Oscar Wilde

The Ballad of Reading Gaol (Annotated) Oscar Wilde

Differentiated book- It has a historical context with research of the time-The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde. The purpose of realizing this historical context is to approach the understanding of a historical epoch from the elements provided by the text. Hence the importance of placing the document in context. It is necessary to unravel what its author or authors have said, how it has been said, when, why and where, always relating it to its historical moment. In 1895, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was convicted of "acts of gross indecency with other men" and sentenced to two years of forced labor. He was sent first to Pentonville, then to Wandsworth, and finally to Reading Gaol. After his release in May 1897, Wilde left for France, where he settled near Dieppe. He never saw his wife, Constance again, nor did he return to England or Ireland. While in Dieppe, Wilde wrote two letters to the Daily Chronicle protesting the brutalities of prison life, including the inhumane treatment of children in prison. A month before his second letter appeared in 1898, Wilde published Ballad of Reading Gaol, a grimly realistic poem that describes the hanging of Charles Thomas Wooldridge, a Royal Horse Guards soldier, for the murder of his wife