Il ritratto di Dorian Gray

More by Oscar Wilde

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  The Picture of Dorian Gray (Unabridged)

  Oscar Wilde One of the great literary classics of Western literature and the only published novel written by Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray created great controversy on publication because of its homosexual undertones, and was later used as evidence against him at his trial at the Old Bailey in 1895.
  "If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old...I would give my soul for that!" The wish uttered by Dorian Gray as he gazes on his portrait forms the basis of this story, of a gilded and spoilt hedonist who is willing to sell his soul for his beauty.
  
  Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

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  The Picture of Dorian Gray (Unabridged)

  Oscar Wilde A young man commits all types of sins, but only his portrait shows the ravages of his life. Oscar Wilde's Faustian classic. Gothic horror at its best.

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  The Picture of Dorian Gray (Unabridged)

  Oscar Wilde Here in its entirety is the classic cautionary tale about the pursuit of eternal youth at the expense of the soul.
  
  When a beautiful portrait is painted of him, young Dorian Gray makes a vain, rash wish to always remain as beautiful as the painting. His wish comes true, and Gray starts a descent deep into moral decay. As he indulges in excesses and corruption, his physical form remains unblemished - but the portrait becomes decrepit and ugly. Gray's evil deeds eventually grow to include murder and lead him further and further toward Wilde's disconcerting conclusion that "ugliness is the only reality".
  
  This classic tale of moral transgression shocked Victorian England and was used against Oscar Wilde when he was tried in court in 1895 for being a homosexual.

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  Stephen Fry Presents a Selection of Oscar Wilde's Short Stories (Unabridged)

  Oscar Wilde "Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales continue to exert the same pull over the imagination and emotions as they did when he first read them to his children in the 1880s. Written with inspired poetic intensity and sudden flowerings of the matchless wit for which he is so well remembered, the stories combine the wisdom of parables with the impact of drama. I have loved them since I was a child: indeed they continue to make a child of me. I do not mind admitting that at the recording some passages were hard to read out loud without choking. I hope you will be as entranced by them as I have always been." written by Stephen Fry.

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  The Importance of Being Earnest

  Oscar Wilde Oscar Wilde's most popular and enduring play is set in Victorian England and concerns characters who maintain false identities in order to escape their social obligations. The play, which satirises Victorian society, is full of wit and humour.

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  The Picture of Dorian Gray (Unabridged)

  Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's only novel, perhaps because he realized that he could never again equal this timeless masterpiece. It is a unique work, both thought-provoking and horrifying. It vacillates between seemingly aimless conversation and riveting narrative in telling the story of a young man's quest for eternal youth and beauty, a quest that ends in scandal and depravity. It has been adapted numerous times for television, film, and the stage.

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  Short Stories (Unabridged)

  Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Anton Chekhov & Oscar Wilde Frank Pettingell, Emma Hignett, Siobhan McKenna and Boris Karloff read eight short stories by the literary greats, including Poe, Kipling, Defoe, Chekov, and Wilde.

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  The Canterville Ghost (Unabridged)

  Oscar Wilde "An amusing chronicle of the tribulations of the Ghost of Canterville Chase when his ancesteral halls become the home of the American Minister to the Court of St James." This short story by Oscar Wilde has been the basis for a movie and a play, and has been required reading for many years.

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  The Selfish Giant

  Oscar Wilde When the Giant's away, the children will play. That's what happens in Oscar Wilde's classic tale The Selfish Giant. Kids of all ages will love listening to this lively performance and will unwittingly learn an important lesson about selfishness and overcoming adversity.

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  The Picture of Dorian Gray

  Oscar Wilde 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.