ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Though Wilde wrote nine plays in all between 1879 and 1894, his fame as a dramatist rests entirely on four comedies-Lady Windermere’s Fan (1893), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1899), The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)-and the strange and infamous Salomé.

Detailed explanation-2: -Between 1880 and 1895, Wilde produced seven completed plays; many of these productions continue to be revived, with Wilde’s legacy influencing theatre, literature, music and politics.

Detailed explanation-3: -The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with larger social themes, drew Wilde to write drama. He wrote 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.

Detailed explanation-4: -In his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (published in Lippincott’s Magazine, 1890, and in book form, revised and expanded by six chapters, 1891), Wilde combined the supernatural elements of the Gothic novel with the unspeakable sins of French decadent fiction.