Next Section The Ballad of Reading Gaol Summary How To Cite in MLA Format Lena, Braga. The poem then reveals the situation of the other prisoners. His death has been declared for the murder. He is a convict who has murdered his wife. The poem centres a man who was an inmate of Wilde in prison. It is written after his release from Reading Gaol. Will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback. The Ballad of Reading Gaol is one of the most famous last written poems by Oscar Wilde. You can help us out by revising, improving and updatingĪfter you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. 35 ‘Impression du Matin’ and Wildes other Symbolist-derived poems underline what he meant by saying the intentions and effects of The Ballad of Reading Gaol were divided. He died in Paris in 1900, lonely and the shell of the man he once was, but still appreciated his writing. The contrast between the free people who live outside the prison and the inmates is highlighted by Oscar Wilde in his poem.Īfter his time spent in prison, Oscar Wilde never returned to England again. The poem starts by focusing only on one man, a person convicted for murdering his wife and sentenced to death and then slowly starts to describe the living conditions of the prisoners. The ballad consists of 109 stanzas and is divided into 6 parts. The poem was revised a couple of times and enlarged before it was published in October. Oscar Wilde was imprisoned because of his homosexual relationship with the son of an influential man and the time spend in prison affected his life greatly.Īfter Oscar Wilde was released in 1897, he soon fled to Paris where he assumed a new name and started writing the poem almost immediately. The poem was written after two years after Oscar Wilde was released from prison and the poem focuses on the execution of one of the prison inmate who was in the same prison as Oscar Wilde. The Ballad of Reading Goal was among the last written works of Oscar Wilde. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

Wilde the ballad of reading gaol