
The Sphinx without a Secret
An Oscar Wilde Short Story
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $1.43
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Deaver Brown
-
By:
-
Oscar Wilde
About this listen
A legendary Oscar Wilde title that tells the whole story by its name. A fascinating woman or an enthralling a man is a Sphinx without a secret according to the story's narrator. The man involved is not so sure. A perfect rendering of a fascinating subject. (American accent narration.)
Public Domain (P)2012 Deaver BrownListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Picture of Dorian Gray
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Russell Tovey
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A disturbing tale of a young man's uncanny ability to remain both young and beautiful while descending into a life of heartless debauchery, The Picture of Dorian Gray was considered proof of both Wilde's genius and his perversion. Oscar Wilde's scandalous best seller of 1891 was one of the most damning pieces of evidence used against him in the trial that brought about his downfall.
-
-
A twisted tale of vanity and poisonous people
- By Shantastic on 10-02-19
By: Oscar Wilde
-
The Importance of Being Earnest (Dramatized)
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: James Marsters, Charles Busch, Emily Bergl, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This final play from the pen of Oscar Wilde is a stylish send-up of Victorian courtship and manners, complete with assumed names, mistaken lovers, and a lost handbag. Jack and Algernon are best friends, both wooing ladies who think their names are Ernest, "that name which inspires absolute confidence". Wilde's effervescent wit, scathing social satire, and high farce make this one of the most cherished plays in the English language.
-
-
Delightfully silly
- By Tad Davis on 09-12-11
By: Oscar Wilde
-
The Happy Prince and other Tales
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In "The Model Millionaire", the destiny of a young, ambitious, brilliant pauper changes with an act of his misplaced generosity. "The Happy Prince" is one of Oscar Wilde’s renowned fairy tales. From his vantage point, high above the city, the statue of The Happy Prince gives of himself in a way most astonishing. In "The Sphinx Without a Secret", we learn of an enigmatic woman who holds a secret so close, no suitor can win her.
-
-
"Curiouser & Curiouser"
- By Jade Dragon on 09-14-16
By: Oscar Wilde
-
Savage Beauty
- The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
- By: Nancy Milford
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If F. Scott Fitzgerald was the hero of the Jazz Age, Edna St. Vincent Millay, as flamboyant in her love affairs as she was in her art, was its heroine. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Millay was dazzling in the performance of herself. Her voice was likened to an instrument of seduction, and her impact on crowds and on men was legendary. Yet beneath her studied act, all was not well.
-
-
Fascinating Woman
- By David P on 04-29-22
By: Nancy Milford
-
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
- By: Susanna Clarke
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 32 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory.
-
-
Hang in there!
- By D. McMillen on 05-31-05
By: Susanna Clarke
-
Brideshead Revisited
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Jeremy Irons
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evelyn Waugh's most celebrated work is a memory drama about the intense entanglement of the narrator, Charles Ryder, with a great Anglo-Catholic family. Written during World War II, the story mourns the passing of the aristocratic world Waugh knew in his youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities; in so doing it also provides a profound study of the conflict between the demands of religion and the desires of the flesh.
-
-
Extraordinary
- By Vieux Carré Blonde on 12-12-12
By: Evelyn Waugh
-
The Picture of Dorian Gray
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Russell Tovey
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A disturbing tale of a young man's uncanny ability to remain both young and beautiful while descending into a life of heartless debauchery, The Picture of Dorian Gray was considered proof of both Wilde's genius and his perversion. Oscar Wilde's scandalous best seller of 1891 was one of the most damning pieces of evidence used against him in the trial that brought about his downfall.
-
-
A twisted tale of vanity and poisonous people
- By Shantastic on 10-02-19
By: Oscar Wilde
-
The Importance of Being Earnest (Dramatized)
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: James Marsters, Charles Busch, Emily Bergl, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This final play from the pen of Oscar Wilde is a stylish send-up of Victorian courtship and manners, complete with assumed names, mistaken lovers, and a lost handbag. Jack and Algernon are best friends, both wooing ladies who think their names are Ernest, "that name which inspires absolute confidence". Wilde's effervescent wit, scathing social satire, and high farce make this one of the most cherished plays in the English language.
-
-
Delightfully silly
- By Tad Davis on 09-12-11
By: Oscar Wilde
-
The Happy Prince and other Tales
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In "The Model Millionaire", the destiny of a young, ambitious, brilliant pauper changes with an act of his misplaced generosity. "The Happy Prince" is one of Oscar Wilde’s renowned fairy tales. From his vantage point, high above the city, the statue of The Happy Prince gives of himself in a way most astonishing. In "The Sphinx Without a Secret", we learn of an enigmatic woman who holds a secret so close, no suitor can win her.
-
-
"Curiouser & Curiouser"
- By Jade Dragon on 09-14-16
By: Oscar Wilde
-
Savage Beauty
- The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
- By: Nancy Milford
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If F. Scott Fitzgerald was the hero of the Jazz Age, Edna St. Vincent Millay, as flamboyant in her love affairs as she was in her art, was its heroine. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Millay was dazzling in the performance of herself. Her voice was likened to an instrument of seduction, and her impact on crowds and on men was legendary. Yet beneath her studied act, all was not well.
-
-
Fascinating Woman
- By David P on 04-29-22
By: Nancy Milford
-
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
- By: Susanna Clarke
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 32 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory.
-
-
Hang in there!
- By D. McMillen on 05-31-05
By: Susanna Clarke
-
Brideshead Revisited
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Jeremy Irons
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evelyn Waugh's most celebrated work is a memory drama about the intense entanglement of the narrator, Charles Ryder, with a great Anglo-Catholic family. Written during World War II, the story mourns the passing of the aristocratic world Waugh knew in his youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities; in so doing it also provides a profound study of the conflict between the demands of religion and the desires of the flesh.
-
-
Extraordinary
- By Vieux Carré Blonde on 12-12-12
By: Evelyn Waugh
-
Anna Karenina
- By: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: David Horovitch
- Length: 38 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anna Karenina seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky.
-
-
Beautiful story, amazing narration
- By Marcus Vorwaller on 08-02-08
By: Leo Tolstoy
-
North and South
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written at the request of Charles Dickens, North and South is a book about rebellion that poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience. Gaskell expertly blends individual feeling with social concern and her heroine, Margaret Hale, is one of the most original creations of Victorian literature. When Margaret Hale's father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience she is forced to leave her comfortable home in the tranquil countryside of Hampshire....
-
-
Delightful
- By Sally on 01-04-10
-
Mrs. Dalloway
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a June day in London in 1923, and the lovely Clarissa Dalloway is having a party. Whom will she see? Her friend Peter, back from India, who has never really stopped loving her? What about Sally, with whom Clarissa had her life’s happiest moment? Meanwhile, the shell-shocked Septimus Smith is struggling with his life on the same London day.
-
-
One Tough Read Perfectly Delivered
- By Chris on 06-11-12
By: Virginia Woolf
-
The Woman in White
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey, Simon Prebble
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the greatest mystery thrillers ever written, Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White was a phenomenal best seller in the 1860s, achieving even greater success than works by Charles Dickens. Full of surprise, intrigue, and suspense, this vastly entertaining novel continues to enthrall audiences today.
-
-
Gripping novel, excellent production
- By David on 01-18-11
By: Wilkie Collins
-
The Idiot [Blackstone]
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 22 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prince Myshkin, is thrust into the heart of a society more concerned with wealth, power, and sexual conquest than the ideals of Christianity. Myshkin soon finds himself at the center of a violent love triangle in which a notorious woman and a beautiful young girl become rivals for his affections. Extortion, scandal, and murder follow, testing the wreckage left by human misery to find "man in man."
-
-
Intense and painfully sad
- By Tad on 04-27-12
-
Daisy Miller
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Ellie Kendrick
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Travelling in Europe with her family, Daisy Miller, an exquisitely beautiful young American woman, presents her fellow countryman Winterbourne with a dilemma he cannot resolve. Is she deliberately flouting social convention in the outspoken way she talks and acts, or is she simply ignorant of those conventions? When she strikes up an intimate friendship with an urbane young Italian, her flat refusal to observe the codes of respectable behaviour leave her perilously exposed.
-
-
loved the story
- By Dominick Garcez on 02-18-23
By: Henry James
-
A Confession
- By: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tolstoy’s autobiographical essay is a dissection of his soul, a study of his life’s movement away from the religious certainties of youth, and a vital piece of reading which contextualizes the great works he is best known for. Marking the point at which his life moved from the worldly to the spiritual, Tolstoy’s philosophical reassessment of the Orthodox faith is a work that holds vital spiritual and intellectual importance to this very day.
-
-
Wow
- By David Murphy on 05-25-16
By: Leo Tolstoy
-
The Possessed
- By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Constance Garnett - translator
- Narrated by: Constantine Gregory
- Length: 27 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Also known as Demons, The Possessed is a powerful socio-political novel about revolutionary ideas and the radicals behind them. It follows the career of Pyotr Stepanovich Verkhovensky, a political terrorist who leads a group of nihilists on a demonic quest for societal breakdown. They are consumed by their desires and ideals, and have surrendered themselves fully to the darkness of their "demons". This possession leads them to engulf a quiet provincial town and subject it to a storm of violence.
-
-
Womderful
- By Tad Davis on 12-07-17
By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and others
-
Swann's Way
- By: Marcel Proust, Scott Moncrieff - translator
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Swann’s Way is the first and best-known part of Proust’s monumental work, Remembrance of Things Past. Often compared to a symphony, this complex masterpiece is ideally suited for audio. Listening lets you appreciate anew the incredible beauty of Proust’s language and the uniqueness of his style. The novel’s narrator, Marcel, finds the true meaning of experience in memories stimulated by some random object or event.
-
-
Beautiful, BUT
- By Michael on 02-04-13
By: Marcel Proust, and others
-
Oblomov
- By: Ivan Goncharov
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A member of the landed gentry, with a seemingly guaranteed income from his estate in the country, Oblomov lives in Petersburg, uninterested in the business that provides his living and barely aware that the revenue is diminishing. Not that he leads a dissolute life of extravagance, balls and entertainment. Instead he is a dreamer, a sybarite, content above all to spend most of the day supine, in bed. The novel opens with Oblomov thus ensconced, attended only by his dirty, grumbling, indolent servant Zahar, who has looked after him since childhood, catering to his every need.
-
-
funny and smart
- By Bennett Weiss on 07-29-20
By: Ivan Goncharov
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: John Wood
- Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy the freedom that her fortune has opened up and to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors, declaring that she will never marry. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword.
-
-
Highly recommended
- By David on 06-26-10
By: Henry James
-
The Razor's Edge
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find - from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine - becomes Larry's spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s.
-
-
An Classic of Love and the Desire for Meaning
- By Eric on 01-06-17