About Modern Wilde

Why Wilde, and why now?

Wilde wrote for a world that believed it was terribly serious and very modern – which makes him feel oddly at home in ours. His plays, essays, and stories are full of beauty and rebellion, but also a quiet ache for honesty beneath all the clever lines.

This site is for readers who like their literature with a raised eyebrow: part appreciation, part argument, never homework.

What you’ll find here

The Essays section gathers short reflections on Wilde’s work – plays, stories, letters, and the odd anecdote – with an emphasis on:

• the lines that still sting (or sparkle) today;
• the tension between performance and vulnerability;
• how Wilde speaks to modern questions about identity, class, and desire.

Some pieces are close readings of a scene or a single sentence; others are looser meditations that wander a little, as Wilde himself often did.

How to use this site

If you’re new, a good place to start is with a play or story you already know – then read the matching essay and see what rings true, what you disagree with, and what you’d add.

You won’t find academic footnotes here, but you will find care with the text, and the assumption that readers are intelligent, curious, and perfectly capable of making up their own minds.

Behind the curtain

Modern Wilde is run by a lifelong reader who came to Wilde for the jokes and stayed for the bruised honesty underneath them. This isn’t an official project or a university department – just one reader trying to keep good company with a favourite writer.

If you’d like to say hello, share a favourite Wilde line, or suggest a work to cover next, you can do that via the Contact page.