Oscar Wilde

For much of the twentieth century he was best known for his witty society comedies such as The Importance of Being Earnest, but more recent scholarship has focused on his prose work and identified him as an important figure in such fields as Irish writing and queer theory. This study looks at the whole range of Wilde's writing and places it in the context of later nineteenth century ideas suggesting that modern philosophy and evolutionary theory had a lasting effect on his representations of the individual and society.

Alexandra Warwick is Head of Department of English and Linguistics, University of Westminster.