Wilde experiences prison life, and tries to bring it to life through his verse for the reader. Wilde presents himself as almost an eyeglass for the reader, he is the lens through which the reader can see prison life for how it really was, Wilde is almost a “inside man”. Wilde’s narrative voice is also interesting in this poem. In the fourth stanza, Wilde says ‘I walked with other souls in pain’ (Wilde, 1898) showing how low spirits were in Reading Gaol, how everyone felt isolated and almost tortured by their imprisonment. The misery that the prisoners in Reading Gaol were subject to is also brought to light by Wilde in the poem, their confinement and isolation from the rest of the world is shown as Wilde refers to the sky as a ‘tent of blue’ (Wilde, 1898). It could be argued that through the use of the word “amongst” Wilde is showing that the condemned man has little to no communication with prisoners, and this conjures up an image in the readers mind of intense loneliness. Wilde informs the reader that the man ‘walked amongst’ (Wilde, 1898) rather than with other prisoners, and that although his step was ‘light and gay’ (Wilde, 1898) he looked ‘wistfully at the day’ (Wilde, 1898). In the early verses of the poem, Wilde appears to focus on the intense loneliness of the condemned man.

Prisoners under this programme were kept isolated from other prisoners, and were only allowed one hour of exercise per day. Wilde was subject to the ‘hard bed, hard fare and hard labour’ style of punishment, which was a very intense and isolated form of punishment, designed to deter criminals from reoffending. 8vo - over 7¾' - 9¾'.In this blog post, I will be focusing on Oscar Wilde’s the Ballad of Reading Gaol, focusing on the ways Wilde describes the prison, as well as key themes that can be related back to the theme of crime and punishment. Dutton & Co Inc, 1928 Black spine with blue paper boards, Fair. Destination, rates & speeds About this Item: E. Dutton & Co Inc, NY (1928) Used First Edition Hardcover Quantity Available: 1 From: Bluestocking Books (Bangor, PA, U.S.A.) Seller Rating: 5-star rating Add to Basket US$ 58.50 Convert currency Shipping: FREE Within U.S.A.

Bump to upper corner affects every page but not the illustrations Wilde, Oscar Published by E.

The ballad of reading jail