Feature
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Genevieve Malloy
THE BALLAD BEYOND READING GAOL: AVENGE OSCAR WILDE By Genevieve Malloy Oscar Wilde is one of the most famous writers of the English language. A leading proponent of aestheticism, he wrote some of the most celebrated works to come out of Victorian England (including The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest) as well as a number of short stories and poems. Perhaps lesser known, however, is Wilde’s advocacy for libertarian socialism. He authored “The Soul of Man under Socialism” in 1891 (after he read works by the anarchist Peter Kropotkin), an essay in which he made a case for why true f reedom and individualism cannot be realised for people, especially the poor and the working class, under capitalism. This political perspective was unfortunately quite prescient, as he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1895 and sentenced to two years hard labour in prison. Upon leaving prison he went straight to France, where for the remaining three years of his life he lived in poverty and exile. It was under these conditions that Wilde wrote “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” (1897).
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Freedom
This essay is an attempt to describe Wilde’s politics, especially his views on f reedom and individualism as they relate to socialism. It is also an opportunity to explore how Wilde’s observations during imprisonment remains relevant to the brutalisation and exploitation of prisoners, and to the oppression of LGBTQI+ people, in the modern day. Finally, in reflection of this, we must work towards avenging him and all who have been brutalised by this system. We must actively f ight to destroy capitalism and look towards a socialist post-state society in which we can all realise true individualism
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