Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a succès de scandale and the book was later used as evidence against Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895. It has lost none of its power to fascinate and disturb.

Penguin Clothbound Classics

"This edition is of the utmost importance to those interested in Wilde and literary modernism. It seems certain to become the standard edition of Dorian Gray." -Ned Lukacher, University of Illinois at Chicago

Nicholas Frankel

Of Wilde AS a writer and the political and sexual milieu in which he lived and published. 

An annotated, uncensored edition

John O'Connor

Merlin Holland

Set in the decadent world of Victorian London, a beautiful young man called Dorian Gray becomes infatuated by the exquisite portrait that Basil Hallward has painted of him. He makes a Faustian pact that the picture will grow old while he remains forever young. Oscar Wilde's only novel caused an immediate scandal when it was first published in 1890 and its themes of youth and decay, innocence and corruption, art and reality are even more relevant to us in the 21st century than in the 19th. Adapted by Wilde's grandson Merlin Holland and John O'Connor, this delightfully witty version of Wilde's story incorporates material suppressed from the original manuscript.

Part of a beautiful collection of hardcover classics, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a succes de scandale and the book was later used as evidence against Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895. It has lost none of its power to fascinate and disturb.

When Dorian Gray discovers the devastating power of his good looks, his wholesome existence gives way to a sordid life of excess, corruption and worse. But hidden away in his attic is a portrait whose surface tells a different story. . .

In this celebrated work, his only novel, Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centres on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind.

A beautiful collector's edition of Oscar Wilde's truly brilliant Gothic novel

Oscar Wilde's celebrated, scandalous, and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, tells the story of the wealthy and handsome Londoner Dorian, whose obsession with his portrait leads him down a path of self-destruction. This literary classic is now available in a limited Olive Edition from HarperPerennial.Olive Editions are exclusive small format editions of some of our bestselling and celebrated titles, featuring beautiful and unique hand-drawn cover illustrations. All Olive Editions are available for a limited time only.

Oscar Wilde's story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is one of his most popular works. Written in Wilde's characteristically dazzling manner, full of stinging epigrams and shrewd observations, the tale of Dorian Gray's moral disintegration caused something of a scandal when it first appeared in 1890. Wilde was attacked for his decadence and corrupting influence, and a few years later the book and the aesthetic/moral dilemma it presented became issues in the trials occasioned by Wilde's homosexual liaisons, trials that resulted in his imprisonment. Of the book's value as autobiography, Wilde noted in a letter, "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be--in other ages, perhaps."

Artist Basil Hallward has sent a gift. A portrait that perfectly captures young Dorian Gray's handsome features. When Lord Henry tempts Dorian with a new lifestyle of hedonism and pleasure, he realizes that he would sell his soul for an eternity of debauchery. Oscar Wilde's only published novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray is a dark and sinful story of excess and vice. Explore Wilde's lavish world of Gothic fiction, and his study of lost innocence, full of captivating characters with this gorgeous edition. Complete and unabridged, The Portrait of Dorian Gray is an essential collectible that is both elegant and portable.

Robert Mighall

First published to scandalised protest in 1890, Oscar Wilde's fantastic melodrama was widely condemned by his contemporaries as an affront to the values of polite society. It is the story of a man willing to sell his soul for eternal beauty.