The Duchess of Padua by Oscar Wilde (Illustrated)

By Oscar Wilde

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Duchess of Padua’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde’.

Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Wilde includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

eBook features:
* The complete unabridged text of ‘The Duchess of Padua’
* Beautifully illustrated with images related to Wilde’s works
* Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook
* Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Jul 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781786561541

Oscar Wilde

Born in Ireland in 1856, Oscar Wilde was a noted essayist, playwright, fairy tale writer and poet, as well as an early leader of the Aesthetic Movement. His plays include: An Ideal Husband, Salome, A Woman of No Importance, and Lady Windermere's Fan. Among his best known stories are The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Canterville Ghost.

Book preview

The Complete Works of

OSCAR WILDE

VOLUME 2 OF 41

The Duchess of Padua

Parts Edition

By Delphi Classics, 2013

Version 6

COPYRIGHT

‘The Duchess of Padua’

Oscar Wilde: Parts Edition (in 41 parts)

First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2017.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78656 154 1

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [e-mail]

www.delphiclassics.com

Oscar Wilde: Parts Edition

This eBook is Part 2 of the Delphi Classics edition of Oscar Wilde in 41 Parts. It features the unabridged text of The Duchess of Padua from the bestselling edition of the author’s Complete Works. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. Our Parts Editions feature original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of Oscar Wilde, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

Visit here to buy the entire Parts Edition of Oscar Wilde or the Complete Works of Oscar Wilde in a single eBook.

Learn more about our Parts Edition, with free downloads, via this link or browse our most popular Parts here.

OSCAR WILDE

IN 41 VOLUMES

Parts Edition Contents

The Plays

1, Vera

2, The Duchess of Padua

3, Lady Windermere’s Fan

4, A Woman of No Importance

5, Salomé

6, An Ideal Husband

7, The Importance of Being Earnest

8, La Sainte Courtisane

9, A Florentine Tragedy

The Poetry

10, The Complete Poems

The Novel

11, The Picture of Dorian Gray - the Original 13 Chapter Version

12, The Picture of Dorian Gray - the Revised 20 Chapter Version

The Short Stories

13, The Portrait of Mr. W. H.

14, The Happy Prince and Other Tales

15, A House of Pomegranates

16, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories

The Non-Fiction

17, The Decay of Lying

18, Pen, Pencil and Poison - a Study in Green

19, The Critic as Artist

20, The Truth of Masks

21, The Rise of Historical Criticism

22, The English Renaissance of Art

23, House Decoration

24, Art and the Handicraftsman

25, Lecture to Art Students

26, London Models

27, Poems in Prose

28, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

29, Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young

30, A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated

31, De Profundis

32, Oscar Wilde’s Letter to Robert Browning

33, Personal Impressions of America

34, The Decorative Arts

35, The House Beautiful

36, The Truth of Masks

The Journalism

37, The Articles and Reviews

Apocrypha

38, Teleny

The Biographies

39, Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions by Frank Harris

40, Memories of Oscar Wilde by G. Bernard Shaw

41, Oscar Wilde: an Idler’s Impression by Edgar Saltus

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The Duchess of Padua

Wilde’s second play is a five act tragedy set in Padua and composed in blank verse. It was written for the actress Mary Anderson in early 1883. After she turned it down, it was abandoned until its first performance at The Broadway Theatre in New York under the title Guido Ferranti on the 26th January 1891, where it ran for three weeks. Like Wilde’s first play Vera, it is rarely revived or studied.

The Duchess of Padua tells the story of a young man named Guido, who was brought up by a man he believed was his uncle.  Guido receives a notice to meet a man in Padua concerning his parentage and when he arrives he is convinced by the stranger Moranzone to abandon his only friend Ascanio in order to dedicate himself to revenging his father’s death at the hands of Simone Gesso, the Duke of Padua.

Wilde, c. 1885

CONTENTS

THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY

ACT I

ACT II

ACT III

ACT IV

ACT V

THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY

Simone Gesso, Duke of Padua

Beatrice, his Wife

Andreas Pollajuolo, Cardinal of Padua

Maffio Petrucci,

Jeppo Vitellozzo,

Gentlemen of the Duke’s Household

Taddeo Bardi,   

Guido Ferranti, a Young Man

Ascanio Cristofano, his Friend

Count Moranzone, an Old Man

Bernardo Cavalcanti, Lord Justice of Padua

Hugo, the Headsman

Lucy, a Tire woman

Servants, Citizens, Soldiers, Monks, Falconers with their hawks and dogs, etc.

Place: Padua

Time: The latter half of the Sixteenth Century

Style of Architecture:  Italian, Gothic and Romanesque.

ACT I

SCENE

The Market Place of Padua at noon; in the background is the great Cathedral of Padua; the architecture is Romanesque, and wrought in black and white marbles; a flight of marble steps leads up to the Cathedral door; at the foot of the steps are two large stone lions; the houses on each aide of the stage have coloured awnings from their windows, and are flanked by stone arcades; on the right of the stage is the public fountain, with a triton in green bronze blowing from a conch; around the fountain is a stone seat; the bell of the Cathedral is ringing, and the citizens, men, women and children, are passing into the Cathedral.

[Enter GUIDO FERRANTI and ASCANIO CRISTOFANO.]

ASCANIO

Now by my life, Guido, I will go no farther; for if I walk another step I will have no life left to swear by; this wild-goose errand of yours!

[Sits down on the step of the fountain.]

GUIDO

I think it must be here.  [Goes up to passer-by and doffs his cap.]  Pray, sir, is this the market place, and that the church of Santa Croce?  [Citizen bows.]  I thank you, sir.

ASCANIO

Well?

GUIDO

Ay! it is here.

ASCANIO

I would it were somewhere else, for I see no wine-shop.

GUIDO

[Taking a letter from his pocket and reading it.]  ‘The hour noon; the city, Padua; the place, the market; and the day, Saint Philip’s Day.’

ASCANIO

And what of the man, how shall we know him?

GUIDO

[reading still]  ‘I will wear a violet cloak with a silver falcon broidered on the shoulder.’  A brave attire, Ascanio.

ASCANIO

I’d sooner have my leathern jerkin.  And you think he will tell you of your father?

GUIDO

Why, yes!  It is a month ago now, you remember; I was in the vineyard, just at the corner nearest the road, where the goats used to get in, a man rode up and asked me was my name Guido, and gave me this letter, signed ‘Your Father’s Friend,’ bidding me be here to-day if I would know the secret of my birth, and telling me how to recognise the writer!  I had always thought old Pedro was my uncle, but he told me that he was not, but that I had been left a child in his charge by some