era, he was famously sentenced to two years in prison for gross indecency. The Ballad of Reading Gaol tells the story of an execution he witnessed while there of a man who killed his wife. It is powerful and haunting, and Wilde’s pain seeps through with every word.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet, famous for ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ to name a couple. He was believed to be gay and met a lot of resistance in his life on that account. He died in Paris at the age of 46.