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THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL - Coggle Diagram
THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL
Quotes
‘ for each man kills the thing he loves’
Focus on the potential for murder
‘The very mud cried out for blood’
Personification and internal rhyme, human hunger, ruthless punishment
‘Numbered tomb’
Prison is like death
‘ how one could sleep so sweet a sleep with a hangman close at hand’
Wooldridge is the only prisoner who sleeps well he can escape the torment of prison
‘Alas it is a fearful thing to feel another’s guilt’
Common humanity, collective criminal conscience
Ability to feel humanises criminals that society consistently attempts to dehumanise
‘They glided past they glided fast’
Internal rhyme, quick approach of death
‘Something was dead in each of us’
Collective suffering and hopelessness
‘Seperate hell’
Isolation in prison
‘There is no chapel’
No comfort, can’t pray even on day of their death, punishment goes against religion
‘Dishonoured grave’
Chaplain wouldn’t not pray sinners, even dead people not afforded redemption
‘Or whether laws be wrong’
Explicit criticism of Christianity
‘All but lust is turned to dust’
Hope is destroyed, despair, no deep feeling within them only desire to leave
‘We rust life’s iron chain’
‘Only blood can wipe out blood’
Justice system is revengeful and equally full of sin, purity of religion vs violence of prison
Elements of crime
The crime isn’t shown only the punishment- effects of crime, realism
Makes us question whether society is guilty i.e prison guards
Violence
Suffering
Morality
Social commentary
Plot- before and after wooldridges death
Context
Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for homosexual acts which he does not mention in the poem
Published under the name ‘C.3.3’
‘Because it circulated widely among the criminal classes to which I now belong- for once I will be read by my peers.’
Plot
Wilde is exposing the harsh reality of prison m life in Victorian England as well as highlighting the hypocrisy of so called Christian’s and their ability to preach redemption and forgiveness but use capital punishment
The text is about the hanging of Charles wooldridge and the contrast between the peace he is at now compared to the suffering of the prisoners
Debate
Who is truly guilty
Who suffers the most
Injustice of justice
Oscar Wilde
Usually explored themes of luxury
Known for his character
Structural features
Ballad form
Speak widely to the proletariat and fellow prisoners in Reynolds magazine
ABCBDB rhyme form
Elegiac and sympathetic narrator
Themes
Hypocrisy of Christianity inability to extend forgiveness and redemption
Psychological damage of prison
Death and forboding