How Many Plays Did Oscar Wilde Write?

He wrote nine altogether. Four of these are well known and still often performed: Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of no Importance, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest. All of these belong to Wilde's great creative period of 1891-1895. A fifth, Salome, while rarely performed, also belongs to this period; a 1987 film version by Ken Russell gave it a late 20th century revival.

Wilde's four earlier plays are almost entirely unknown today. The first is "Vera, or the Nihilists" which was first performed in New York with a disappointing reception in 1883. "Vera" is a serious drama (some said, melodrama) with a Russian setting; its tone is very different to his later work. He also produced a verse tragedy, "The Duchess of Padua" in 1891, but again without success. Only his comedies have ever really succeeded on the stage.

When Wilde died, two other early plays were published together with some other writing . These were "A Florentine Tragedy" and La Sainte Courtesaine."