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Oscar Wilde: Collected Stories
Does the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville really exist? And if he does, will he meet his match in the Otis family? Or will the rambunctious Otis children be the very death of him? The answers lie in these witty, hilarious tales.
5 pages, Audiobook
Published December 1, 2010
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About the author
Oscar Wilde
5,754 books39.3k 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 13, 2026
My first read of Oscar Wilde since The Picture of Dorian Gray in high school--over 50 years ago. The short story group I am in chose The Happy Prince for discussion. I decided to listen to the rest of this collection as well as the stories are narrated by Frank Muller, a favorite of mine.
The collection is split into two very different kinds of short stories. Both were developed by Wilde as entertainment to be told at cocktail parties and formal dinners. Wilde was later encouraged to write them down This was in the days before radio. Oscar Wilde was known in highbrow circles as someone who could tell a great story.
The first 4 stories are Victorian tales.
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime--a gentleman has his palm read and what he does with the information.
The Sphinx Without a Secret--a gentleman who falls in love with a mysterious woman--my favorite of the collection.
The Canterville Ghost--an American family who moves into a haunted house in England
The Model Millionaire--the title says it all
The second 4 are fairytale type tales with talking birds, talking fireworks, statues that feel and the like. The Happy Prince was the best of this bunch.
Not a great collection and while amusing it was hard to connect. I did enjoy getting back to more Wilde and learning more about his own story.
If you are interested in that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZoUl...
P.S. Belonging to a Short Story Group is a weekly highlight of my reading life. I've learned so much about authors and gotten a taste of so much wonderful stories and writing I might otherwise have missed. To think I use to say I didn't like short stories?!?!
The collection is split into two very different kinds of short stories. Both were developed by Wilde as entertainment to be told at cocktail parties and formal dinners. Wilde was later encouraged to write them down This was in the days before radio. Oscar Wilde was known in highbrow circles as someone who could tell a great story.
The first 4 stories are Victorian tales.
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime--a gentleman has his palm read and what he does with the information.
The Sphinx Without a Secret--a gentleman who falls in love with a mysterious woman--my favorite of the collection.
The Canterville Ghost--an American family who moves into a haunted house in England
The Model Millionaire--the title says it all
The second 4 are fairytale type tales with talking birds, talking fireworks, statues that feel and the like. The Happy Prince was the best of this bunch.
Not a great collection and while amusing it was hard to connect. I did enjoy getting back to more Wilde and learning more about his own story.
If you are interested in that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZoUl...
P.S. Belonging to a Short Story Group is a weekly highlight of my reading life. I've learned so much about authors and gotten a taste of so much wonderful stories and writing I might otherwise have missed. To think I use to say I didn't like short stories?!?!
April 9, 2017
This collection includes some of the children's stories as well as adults. Generally speaking, Wilde's children's stories are better. However, of the adult stories, "The Canterville Ghost" is easily the best. Regarding this audio version, I'm a fan of Frank Muller except when he insists on his not-very-good British accent, as he does throughout here.
December 10, 2019
Although, "old" is current: " ...the King gave orders that the page's salary was to be doubled. As he received no salary at all this was not of much use to him, but it was considered a great honour, and was duly published in the Court Gazette."
January 12, 2021
I had vaguely remembered the story of the Canterbury Ghost, but I couldn't recall how it was resolved. For that reason, I picked up this collection. They were interesting short stories, and made the time pass by quickly. I think, of them, the Canterbury Ghost was my favorite.
October 30, 2022
A collection of short stories by Oscar Wilde. Entertaining.
1. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
2. The Sphinx Without a Secret
3. The Canterville Ghost
4. The Model Millionaire
5. The Happy Prince
6. The Nightingale and the Rose
7. The Devoted Friend
8. The Remarkable Rocket
1. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
2. The Sphinx Without a Secret
3. The Canterville Ghost
4. The Model Millionaire
5. The Happy Prince
6. The Nightingale and the Rose
7. The Devoted Friend
8. The Remarkable Rocket
July 17, 2023
I particularly liked the stories “cantervile ghost” and “model millionaire”. Both were sassy and clever; a refreshing change from the average short “classic” story. I hated some of his other works, like the importance of being earnest.
October 31, 2025
My first exposure to Wilder. Very clever writer, the ghost story genre is not my cup of tea, but the others in the collection are worthwhile
March 1, 2021
“Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime” and “The Canterville Ghost” especially are funny, ridiculous, and more compassionate than tragic. Oscar Wilde knew how people worked, and he forgave them for it.
April 11, 2021
A collection of his various short stories. One of the last stories in the collection is a fairy tale about friendship that only goes one direction - and how well those with money oversell their largess when it is actually cast-offs, yet expect everything from the ones for whom they intend their largess. Startling how true the tale still is today.
2021 I've been choosing a fair number of short story collections during the pandemic due to COVID brain. Apparently my COVID brain has been bad enough that I'd forgotten I'd listened to this collection three years ago. It's still a great collection. Funny, spooky, poignant.
2021 I've been choosing a fair number of short story collections during the pandemic due to COVID brain. Apparently my COVID brain has been bad enough that I'd forgotten I'd listened to this collection three years ago. It's still a great collection. Funny, spooky, poignant.
February 26, 2018
The writing is top notch but these short stories were not my taste. They were a strange combo of comedy-horror that I just couldn't quite enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews