Is Hard Labor in "Wilde" portrayed accurately

Cafe Society
1

In the movie Wilde, there is a depiction of Oscar Wilde and others at Hard Labor. The scene is a little hard to describe and it has been a while since I saw the film.

As I recall, the men are facing a wall and each has his own stall. Running under them is a large cylinder with “stairs” on the surface so that each man is on a kind of stair master. There is no indication how long they have to spend trudging on this equiment each day.

I always assumed that hard labor was a benefit to someone. People need small rocks, so inmates break rock; ditches need to be dug, trashed collected and so on. But I can’t see anything other than torture to being put on a human wheel.

For those who haven’t seen the movie, I can recommend it, but with the caveat that the plot keywaords listed on IMDb are: Male Nudity/ Diving/ Bare Butt and Undressing Scene.

My actual question is, how realistic is the portrayal of Hard Labor in a London Prison circa 1895?

2

[Quote= Conditions in Prison and Types of Punishment during the 19th century ]

By the mid 19th century, the theory was that prison was meant to punish, and so penal labour was fashionable. After 1865, those imprisoned for less than three months had to do hard labour, which was meant to punish, not to provide an income.
[/quote]

It’s been many years since I saw Wilde, but I’m sure I thought the prisoners must have been driving a mill wheel to grind flour or meal.

3

This question was asked and answered the last time a Doper watched Wilde (some good links in the thread):

Old Timey “Hard Labor” Prison Question

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[QUOTE=SpoilerVirgin]
This question was asked and answered the last time a Doper watched Wilde (some good links in the thread):

Old Timey “Hard Labor” Prison Question
[/QUOTE]

Damn, and RealityChuck linked to the exact same page I found!

5

This was my impression exactly!
Thanks for the link.