The soul of man, and prison writings

Bibliographic Information

The soul of man, and prison writings

Oscar Wilde ; edited with an introduction by Isobel Murray

(The world's classics)

Oxford University Press, 1990

Available at  / 17 libraries

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Note

Bibliography: p. [xx]

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Oscar Wilde is best known for his extravagantly witty plays and epigrams, but he was also a serious writer about literature and social principles. In "The Soul of Man" he wrote a kind of manifesto, preached an idea of Individualism, and defended the individual against the claims of society, whether of custom, of conformity, or of convention. After the drama of the successful playwright's trials for homosexual acts, he was imprisoned with hard labour for two years, under harsh regulations and in unrelieved solitary confinement. "De Profundis", the long letter he composed in Reading Gaol, is a unique human document and attempt at self-analysis and autobiography. It is published here with Wilde's two long letters on prison injustices, sent to the "Daily Chronicle" after serving his sentence. The execution of a fellow prisoner for murder inspired the one work he accomplished on his release, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol". This volume presents the less familiar, serious Wilde, before and after his fall.

Table of Contents

  • A chronology of Oscar Wilde
  • "The Soul of Man"
  • "De Profundis"
  • Wilde's first post-prison letter to the "Daily Chronicle"
  • "The Ballad of Reading Gaol"
  • Wilde's second post-prison letter to the "Daily Chronicle".

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