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 10

How this entity was disambiguated

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 ⓘ
linked to: London, England
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 (10)

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 ⓘ
Charles Thomas Wooldridge → inspiredWork → The Ballad of Reading Gaol ⓘ
Reading County Gaol → inspiredWork → The Ballad of Reading Gaol ⓘ
Reading County Gaol → mentionedIn → The Ballad of Reading Gaol ⓘ
HM Prison Reading → associatedWork → The Ballad of Reading Gaol ⓘ
Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves → inspiredBy → The Ballad of Reading Gaol ⓘ