Summary : ' The Widow 's Cause '

How do the 18th and 19th century rituals of execution compare to those in the modern day? Do you think these differences are impacted by changing understandings of punishment, or by Elias' concept of the civilising process

Punishments varied, depending on the severity of the crime committed. Types of punishment included revenge, social ridicule, ostracism, insulting, spearing (aimed at the leg, but sometimes resulted in death) and death by

One of the many things that has been highly controversial and still is to this very day is how to properly punish and treat criminals. Here in America we now have the Eighth Amendment to protect us from cruel and unusual punishment. This was based off of a Parliament Act of 1689 that created England’s Bill of Rights. Before England had come up with the idea that humans should have guaranteed basic rights, it wasn’t a matter of whether or not a criminal would die, as much as it was a matter of how they would die. Torture devices such as the guillotine, the stake, the brazen bull, and the rack were used to spread the idea of fear and punishment that was ineffectually used by leaders to try and control their people throughout the history of Europe.

What is justice? Is it a fitting punishment for a crime? Or a court or officer of the law? Is it the law itself? It has many definitions and interpretations, depending on various people. Some interpret it very simply, saying that it is fairness in every situation. Others give the word more complication, saying that it is doing what is morally right and fair. Oxford Dictionary defines it as many things, including, “Just behaviour or treatment...The quality of being fair and reasonable.” Black’s Law Dictionary defines justice as, “The constant and perpetual disposition to render every man his due.” All are various meanings and interpretations of one, single, word, that has been explored in many books and novels, including one by Harper Lee. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the characters of Atticus and Mr. Raymond to show the meaning of true justice and how it transcends prejudicial divisions.

Capital punishment first established date as far back as the 18th century B.C. There were 25 different crimes for the death penalty. This made death the only punishment for all crimes. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement.

Some other punishments were leather strap used on to hit anywhere on the body, beating with fists, and until unconscious, burning and scalding the hands, starvation, public

According to Clear, Cole, and Reisig, (2013, p. 28 & 29) during the middle ages various forms of punishments were imposed on the body of the offender. Authority of government grew, and the criminal law system became more fully developed. Other forms of sanctions were applied due to the rise of trade, the breakdown of feudal order, the emergence of a middle class. In Europe before the 1800s fines and five punishments were common: galley slavery, imprisonment, transportation, corporal punishment and death. Each

In some instances, you would be put into the stocks which are basically modern day’s version of a prison while the only difference was that the stocks were used as a way of humiliating people who broke the law and would usually get food thrown at them. Another method of punishment was through the use of using a letters such as “A” which stood for adultery and “T” for thief. The more severe punishments that are no longer used today was being branded on by a piping hot branding iron which would be used to humiliate and torture people who broke the law. It became horrid that they would use it to cut off a person’s tongue if they spoke wrongly of the church. Now that severe punishment isn’t used today due to moral and ethical issues pertain towards it being something correct or wrong to do which is ironic as even today we imply the use of the death penalty for very serious

A major change through medieval times were types of punishment. Usually, types of punishment relied on social hierarchy and the crime you had committed. Some of the punishments included being placed in stocks, have to drink poison, be pulled apart by horses, banishment and burnt on the stake. (Medieval punishment wikispace.com) (blogspot.com) (australia.gov.au). Most punishments purpose, were to torture people or humiliate.

Justice means to put everything in place or having balance in everything that exists. Allah is just by giving everything balance. For example, if the attraction forces between the earth and the sun are lost, everything on this planet will be destroyed. He made everything on the planet perfectly. Another meaning of justice is to follow individual rights. The opposite of justice is oppression. Oppression is when someone takes all your rights away. Justice and equality are two different things. Equality is when people should be treated equally regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, etc. Justice is way more than just equality. It is compared to sizes of animals. They are different sizes but still treated with justice. We know that goodness is good and

In the roman times crucifixion was the punishments. Nails are driven through the wrists and ankles, you are then left to die in agony. Death takes hours and hours. Another punishment was being fed to lions in the morning, but in the afternoon it was man against man. The fighters had nothing to protect them from the animal - no helmets or shields. The crowd would shout KILL HIM, FLOG HIM AND BURN HIM.

However, the prophets define righteousness as the way that God acted in the world. (i.e.: Jer 9:23-24). Justice is described in how people were to live in the world in relation to each other and to other people. Justice in this sense does not carry the legal meaning sometimes attached to it. It is not making sure that everyone gets exactly what they deserve based on law. There is some dimension of that in other traditions where justice is what God brings to those who violate his torah. But in the prophet’s justice it means to practice grace and mercy towards those who have no power to serve it for themselves. It means to protect and defend those who are helpless and powerless.

The earliest historical record of the death penalty otherwise known as capital punishment goes back as far as the eighteenth century B.C., when the code of King Hammurabi of Babylon listed 25 crimes which were punishable by death. Since then, the uses of the death penalty have prevailed throughout the ages in laws and justice systems of different civilizations. For instance, the Draconian Code of Athens punishes all crimes with the death penalty. During those times, the death penalty involved suffering a gruesome death such as being burnt alive, impaling, crucifixion and stoning (Death Penalty Information Center, 2011).

Throughout history, people have been trying to create an improved, fair, and equal system of justice, not only to better society in which one lives, but to also find a sense of meaning in what responsibilities people should hold within their civilizations in order to create this just way of living. As early as the Old Testament within the Bible, we see examples of how the Hebrews formed their own justice. This can be seen in the in text of the Ten Commandments which were written in a form of law. Laws were significant even in this basic form of context, such as the Ten Commandments, which offered the ideas of right and wrongdoings and the sin for violating others for one’s own benefit. This not only

Love, money and justice, The Widow is about all these things and yet so much more. Thomas Middleton’s play blurs the lines of gender until “there may be no essential difference beyond performance” (Taylor, 1076). And walking away from this performance I can definitely identify that. There was a wide range of gender crossing in the play, Brandino, Francisco and Attilio, and as well as some gender ambiguous character, like the Thieves and the Martini, that the audience instantly becomes aware that they must read the actors actions and costuming to determine gender, or in the case of the ambiguous just accept that we won’t know. The Martini act as a single entity of sorts, all ways working together and in their opening scene they are somewhat vulgar in their demeanor working together to deliver their lines. This is what convinced me that although they are two characters their genders are fluid and unimportant to the plot. Along with this at the end there is the closure of the marriages and alternate ending that helps to reinforce what Middleton’s view on gender. Although in Middleton’s time “marriage between two men was unthinkable” and would promote “ridicule” the cast have made this change, and still used marriage as a plot devise, to make a modern audience think about gender as Middleton’s audience would in his time(Unknown). These small changes in casting and script, adhere to Middleton’s view of “gender being merely a performance” and I think he would be happy