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The Sphinx Without a Secret
Playwright, poet, essayist, flamboyant man-about-town, Oscar Wilde pack an astonishing amount of work, genius, and controversy into two short decades, producing masterworks in every literary genre. This selection includes almost all of his short stories, including "The Canterville Ghost," "The Fisherman and his Soul," and "The Remarkable Rocket."
Alongside THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE, Harper Perennial will publish the short fiction of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Herman Melville, Willa Cather, Leo Tolstoy, and Stephen Crane to be packaged in a beautifully designed, boldly colorful boxset in the aim to attract contemporary fans of short fiction to these revered masters of the form. Also, in each of these selections will appear a story from one of the new collections being published in the "Summer of the Short Story." A story from Simon Van Booy's forthcoming collection, LOVE BEGINS IN WINTER, will be printed at the back of this volume.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1887
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About the author
Oscar Wilde
6,069 books38.3k followersOscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 245 reviews
March 1, 2025
She came in very slowly, looking like a moonbeam in grey lace.
Would one ever tire of reading about the amusing and sometimes slightly ludicrous games that people play, the tricks and tools of courtship, and the strategies they use to pull others to them by charm, to stoke their curiosity, promising their chosen one a dark continent worthwhile exploring?
Who didn’t day-dream at least one moment of being able to move in mysterious ways, to lift the days and light up the nights of someone? Who was never attracted to someone who appears a little inscrutable – still waters running deep?
The next chapter – if there is a next – comes with some more complications however, having to figure out how to strike the right balance between leaving a little to the imagination and transparency. All is fair in love and war, but in love, manipulation and treachery sooner or later will definitely ricochet.
In Oscar Wilde’s 1887 short story The Sphinx Without a Secret, the beautiful and enigmatic widow Lady Alroy wins the heart of Lord Murchison, captivating his attention by suggesting that she is leading a dubious, somewhat shady and intriguing way of life by striking dramatic poses and perfuming herself with secrets and lies. Drawn into this atmosphere of mystery, a marriage proposal follows (which reminded me of Natalia Ginzburg’s The Dry Heart, making me wonder whether it is a common misunderstanding that marriage is an expedient riposte to secretiveness).
(Hyles lineata, also known as the white-lined sphinx or hummingbird moth)
If mystery arouses curiosity, contenting oneself with the temporary, pleasurable and exciting sensation of its thrill or even endure the irresistible itch to see one’s anxiety soothed might in some cases eventually be better than the disillusion of seeing the mystery solved or the short, immediate relief of scratching.
About keeping secrets, to protect oneself, or others, as a shield to avoid shame, pain, disappointment or judgement, Oscar Wilde likely knew all too well. Undoubtedly, openness, integrity and authenticity can cost your dear. Alluding ironically to the probable shallowness lurking beneath a secret, the disenchanting banality of the discovery, Wilde disarms and defuses the danger and the fear of showing one’s true colours – whether one is a butterfly, or a moth. Like Christina Rossetti wrote:
Thank you very much Laysee and Mark to point me to this punchy short story. You can read it here.
(***1/2)
Would one ever tire of reading about the amusing and sometimes slightly ludicrous games that people play, the tricks and tools of courtship, and the strategies they use to pull others to them by charm, to stoke their curiosity, promising their chosen one a dark continent worthwhile exploring?
Who didn’t day-dream at least one moment of being able to move in mysterious ways, to lift the days and light up the nights of someone? Who was never attracted to someone who appears a little inscrutable – still waters running deep?
The next chapter – if there is a next – comes with some more complications however, having to figure out how to strike the right balance between leaving a little to the imagination and transparency. All is fair in love and war, but in love, manipulation and treachery sooner or later will definitely ricochet.
In Oscar Wilde’s 1887 short story The Sphinx Without a Secret, the beautiful and enigmatic widow Lady Alroy wins the heart of Lord Murchison, captivating his attention by suggesting that she is leading a dubious, somewhat shady and intriguing way of life by striking dramatic poses and perfuming herself with secrets and lies. Drawn into this atmosphere of mystery, a marriage proposal follows (which reminded me of Natalia Ginzburg’s The Dry Heart, making me wonder whether it is a common misunderstanding that marriage is an expedient riposte to secretiveness).
(Hyles lineata, also known as the white-lined sphinx or hummingbird moth)
If mystery arouses curiosity, contenting oneself with the temporary, pleasurable and exciting sensation of its thrill or even endure the irresistible itch to see one’s anxiety soothed might in some cases eventually be better than the disillusion of seeing the mystery solved or the short, immediate relief of scratching.
About keeping secrets, to protect oneself, or others, as a shield to avoid shame, pain, disappointment or judgement, Oscar Wilde likely knew all too well. Undoubtedly, openness, integrity and authenticity can cost your dear. Alluding ironically to the probable shallowness lurking beneath a secret, the disenchanting banality of the discovery, Wilde disarms and defuses the danger and the fear of showing one’s true colours – whether one is a butterfly, or a moth. Like Christina Rossetti wrote:
Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.
Thank you very much Laysee and Mark to point me to this punchy short story. You can read it here.
(***1/2)
March 2, 2025
3.5 stars
This is a short story about a man who falls in love with a woman. Or maybe it is about a woman who seems to be passionate about secrets and who chooses to present herself as shrouded in mystery. One could even call it "a mania for mystery."
Maybe the story is more about a secret that loses all of its charm and mysterious substance when you look closer. Yes, I know, it can sound like too many secrets for one little story, no matter how mysterious it is. But at the end of the day, life is full of prosaic mysteries. Or is it?
Wilde leaves us with a rather prosaic question, "Is it always better to know?" He plays with the idea of skeletons in the closet, as the ending reveals.
Although The Sphinx Without a Secret did not strike me as anything unique or particularly memorable, it was a good 10-15 minutes I spent with it.
The story can be found here.
This is a short story about a man who falls in love with a woman. Or maybe it is about a woman who seems to be passionate about secrets and who chooses to present herself as shrouded in mystery. One could even call it "a mania for mystery."
Maybe the story is more about a secret that loses all of its charm and mysterious substance when you look closer. Yes, I know, it can sound like too many secrets for one little story, no matter how mysterious it is. But at the end of the day, life is full of prosaic mysteries. Or is it?
Wilde leaves us with a rather prosaic question, "Is it always better to know?" He plays with the idea of skeletons in the closet, as the ending reveals.
Although The Sphinx Without a Secret did not strike me as anything unique or particularly memorable, it was a good 10-15 minutes I spent with it.
The story can be found here.
July 12, 2025
Leave it to Oscar Wilde, to be able to say so much with so few words.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and found it to be a well-written, elegantly told short story.
The plot Is about a man recounting to a friend of his, his thoughts about a woman he had loved.
The theme is the great Sphinx,
Given that I am a huge fan of Greek mythology, and have a fascination with the Great Sphinx, I think I was destined to love this book.
So yes, he loved this woman who was like the sphinx herself.
Shrouded in mystery, she grabbed his heart.
I should mention this is quite the short story. If you have read Oscar Wilde, however you know that his characterizations are vivid and beautiful, no matter what the length of the pages.
There is a lot more to the story. I found it impossible not to get lost in it.
I do not want to give too much away, except to say that I highly recommend it.
The fact is I read it months ago and I’m still thinking about it which says a lot.
I recommend it to fans of ancient Greek Mythology. I also recommend it to people who love the classics and people who love short stories, and anyone willing to take a chance on a beautifully told short story that will resonate.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and found it to be a well-written, elegantly told short story.
The plot Is about a man recounting to a friend of his, his thoughts about a woman he had loved.
The theme is the great Sphinx,
Given that I am a huge fan of Greek mythology, and have a fascination with the Great Sphinx, I think I was destined to love this book.
So yes, he loved this woman who was like the sphinx herself.
Shrouded in mystery, she grabbed his heart.
I should mention this is quite the short story. If you have read Oscar Wilde, however you know that his characterizations are vivid and beautiful, no matter what the length of the pages.
There is a lot more to the story. I found it impossible not to get lost in it.
I do not want to give too much away, except to say that I highly recommend it.
The fact is I read it months ago and I’m still thinking about it which says a lot.
I recommend it to fans of ancient Greek Mythology. I also recommend it to people who love the classics and people who love short stories, and anyone willing to take a chance on a beautifully told short story that will resonate.
March 25, 2025
Thank you to Ilse for the link. As you can see, I also was drawn to learning how mysterious a non secret could be.
November 8, 2019
The Dead End Exit
The eternal quest for mystery is part of human condition. When it takes to relationships, it seems to have some sort of aphrodisiac effect — like a magnet, it pushes one lover towards the other — there’s a trunk of secrets to be found and slowly uncovered, one by one, until there’s nothing left to defy the insatiable human curiosity we all know about...
Lady X has no secrets. She leads a dull, uninteresting life, where mystery couldn’t possibly fit. However, she developed a natural tendency towards secrecy, and... since her life has no enigmas, she decided to create one !
Moral of the story: if your life has no secrets, you can always invent one! It can be a phony, but the colorless will earn some due color — what a human doesn’t have, a human creates!
After all, the forged secret was just a way to bring some light into a boring foggy life!😜
The eternal quest for mystery is part of human condition. When it takes to relationships, it seems to have some sort of aphrodisiac effect — like a magnet, it pushes one lover towards the other — there’s a trunk of secrets to be found and slowly uncovered, one by one, until there’s nothing left to defy the insatiable human curiosity we all know about...
Lady X has no secrets. She leads a dull, uninteresting life, where mystery couldn’t possibly fit. However, she developed a natural tendency towards secrecy, and... since her life has no enigmas, she decided to create one !
Moral of the story: if your life has no secrets, you can always invent one! It can be a phony, but the colorless will earn some due color — what a human doesn’t have, a human creates!
After all, the forged secret was just a way to bring some light into a boring foggy life!😜
Read
July 6, 2012'women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.'
February 22, 2025
“…women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.”
- Oscar Wilde
This is a short story about love. There is love of a mysterious woman. And there is love of mystery. But how far can we love what we do not understand?
The narrator meets Gerald, an old college friend he admires but who now seems changed and anxious. He shrewdly guessed the reason for Gerald’s misery. He has fallen in love with a woman who is secretive and mysterious. The narrator invites Gerald to tell him about his elusive lady love.
I was all ears and curious too like the narrator. However, I found the story anti-climatic. And yet, in this case, Wilde was right about women.
This story can be read here: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/E850003...
- Oscar Wilde
This is a short story about love. There is love of a mysterious woman. And there is love of mystery. But how far can we love what we do not understand?
The narrator meets Gerald, an old college friend he admires but who now seems changed and anxious. He shrewdly guessed the reason for Gerald’s misery. He has fallen in love with a woman who is secretive and mysterious. The narrator invites Gerald to tell him about his elusive lady love.
I was all ears and curious too like the narrator. However, I found the story anti-climatic. And yet, in this case, Wilde was right about women.
This story can be read here: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/E850003...
December 30, 2020
3.5*
"Tuve la sensación de que era el rostro de alguien que guardaba un secreto, aunque fuese incapaz de adivinar si era bueno o malo. Se trataba de una belleza moldeada a fuerza de misterios... una belleza psicológica, en realidad, no plástica... y el atisbo de sonrisa que rondaba sus labios era demasiado sutil para ser realmente dulce, para resultar seductora"
Plantea una extraña obsesión por tener secretos y encerrar misterios. Donde el "charme", lo atrapante pasa pasa por tener un halo de misterio, al punto de fingirlo. viendo lo opuesto como algo vació sin ningún encanto.
Y el deseo aparente por crear y perseguir "fantasmas"
Un interesante concepto con una atmósfera gótica, dramática y un tanto desoladora.
"Tuve la sensación de que era el rostro de alguien que guardaba un secreto, aunque fuese incapaz de adivinar si era bueno o malo. Se trataba de una belleza moldeada a fuerza de misterios... una belleza psicológica, en realidad, no plástica... y el atisbo de sonrisa que rondaba sus labios era demasiado sutil para ser realmente dulce, para resultar seductora"
Plantea una extraña obsesión por tener secretos y encerrar misterios. Donde el "charme", lo atrapante pasa pasa por tener un halo de misterio, al punto de fingirlo. viendo lo opuesto como algo vació sin ningún encanto.
Y el deseo aparente por crear y perseguir "fantasmas"
Un interesante concepto con una atmósfera gótica, dramática y un tanto desoladora.
February 23, 2019
Some have quoted
'women are meant to be loved, not to be understood'
a lot. I don't completely agree with that notion but let's just say it obviously might apply to men as well, so humans are meant to be loved, not to be understood. Either way, for me the best line is
'I cannot love where I cannot trust'
. So simply put.
This short story also introduced me to a phrase that, in a clever and effective way, describes a connection that's meant to last more than usual: "psychological beauty". So beautifully put.
Feb 16, 19
* Later on my blog.
This short story also introduced me to a phrase that, in a clever and effective way, describes a connection that's meant to last more than usual: "psychological beauty". So beautifully put.
Feb 16, 19
* Later on my blog.
April 30, 2019
"A mulher existe para ser amada, não compreendida."
February 21, 2025
Ah, a mysterious woman...
May 5, 2022
I love Oscar Wilde's writing, but I seriously do not understand the purpose of this short story.
December 13, 2019
Este pequeno conto de Óscar Wilde não é nada de especial. Le-se num trago, mas fica o sabor a pouco. Talvez depois de desenvolvido desse um bom romance
August 13, 2016
The Sphinx Without a Secret es otra de las historias cortas de Oscar Wilde que esta vez nos lleva a ver cómo a veces nos enamoramos de los conceptos o de los secretos y no de las personas en sí mismas. Aquí, Lord Murchison sólo descubre la verdad, la mundana verdad, de una mujer supuestamente misteriosa hasta que ella muere.
Cuando lees The Sphinx Without a Secret te sientes asistiendo a un caso de detectives que están persiguiendo fantasmas, que sólo siguen su propia sombra y que ven un caso en donde realmente sólo hay actuación.
Cuando lees The Sphinx Without a Secret te sientes asistiendo a un caso de detectives que están persiguiendo fantasmas, que sólo siguen su propia sombra y que ven un caso en donde realmente sólo hay actuación.
January 9, 2024
This was a bit of a "huh?" for me....what's with that ending?...do you think she had to rent that room just so she could have the hour/s to herself without worrying about what others would think (gossip) about her? Was that Wilde's view of what (some) women of the period suffered in their widowhood. If so, I guess the story just got a little stronger for me and I upped from three to four stars - but only if that was the point!🤣 If I missed the point it will go right back down to three stars where it probably belongs, Wilde or no.
Not being a scholar of Greek Mythology (Sphinx/Online Merriam Webster#1a), I took the sphinx to be quite literally an enigmatic person of mystery (OMW#1b). Deferring to OMW's reference to GM (OMW#1a), would I have to assume that because he managed to answer the riddle, it was she who died instead of he? To quote my grandchildren when feeling slighted, I feel like shouting, "IT’S NOT FAIR" - For it is he who should have died instead of she, for his gross trespass on her privacy (lop-sided rhyme unintended).
The super short story can be found everywhere, and here
Not being a scholar of Greek Mythology (Sphinx/Online Merriam Webster#1a), I took the sphinx to be quite literally an enigmatic person of mystery (OMW#1b). Deferring to OMW's reference to GM (OMW#1a), would I have to assume that because he managed to answer the riddle, it was she who died instead of he? To quote my grandchildren when feeling slighted, I feel like shouting, "IT’S NOT FAIR" - For it is he who should have died instead of she, for his gross trespass on her privacy (lop-sided rhyme unintended).
The super short story can be found everywhere, and here
October 25, 2016
This is a story of a gentleman who falls for a beautiful widow surrounded by some kind of mystery, wanting to know the truth behind, he ends up losing her and few days later, she dies, his friend finds what it's all about after hearing his story, but did he really unveil the truth?
December 8, 2016
My Favorite Quote:
"For she was like one of those strange crystals that one sees in museums, which are at one moment clear, and at another clouded."
Nice and Quick read
"For she was like one of those strange crystals that one sees in museums, which are at one moment clear, and at another clouded."
Nice and Quick read
July 26, 2015
I have arranged my thoughts on this story into a haiku:
"She's putting on airs
Or he's judging a stranger.
Someone's an asshole."
"She's putting on airs
Or he's judging a stranger.
Someone's an asshole."
January 6, 2023
So... She was definitely a lesbian...
March 4, 2025
A man falls head over heels in love with a mysterious woman. She is beautiful and rich but is somehow standoffish. What secrets does she hold?
Delightful short story.
Delightful short story.
December 27, 2018
The bottom line,"women are meant to be loved, not to be understood"
December 27, 2024
Me encantó!!
November 22, 2024
Flawless.
Yet another short story masterpiece by Oscar Wilde. The man never fails!
Will review it, soon. RTC.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1887] [12p] [Classics] [Highly Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★★ The Nightingale and the Rose
★★★★★ The Selfish Giant
★★★★☆ The Sphinx Without a Secret
★★★☆☆ The Importance of Being Earnest [2.5]
-----------------------------------------------
Impecable.
Y otra obra maestra del cuento corto por Oscar Wilde. El hombre nunca falla!
Lo reseñare, pronto. RTC.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1887] [12p] [Clásicos] [Altamente Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Yet another short story masterpiece by Oscar Wilde. The man never fails!
Will review it, soon. RTC.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1887] [12p] [Classics] [Highly Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★★ The Nightingale and the Rose
★★★★★ The Selfish Giant
★★★★☆ The Sphinx Without a Secret
★★★☆☆ The Importance of Being Earnest [2.5]
-----------------------------------------------
Impecable.
Y otra obra maestra del cuento corto por Oscar Wilde. El hombre nunca falla!
Lo reseñare, pronto. RTC.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1887] [12p] [Clásicos] [Altamente Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
July 14, 2021
Oscar Wilde writes so well and so clearly...he makes you feel that you are right there with the protagonist.
August 15, 2025
Interesting short story on the need for enigmatic mystery.
September 16, 2019
المرأه تعشق ...لا تضيع وقتك على فهمها 😂 غموض ام فن الاغواء ...ام لا شيء يفسر...هي هكذا ! Just keep on wondering 😖
December 21, 2019
(Audible)
Two friends meet by chance in Paris ten years after college. The narrator, whose name we don't learn and Lord Murchison then decide to take a cab to a restaurant. Murchison does have one condition, though, that it not be a yellow cab.
On the way to the restaurant and over lunch the narrator, suspecting that this odd request must have something to do with a woman gets Murchison to tell his story.
Wilde then weaves a story of how the widow Lady Alroy captivated Murchison by her unusual behavior. "Please, speak softly, we might be overheard," she tells him at a dinner party where they are introduced.
She sets appointments to meet him and doesn't show. She asks him not to write to her at her home address but gives an alias name and address. She disappears each week and won't tell him where she goes or what she does. He follows her.
Then she passes away and he's left with questions and very few answers.
As our narrator listens to him, he explains that perhaps the Lady had no secret. Perhaps the Lady just enjoyed a mystery. Murchison reveals what he learned she did on her secret disappearances. The Lady is still a mystery to him.
Published in 1887.
RECOMMEND
Two friends meet by chance in Paris ten years after college. The narrator, whose name we don't learn and Lord Murchison then decide to take a cab to a restaurant. Murchison does have one condition, though, that it not be a yellow cab.
On the way to the restaurant and over lunch the narrator, suspecting that this odd request must have something to do with a woman gets Murchison to tell his story.
Wilde then weaves a story of how the widow Lady Alroy captivated Murchison by her unusual behavior. "Please, speak softly, we might be overheard," she tells him at a dinner party where they are introduced.
She sets appointments to meet him and doesn't show. She asks him not to write to her at her home address but gives an alias name and address. She disappears each week and won't tell him where she goes or what she does. He follows her.
Then she passes away and he's left with questions and very few answers.
As our narrator listens to him, he explains that perhaps the Lady had no secret. Perhaps the Lady just enjoyed a mystery. Murchison reveals what he learned she did on her secret disappearances. The Lady is still a mystery to him.
Published in 1887.
RECOMMEND
February 26, 2014
'Women are meant to be loved,not understood.'
This is the point on which the story develops. The protagonist's attempt to understand the actions of the woman he loves leads to their break-up and,eventually,her death. The development of the story was good. The build-up of mystery was like gradual increase in the intensity of background music. The plot seemed familiar. It seems a similar plot was used in one of Sherlock Holmes stories. But it's used there in a different way and there is a genuine mystery in the actions of the lady in that story. A wonderful quick-read.
This is the point on which the story develops. The protagonist's attempt to understand the actions of the woman he loves leads to their break-up and,eventually,her death. The development of the story was good. The build-up of mystery was like gradual increase in the intensity of background music. The plot seemed familiar. It seems a similar plot was used in one of Sherlock Holmes stories. But it's used there in a different way and there is a genuine mystery in the actions of the lady in that story. A wonderful quick-read.
March 24, 2017
It was very easy to read and very much like Wilde, I don't think it's so brilliant as some of his other short stories, but I enjoy anything by Wilde, anyway!" It was really very difficult for me to come to any conclusion. For she has as like one of those strange crysals than one sees in museums, which are at one moment clear and at another clouded." This story is on the verge of being totally pointless and having a moral. Why after reading the picture of Dorian gray everything seems a bit dull?! I should stop comparing!
February 17, 2021
I normally love Oscar Wilde but this one felt a bit strangely flat, didn’t quite work for me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 245 reviews