The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Written by Oscar Wilde

Narrated by LibriVox Community

Wilde’s meditation on capital punishment, the Ballad of Reading Gaol comes after he was convicted and imprisoned under charges of gross indecency. The charges stemmed from his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, the son of the Marquis of Queensberry. It relates the story of an execution of a man who murdered his wife which Wilde witnessed during his internment. Published in 1898, it was Wilde’s last published poem as he would die in 1900 from cerebral menengitis, caused by syphilis.(Summary by John Gonzalez)

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish author, dramatist, and poet best known for his acerbic wit. His first published work, The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) was a collection of allegorical fairy tales. Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray was a scandal when published, with public outcries of indecency. His society comedies were his greatest successes during his lifetime, including Salomé (1893), A Woman of No Importance (1893), and his greatest dramatic work, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). Wilde’s two year imprisonment was an experience documented in his final work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898).