The Ballad Of Reading Gaol : 9781502452313

The poem narrates the execution of Wooldridge; it moves from an objective story-telling to symbolic identification with the prisoners as a whole.No attempt is made to assess the justice of the laws which convicted them, but rather the poem highlights the brutalisation of the punishment that all convicts share. Wilde juxtaposes the executed man and himself with the line "Yet each man kills the thing he loves". Wilde too was separated from his wife and sons. He adopted the proletarian ballad form, and suggested it be published in Reynold's Magazine, "because it circulates widely among the criminal classes - to which I now belong - for once I will be read by my peers - a new experience for me".

Author: Oscar Wilde

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: Sep 21, 2014

Number of Pages: 38 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: 1502452316

ISBN-13: 9781502452313