The Ballad of Reading Gaol (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Oscar Wilde
- First Published: 1898
- Type of Work: Ballad
- Genres: Poetry, Ballad
- Subjects: Prisoners, Prisons, Nineteenth century, Guilt, Capital punishment, England or English people, Punishment, Death or dying, Jesus Christ
The Poem
The Ballad of Reading Gaol is not a typical ballad in that commentary ranges beyond the narrative. While Oscar Wilde is focusing on the story of the execution of Royal House Guards trooper Charles Thomas Wooldridge for the brutal murder of his wife, he is also meditating on injustice, betrayal, and the need for prison reform. The poem is divided, rather unevenly, into six “cantos,” as Wilde labeled them; each division is further subdivided into groupings usually separated by asterisks.
The first canto (sixteen stanzas: six and ten) concentrates on the...
[The entire page is 1965 words long]
