Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish poet, playwright, novelist, and one of the leading figures of the Aesthetic movement of the late 19th century. During his lifetime, he published a variety of poetry, children’s fiction, criticisms, plays, reviews, lectures, and a single novel – The Picture of Dorian Gray.
The following list includes works created by Wilde published during his lifetime as well as posthumously, along with a selection of secondary sources and further reading.
Works have been organized chronologically by medium for easy reference.
All links lead to free copies of the selected text unless otherwise noted.
Note: the following list will be updated as new texts and resources come to light. If you have any suggestions for additions to this list, feel free to reach out via our Contact form.
Last Updated: September 10th, 2022
Novel
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890/1891)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (as originally published in Lippincott’s Magazine, 1890)
Short Fiction
The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) consisting of:
- “The Happy Prince”
- “The Selfish Giant”
- “The Nightingale and the Rose”
- “The Devoted Friend”
- “The Remarkable Rocket”
A House of Pomegranates (1891) consisting of:
- “The Young King”
- “The Birthday of the Infanta”
- “The Fisherman and His Soul”
- “The Star-Child”
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories (1891) consisting of:
- “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime”
- “The Canterville Ghost”
- “The Sphinx Without a Secret”
- “The Model Millionaire”
- “The Portrait of Mr. W. H.” (view original scans here)
Plays
(Dates are dates of first performance)
Vera; or, The Nihilists (1883)
The Duchess of Padua (1891)
Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892)
A Woman of No Importance (1893)
An Ideal Husband (1895)
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
Salomé (1896) Translated from French by Lord Alfred Douglas
La Sainte Courtisane (Incomplete)
A Florentine Tragedy (Incomplete)
Poetry
Ravenna (1878)
Poems (1881) consisting of:
- “Eleutheria”
- “The Garden of Eros”
- “Rosa Mystica”
- “The Burden Of Itys”
- “Wind Flowers”
- “Charmides”
- “Flowers of Gold”
- “Impressions de Théàtre”
- “Panthea”
- “The Fourth Movement”
- “Humanitad”
Uncollected Poems (1876–1893) including:
- From Spring Days to Winter
- Tristitiæ
- The True Knowledge
- Impressions: I. Le Jardin
- II. La Mer
- Under the Balcony
- The Harlot’s House
- Le Jardin des Tuileries
- On the Sale by Auction of Keats’ Love Letters
- The New Remorse
- Fantasisies Décoratives: I. Le Panneau
- Il. Les Ballons
- Canzonet
- Symphony in Yellow
- In the Forest
- To my Wife: With a Copy of my Poems
- With a Copy of ‘A House of Pomegranates’
- Roses and Rue
- Désespoir
- Pan: Double Villanelle
The Sphinx (1894)
Poems in Prose (1894)
- “The Artist”
- “The Doer of Good”
- “The Disciple”
- “The Master”
- “The House of Judgement”
- “The Teacher of Wisdom”
The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)
Essays & Lectures
The Women of Homer (Written 1876, while at college). First published in Oscar Wilde: The Women of Homer (2008) by The Oscar Wilde Society.
The Rise of Historical Criticism (Written while at college, 1879. Published posthumously in 1905, Sherwood Press, Hartford, CT)
“Mrs. Langtry as Hester Grazebrook” (November 7, 1882, New York World)
“Slaves of Fashion” (N.D)
“The English Renaissance of Art” (delivered as a lecture for the first time in the Chickering Hall, New York, on January 9, 1882)
“House Decoration” (A lecture delivered in America during Wilde’s tour in 1882)
“Art and the Handicraftsman” (Lecture. Some portions were written in Philadelphia in 1882.)
“L’Envoi” (An introduction to Rose Leaf and Apple Leaf by Rennell Rodd, published by J. M. Stoddart and Co., Philadelphia, 1882.)
“Lecture to Art Students” (Delivered to the Art students of the Royal Academy at their Club in Golden Square, Westminster, on June 30, 1883)
“Woman’s Dress” (October 14, 1884, Pall Mall Gazette)
“More Radical Ideas Upon Dress Reform” (November 11, 1884, Pall Mall Gazette)
“Costume” (N.D)
“The Philosophy of Dress” (1885, The New-York Tribune)
“The American Invasion” (March 1887)
“Sermons In Stones At Bloomsbury” (lecture given at the New Sculpture Room at the British Museum, October 1887)
“London Models” (January 1889, English Illustrated Magazine)
“The Decay of Lying” (1889, Nineteenth Century)
“Pen, Pencil and Poison” (1889, Fortnightly Review)
“The Soul of Man under Socialism” (1891, Fortnightly Review)
Intentions (1891) comprised of:
- “The Critic as Artist”
- “The Decay of Lying”
- “Pen, Pencil and Poison”
- “The Truth of Masks”
“Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young” ( December 1894, The Chameleon)
“A Few Maxims For The Instruction Of The Over-Educated” (anonymously published, Nov 17 1894, Saturday Review)
“Children In Prison and Other Cruelties Of Prison Life” (1897, Daily Chronicle) (view original scans here)
Letters
The following letters were published posthumously.
De Profundis (Written 1895-97, in Reading Gaol)
The Letters of Oscar Wilde (Written 1868-1900) Published in 1962. Republished as The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde (2000), with letters discovered since 1962, and new annotations by Merlin Holland1.
Additional Resources & Further Reading
The Trial Of Oscar Wilde, from the Shorthand Reports – Charles Grolleau
The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde – Peter Raby (link to paid text)
Wilde’s Women – Eleanor Fitzsimons (link to paid text)
Oscar Wilde: The Complete Interviews – Rob Marland (link to paid text Volume One and Volume Two)
Oscar Wilde Prefigured: Queer Fashioning and British Caricature, 1750-1900 – Dominic Janes (link to paid text)
Decadence: A Literary Anthology – selected by Jon Crabb (link to paid text)
Oscar Wilde: A Life – Matthew Sturgis (link to paid text)
Oscar Wilde: Interviews and Recollections – E.H. Mikhail
The Trials Of Oscar Wilde – H. Montgomery Hyde
Thomas Tyrwhitt, Oscar Wilde, Mr. W.H., and James Joyce – Kathy Haas
The Picture of Dorian Gray in Context: Intertextuality and Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine – Elizabeth Lorang
Comedy and Oscar Wilde – Ian Gregor
The Moral Implications of Oscar Wilde’s Aestheticism – John Allen Quintus
Christ, Christianity, and Oscar Wilde – John Allen Quintus
Satiric Strategy in the Importance of Being Earnest – Otto Reinert
A Theory of Scandal: Victorians, Homosexuality, and the Fall of Oscar Wilde – Ari Adut
Morality’s Ugly Implications in Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales – Justin T. Jones
Utopian Experimentation and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray – Morgan Fritz
The New Hellenism of Oscar Wilde – William Chislett Jr.
