The Duchess of Padua
Oscar Wilde
The Duchess of Padua
An early five-act tragedy in which a young man seeking revenge in Renaissance Italy falls in love with the wife of the ruler he plans to kill.
Read our takeVera; or, The Nihilists
Oscar Wilde
Vera; or, The Nihilists
by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde's first play, a Russian political melodrama about a revolutionary torn between a planned assassination and love for the future ruler.
- 1880
- Wry
- funny
- plot-driven
- voice-driven
About Oscar Wilde
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeVera; or, The Nihilists follows Vera Sabouroff, who joins a revolutionary group after the Russian government imprisons her brother. She is ordered to kill the new Czar, Alexis, but Alexis is also the man she loves. Wilde completed a draft in 1880; the first production opened in New York in 1883 and closed after one week.
The story, in more detail
The play uses the popular nineteenth-century image of Russian nihilists as a secret revolutionary brotherhood. Its politics are broad and theatrical: tyranny, bombs, disguises, betrayal, and a ruler who promises reform.
Vera is important mainly as Wilde's beginning in drama. The epigrams and reversals are present, but the controlled social comedy of his 1890s plays had not yet arrived.
The play
Vera's loyalty to the revolution is tested when Alexis, first known to the group as a fellow radical, becomes Czar.
The plot drives toward an assassination meeting in which political duty and private love cannot both survive.
Why we recommend it
Why it matters
It shows Oscar Wilde learning to write for the stage through a form very different from his later comedies.
Where it fits
Read it after the four society comedies, not as a first example of his drama.
What this book explores
Timeline
1880
A draft was printed privately in 1880. The revised play received its first production at New York's Union Square Theatre in 1883.
Modern editions
Editors continue to publish the work alone and in collections; introductions and notes explain the relevant performance or textual history.
Book editions
Hardcover
- Hardcover
- Privately printed
- 1880
Reader reviews
Readers may also like
The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde's best-known comedy: two men invent useful false identities, two women insist on marrying someone named Ernest, and a handbag resolves the plot.
Read our takeVera; or, The Nihilists: frequently asked questions
What is Vera; or, The Nihilists by Oscar Wilde about?
Vera; or, The Nihilists follows Vera Sabouroff, who joins a revolutionary group after the Russian government imprisons her brother. She is ordered to kill the new Czar, Alexis, but Alexis is also the man she loves. Wilde completed a draft in 1880; the first production opened in New York in 1883 and closed after one week.
When was Vera; or, The Nihilists published?
A draft was printed privately in 1880. The revised play received its first production at New York's Union Square Theatre in 1883.
Should I read Vera; or, The Nihilists first?
Usually not. Start with The Importance of Being Earnest for comedy, The Picture of Dorian Gray for fiction, or The Happy Prince and Other Tales for short stories, then return to Vera; or, The Nihilists.