This authoritative edition was formerly published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Wilde`s poetry and prose short stories, plays, critical dialogues and his only novel - to give the essence of his work and thinking.

Oscar Wilde`s dramatic private life has sometimes threatened to overshadow his great literary achievements. His talent was prodigious: the author of brilliant social comedies, fairy stories, critical dialogues, poems, and a novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray .

In addition to Dorian Gray , this volume represents all these genres, including such works as Lady Windermere`s Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest , `The Happy Prince`, `The Critic as Artist`, and `The Ballad of Reading Gaol`.