{"product_id":"a-treasury-of-works-by-oscar-wilde-4-books-collection-box-set-ages-14-hardback","title":"A Treasury of Works by Oscar Wilde 4 Books Collection Box Set - Ages 14+ - Hardback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eExperience Wilde’s sharp wit, dark comedies, and beautifully haunting stories in this four-book collection. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTitles in this Set:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1. The Picture of Dorian Gray\u003cbr\u003e2. The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays \u003cbr\u003e3. The Ballad of Reading Gaol and Other Poems \u003cbr\u003e4. The Happy Prince and Other Tales\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDescription:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Picture of Dorian Gray\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eOscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the cautionary tale of a beautiful young man who remains youthful while his portrait withers with his sins. Exploring themes of hedonism, vanity, and the duplicity of Victorian society, the novel is a lush, philosophical descent into moral decay.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eThe Importance of Being Earnest is a glorious comedy of mistaken identity, which ridicules codes of propriety and etiquette. Snobbery and hypocrisy are also laid bare in Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband, while in Salomé and A Florentine Tragedy, Wilde uses historical settings to explore the complex relationship between sex and power. The range of these plays displays Wilde's delight in artifice, masks and disguises, and reveals the pretensions of the social world in which he himself played such a dazzling and precarious part.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Ballad of Reading Gaol and Other Poems\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eThispoem - originally published anonymously, written after Wilde's two year's hard labour in Reading prison - is the tale of a man who has been sentenced to hang for the murder of the woman he loved. The Ballad of Reading Gaol follows the inmate through his final three weeks, as he stares at the sky and silently drinks his beer ration. Heart-wrenching and eye-opening, the ballad also expresses perfectly Wilde's belief that humanity is made up only of offenders, each of us deserving a greater charity for the severity of our crimes.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Happy Prince and Other Tales\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eHigh above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Happy Prince and Other Tales is a collection of five stories: 'The Happy Prince', 'The Nightingale and the Rose', 'The Selfish Giant', 'The Devoted Friend', and 'The Remarkable Rocket'. The Happy Prince stars the statue of the Prince, who persuades a swallow to deliver his gold and jewels to the poor and needy in his city.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wilco Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":62712891965827,"sku":"B2D9114","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0024\/6874\/1219\/files\/714F437xG-L._SL1500.jpg?v=1790607859","url":"https:\/\/www.books2door.com\/products\/a-treasury-of-works-by-oscar-wilde-4-books-collection-box-set-ages-14-hardback","provider":"Books2Door","version":"1.0","type":"link"}