OSCAR WILDE LORD ARTHUR SAVILE’S CRIME
About the Author
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was a famous writer from Ireland. He is known for his plays, poems, and stories. He became very famous in the late 1800s.
Early Life and Family
Oscar Wilde was born on 16th October 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. His father, William, was a famous doctor, and his mother, Jane Francesca, was good at languages and wrote poetry. They had three children, Willie, Oscar and Isola Francesca. Oscar’s sister died when she was ten years old and Oscar was twelve.
Studies
After finishing school, Oscar studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and then at Oxford University. Here he became interested in the Aesthetic Movement. This was an artistic movement in the late 1800s, also known as “art for art’s sake”. For these people, the most important thing was that art was beautiful and that it didn’t need an important meaning behind it.
Travelling and Love
After university, Oscar went to live in London. He wrote a book of poetry called Poems (1881) and people started to think of him as a good writer. That same year he met Constance Lloyd for the first time in London. Then Oscar decided to go to the United States to talk about art and beauty in the universities there. He stayed for nine months. Then he came back to Great Britain and in 1884, Oscar became Constance Lloyd’s husband. They had two children, Cyril (1885) and Vyvyan (1886), but after Vyvyan was born, Oscar and Constance weren’t as happy as before. Oscar began to prefer men to women. This was a problem in Victorian England because homosexuality was against the law.
His Writings
After writing for many magazines, Oscar became editor of The Lady’s World magazine in 1888. This was a very good moment for Oscar. He became famous for writing The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888). Then in 1891, he wrote another collection of children’s stories called A House of Pomegranates. That same year, he wrote his one and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. He wrote funny plays for the theatre too. The most famous is The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).
Later Life
Wilde liked to be different and was popular because of his ideas and story-telling words, but in 1895, he went to prison for his homosexuality He spent two very difficult years in prison. When he came out, he went to France and stayed with friends or in cheap hotels. He wrote a poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, about his time in prison. Oscar died on 30 November 1900 at the age of 46 and was buried in Paris.
Oscar
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime
Wilde
Retold by Silvana Sardi
Illustrated by Sara Cristofori
About the Story
This short story about Lord Arthur Savile, a rich, young man, is set in London during the Victorian period (18371901). Lord Arthur is happy and in love with Sybil. She will soon become his wife. Then one evening at a party, a cheiromantist ‘reads’ Lord Arthur’s hand. He tells him that he will kill someone in the future, and Lord Arthur believes him. Here, Wilde shows us how rich people believed in cheiromantists and other strange things.
Lord Arthur is rich and doesn’t have to work, so he spends all his time worrying about what the cheiromantist said. He doesn’t want Sybil to become his wife until after the ‘crime’. This is a funny and crazy idea. Wilde shows us that rich people at that time often worried about silly things and about looking good for others instead of real problems. Lord Arthur tries to kill people, but things don’t go as planned. This is what makes the story so funny to read and shows that his idea is wrong. Wilde uses these situations to make us think about the Victorians and their strange ‘values’.
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, first published in 1887 in the British literary magazine The Court and Society Review, talks about ‘fate’, love, and choosing what to do in your life. Later, this story and others by Wilde, like The Canterville Ghost, became part of a collection called Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories, published in 1891.
Chapter 1 Lady Windermere’s Party
Every important person in London was at Lady Gladys Windermere’s last party before summer. Lady Gladys was now forty years old with no children. After three husbands but always only one lover, she loved parties and all the good things of life.
There were all kinds of people at the party. There were men of the world of business and important women in beautiful dresses. There was even Princess Sophia of Carlsruhe, with her little black eyes and her big expensive hat. The party was very good, and Princess Sophia stayed until about 11.30 p.m. After she left, Lady Windermere went to talk to the Duchess of Paisley. She looked about the room and said, ‘Where’s my cheiromantist*?’
‘Your what, Gladys?’ said the Duchess. Was it the same as a cheiropodist*? she asked herself.
‘My cheiromantist, Duchess. He tells me what to do. He comes to see my hand every week, on Tuesdays and on Fridays,’ said Lady Gladys. ‘Come and meet him!’
‘Oh! Is he here?’ The Duchess of Paisley didn’t want to meet him… not at a party. After all, he was a kind
Lady Windermere’s Party
of cheiropodist, only Gladys’s cheiromantist did hands, not feet. She never saw her cheiropodist at parties!
‘Of course he’s here! I only have parties when he can come,’ said Gladys. ‘He tells me about my future!’
‘Oh, I see!’ said the Duchess, happier now. ‘Does he tell you lots of nice things?’
‘Good and bad,’ answered Lady Windermere. ‘For example, next year, the sea isn’t safe for me, so I won’t go on any boats. It’s all here to see on my hand. I think it’s a good idea for everyone to have a meeting with a cheiromantist two or three times a month. Then you know what not to do. Now, where is Mr Podgers?’
‘I’ll go and look for him, Lady Windermere,’ said a tall, good-looking young man near them.
‘Thanks so much, Lord Arthur, but I don’t think you’ll find him.’
‘But Lady Windermere, you say he’s wonderful*! I’ll find him no problem.’
‘You don’t understand. There’s nothing wonderful about him. He’s a little fat man with no hair on his head. He wears big glasses… Ah, here he is! Now, Mr Podgers, please read the Duchess of Paisley’s hand.’
‘Dear Gladys, I really don’t think it’s right,’ said the Duchess, but she took off the glove of her right hand.
‘Nothing interesting ever is,’ said Lady Windermere. ‘So, Mr Podgers, what can you see?’
Mr Podgers looked at the Duchess’s little fat hand and said, ‘You’ll live a long life, Duchess, and you’ll be very happy….’
ACTIVITIES
Reading Comprehension
1 Are the sentences about Chapter 1 true (T) or false (F)?
Lady Windermere loves parties. o o
1 Lady Windermere’s cheiropodist is at the party. o o
2 Next year, Lady Windermere won’t go on any boats. o o
3 Mr Podgers is tall and slim. o o
4 The Duchess of Paisley loves nice things. o o
5 Lady Flora is the Duchess of Paisley’s daughter. o o
6 Lord Arthur wants to know about his future. o o
7 Lord Arthur is in love with Lady Flora. o o
8 Mr Podgers laughs when he looks at Lord Arthur’s hand. o o
9 Lord Arthur is worried after speaking to Mr Podgers. o o
10 Mr Podgers says that someone will murder Lord Arthur. o o
2 Complete the sentences about Chapter 2 with one or two words.
The morning after the party, Lord Arthur wakes up at twelve o’clock.
1 It’s a beautiful, warm ________________.
2 Before his bath, he has a cup of ________________.
3 There’s a photo of Sybil Merton on ________________.
4 Lord Arthur chooses to murder ________________, Lady Clem.
5 Lord Arthur puts the poison in a nice ________________.
6 Lady Clem gets ________________ very often.
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime tells the story of a young man called Lord Arthur. He is rich and he loves a young woman called Sybil.
At a party, a man reads his hand and tells him something about his future. Lord Arthur feels afraid and confused. After this, many strange and funny things happen.
The story is about love, fate, and making choices.
EXTENSIVE READING SERIES
LEVEL 1 BEGINNER
(400 HEADWORDS) A1
LEVEL 2 ELEMENTARY (700 HEADWORDS) A2
LEVEL 3 PRE-INTERMEDIATE (100 HEADWORDS) A2/B1
LEVEL 4 INTERMEDIATE (1400 HEADWORDS) B1
LEVEL 5 UPPER INTERMEDIATE (1800 HEADWORDS) B2
LEVEL 6 ADVANCED (2500 HEADWORDS) C1
Classic
To download audio tracks
• Scan the QR code inside your book with your mobile phone or tablet and listen to the recordings.
• With PC or Mac download audio tracks from www.eligradedreaders.com
ELIs.r.l.
ISBNLordArthurSavile’sCrime 978-88-536-4857-0