The Ballad of Reading Gaol

E179858

The Ballad of Reading Gaol is a narrative poem by Oscar Wilde that reflects on the brutality and injustice of the Victorian prison system, inspired by his own incarceration in Reading Gaol.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
The Ballad of Reading Gaol canonical 5

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf narrative poem
poem
addresses conditions in Victorian prisons
author Oscar Wilde
basedOnEvent execution of Charles Thomas Wooldridge
C33Explanation Oscar Wilde's cell number at Reading Gaol
compositionPeriod 1897
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom
criticizes Victorian penal system
capital punishment in Britain
famousLine "And all men kill the thing they love"
"Yet each man kills the thing he loves"
firstEditionAuthorCredit "C.3.3."
firstPublicationDate 1898
firstPublishedLocation London, England
surface form: London
form ballad
genre poetry
prison literature
hasPart Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
hasSubject life in prison
prisoners on death row
initialPublicationFormat book
inspiredBy Oscar Wilde's imprisonment in Reading Gaol
languageOfFirstEdition English
literaryMovement Aestheticism
meter ballad meter
narrativePerspective first person plural
originalLanguage English
period late Victorian literature
placeOfInspiration Reading Gaol
publisher Leonard Smithers
rhymeScheme ballad stanza rhyme scheme
setting Reading Gaol
subjectOfExecution Charles Thomas Wooldridge
theme capital punishment
guilt and redemption
human dignity
injustice of the prison system
suffering
tone compassionate
somber
tragic
writtenAfter Oscar Wilde's release from prison

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Oscar Wilde notableWork The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Oscar Wilde wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol
De Profundis relatedWork The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Reading Gaol inspiredWork The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Reading Gaol subjectOf The Ballad of Reading Gaol