Wilde's complete works are in many ways, I think, a mixed bag. I did not care for his (extremely purple) poetry - with the exception of "The Ballad of Reading Goal," which was quite unlike the rest and therefore outstanding. I did not much care for his essays either, finding them witty, but not witty enough to make up for their pontificating length. His short fairy stories can be mawkish. His one novel has a fantastic idea and is perfectly interesting, but not outstanding. However. However. The Importance of Being Ernest is delightful in every respect, and any collection that contains it, Lady Windermere's Fan, and "Reading Goal" deserves at least four stars.

His plays are the best of him, I think. The more famous ones, at least. Some of the minor plays don't reach above average, and one (Salome) is absolutely dire. Reading the plays, there are so many lines that have come into common use, so many quotable instances, so much humour and wit, that Wilde's reputation deservedly rests on them. I think if I were completely honest in my averages, this would probably be more like three and a half stars from me, but I love "Reading Goal" to the bitter end, it's one of my favourite pieces of poetry, and it and the two plays mentioned above are dragging the rating up by sheer strength.