Animal Farm , written by George Orwell , is a political fable that tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their cruel human master, hoping to create a society where all animals are equal, free, and happy. Inspired by the dream of the wise old pig Old Major, the animals overthrow the farmer Mr. Jones and take control of the farm, renaming it Animal Farm. At first, the animals work together to build an egalitarian community based on the principles of Animalism, summarized in the Seven Commandments painted on the barn wall. However, over time, the pigs—led by the cunning and power-hungry Napoleon—begin to seize control. They gradually assume privileges, manipulate language and truth, and use fear and propaganda to maintain power. Eventually, they become indistinguishable from the humans they once overthrew. This allegory clearly reflects the events of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the rise of Stalinism. The animals represent different social and political groups...
After his trial in 1895, Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in Reading jail (or gaol) from 1896 to 1897.
In 1898 Wilde decided to write a poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, which is made up of 107 stanzas divided into six sections and was written by Oscar Wilde after his release in Naples.
The poem was published under the pseudonym C-3-3, Wilde’s own reference number as a prisoner.
It is built around the story of a soldier who has been sentenced to death and hanged in Reading jail for having killed his lover.
The Ballad of Reading Gaol does not show traces of Aestheticism and Wilde has a keen sense of human suffering and sympathy for his fellow beings.
The soldier, in fact, is only a poor victim of life’s tragedy twice over: first because he has killed not because of cruelty but for love; secondly, because prison turns a guilty man into a victim: whatever he may have done, suffering and being deprived of liberty represent a form of atonement and purification.
The poem has typical characteristics of a ballad: plain language, repetition, similes, metaphors, internal rhymes and the voice of a man who speaks to a community as narrator.
In 1898 Wilde decided to write a poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, which is made up of 107 stanzas divided into six sections and was written by Oscar Wilde after his release in Naples.
The poem was published under the pseudonym C-3-3, Wilde’s own reference number as a prisoner.
It is built around the story of a soldier who has been sentenced to death and hanged in Reading jail for having killed his lover.
The Ballad of Reading Gaol does not show traces of Aestheticism and Wilde has a keen sense of human suffering and sympathy for his fellow beings.
The soldier, in fact, is only a poor victim of life’s tragedy twice over: first because he has killed not because of cruelty but for love; secondly, because prison turns a guilty man into a victim: whatever he may have done, suffering and being deprived of liberty represent a form of atonement and purification.
The poem has typical characteristics of a ballad: plain language, repetition, similes, metaphors, internal rhymes and the voice of a man who speaks to a community as narrator.
The Ballad of Reading Gaol has a symbolic and a social meaning. The soldier is the symbol of man’s tragic destiny, he is a sacrificial man like Christ who pays for man’s sins. The social meaning is recognizable in context of society’s general hypocrisy which takes away a man’s life.
All men kill in a way: some kill with words, some with a look, some with money, but the man who openly killed the person he loved is the only one who pays.
In the poem there are some symbolic colours:
All men kill in a way: some kill with words, some with a look, some with money, but the man who openly killed the person he loved is the only one who pays.
In the poem there are some symbolic colours:
- Scarlet as coat of the guard’s uniform: represents courage and patriotism;
- Red is passion or blood and murder;
- Grey is associated with prison and lack of life;
- Blue represents hope and freedom.
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