Oscar Wilde

Children in Prison and Other Cruelties of Prison Life (Annotated) Oscar Wilde

Differentiated book- It has a historical context with research of the time-The purpose of realizing this historical context is to approach the understanding of a historical epoch from the elements provided by the text. Hence the importance of placing the document in context. It is necessary to unravel what its author or authors have said, how it has been said, when, why and where, always relating it to its historical moment. Children in Prison and Other Cruelties of Prison Life, was published by the novelist and poet Oscar Wilde as an attempt to discover what he considered the scandal of child prisoners incarcerated in British prisons. The pamphlet, first published in the form of a letter to the editor of the Daily Chronicle in 1897, was written after Wilde was released from Reading prison: he had served a sentence for sexual offenses. During his time as a prisoner, Wilde had observed many young men locked up with adult criminals, whose corrupting influence he believed would lead children to a life of greater crime. For young people, adult jails were the cause of "sheer terror." Many children were locked up in the dark for 23 hours each day, feeding only on water and 'poorly baked' bread.