The Ballad Of Reading Gaol

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1896

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Religion and Religious Imagery

Religion and religious imagery pervade the poem, especially in connection with the theme of suffering and redemption. The prison and its inhabitants are imagined as existing far from the world, and also far from God; the language of sin and prayer is everywhere; the prison chaplain appears throughout the poem. In particular, the condemned man’s journey toward peace and redemption is conceived of in very religious terms. At times, he becomes almost a Christ figure, who (unlike the coward who does not accept the punishment for his sins) must “feel upon his shuddering cheek / The kiss of Caiaphas” (1.95-96), an allusion to the High Priest who kissed Jesus after betraying him to the Romans.

The ultimate redemption of the condemned man following his execution is also couched in religious symbolism. The narrator, reflecting that “God’s kindly earth / Is kindlier than men know,” (4.81-82), imagines a red rose growing from the mouth of the man’s corpse while a white rose grows from his heart: In this way “Christ brings his will to light” (4.88). What Wilde means by this is explained in the following section, where the narrator contrasts “the crimson stain that was of Cain” (5.101) with “Christ’s snow-white seal” (5.102): In other words, the red rose represents the man’s sin (the sin of Cain, the first murderer in the Old Testament) while the red rose represents Christ and redemption.

The Body

The body is another important symbol throughout the poem. At the beginning of the poem, the condemned man is described as being caught with blood and wine “on his hands” (1.3). The “wistful eye” (1.14, 1.34, 2.8) with which the condemned man looks at the world is a recurrent motif in the poem. The poem also emphasizes the physicality of the punishments of those incarcerated at Reading Gaol, such as the way the prisoners are forced to pick at ropes “[w]ith blunt and bleeding nails” (3.44) (a description reflecting reality—See: Background). Finally, the execution is graphically depicted, as the narrator imagines the way the “nimble feet” (2.53) of hanged man dance midair and listens to his final scream leave his throat. Finally, the mouth and heart of the executed man do not fully stop functioning even after he is executed: His mouth grows the red rose of sin, symbolizing impulsivity and the killing of what is loved, while his heart grows the white rose of redemption, symbolizing purity.

Color

Color symbolism pervades the poem from the very first lines, where the narrator imagines the “scarlet coat” (1.1) of the condemned man and the red blood and wine (“For blood and wine are red” [1.2]) that stained his hands when he was arrested. Color is also used to tie the “suit of shabby grey” (1.8) that the man wears at his trial with the “suit of shabby grey” (2.2) of his prison uniform—already in court, he was doomed to become a prisoner. Contrasted to the prison gray is the unattainable freedom of the sky, “that little tent of blue” (1.15, 2.9)—a bright color that is also the opposite of the “black Despair” (2.16) of the incarcerated men at Reading Gaol.

The color red is particularly prominent, symbolizing sin and guilt: Not only are the coat and hands of the condemned man red when he is caught (literally red-handed), but his soul also strays through a “red Hell” (1.59) in its guilt, while the “dreadful dawn” on which the man is executed is red itself (3.168) and is heralded by the crowing of “the red cock” (3.109). Perhaps most notably, the rose that grows from the man’s mouth after he is buried—the rose symbolizing his sin—is red, while the rose that grows from his heart—the rose symbolizing his redemption—is white.