Chapter 21, Prisoner at Large Summary

Oscar's official release from prison brings him back to English society, but he does not stay long. He takes a ship across the English Channel to Dieppe, France, and stays there until he moves to Bernaval, a quiet village five miles away, on May 26, about a week after his prison release. The rejections and snubs that Wilde experiences from the English in Dieppe provoke this move away from their retribution.

From June 8 to June 20, Wilde writes a long and overly ornamented poem about the prison experience, The Ballad of Reading Gaol. When this poem finally appears in print, it is highly edited. His other attempts at writing never leave the ground, but he does busy himself with a flurry of letters regarding Douglas' and Wilde's desire to reunite. Oscar is often lonesome and bored in his safe...