Oscar Wilde Books in Order

Oscar Wilde's shelf is short because his run was: one novel, two story collections, four great comedies in three years, and then prison - The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898) and De Profundis (1905), written from the inside. The order question with Wilde is a question of trajectory too: the fairy tales and essays of the late 1880s, the scandal of Dorian Gray (1890), the comedies that made him the most famous writer in London, and the two books that outlasted the fame. This page runs the shelf and marks the cliff (1888–1905).

Where to start

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), the only novel. The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) if you want the funniest thing he wrote instead.

Does the reading order matter?

Chronological is the only order that means anything here, because the life interrupts. The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) - the fairy tales, sharper than their reputation - and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories (1891) come first, with Intentions (1891), the essays, as the theory of the fiction. The Picture of Dorian Gray appeared in 1890 (Lippincott's) and in the longer 1891 book edition, which is the one to read; it is the only novel, standalone by definition. Then the stage run, one a season: Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) - the peak, and the last premiere before the trial. After Reading Gaol: The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), the long poem, published under a prison number; De Profundis (1905), the letter to Lord Alfred Douglas published posthumously, is the shelf's other pole. Nothing requires anything else - but read a comedy before De Profundis or the collapse has no contrast

Which one is the best?

The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), perfect at what it is; The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891); The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), the best verse.

Covered in depth here

An 8-question quiz, reading time, club questions and verified quotes for The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Bram Stoker books in order, Lewis Carroll books in order, Charles Dickens books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.