Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Peter Molnar (University of Oxford)

Ed. by Grace Moore, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica E. Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1898

Places

Ireland, Republic of (Eire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

The Ballad of Reading Gaol is Oscar Wilde’s last substantial piece of writing. Wilde first conceived of the work while he was in the dock of the Old Bailey (Ellmann, 473), listening to the judge sentence him to two years of manual labour for “gross indecency”. Written during the summer months of 1897, shortly after Wilde’s release, The Ballad was published on February 13 1898, under the pseudonym C.C.3., the number of the cell in which Wilde was kept while imprisoned at Reading. It is today one of Wilde’s best-known works, and has been reprinted, anthologized, and republished countless times over the last hundred years, becoming a touchstone for debates surrounding capital punishment and queer self-representation in Victorian literature.

Poetry and Propaganda

The Ballad, separated into six Cantos, has two main subjects: the narrative follows...

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2461 words

Citation: Molnar, Peter. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 January 2026 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1521, accessed 09 June 2026.]