Justice Critics Flashcards
What does Paul Cheetham say about Justice and mercy?
‘Justice without mercy has been found to be unworkable, but the application of justice seasoned by mercy will not. result in a return to moral anarchy.’
Paul Cheetham, Critic, 2009 Review (The English Review Vol.19, Issue 3)
Justice and mercy in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure: Measure for Measure shares the same preoccupation with justice and mercy as a number of Shakespeare’s earlier plays. Paul Cheetham explores their portrayal of the complex relationship between legalism and humanity.
What does John Mullan say about punishment in the play
Everyone receives punishment in some way in the play
What does Schlegel say is the play’s central message?
‘the sense of the whole is properly the triumph of mercy over strict justice’
The phrase “the sense of the whole” refers to the general understanding, meaning, or overarching idea derived from considering all parts of something together. It suggests grasping the big picture rather than focusing on individual details.
Possible Meanings & Usage:
Comprehensive Understanding – Seeing how all elements fit together to form a complete idea.
After reading the entire book, I finally grasped the sense of the whole.
Unity or Cohesion – The feeling of completeness when separate parts form a harmonious whole.
The director’s editing gave the film a strong sense of the whole.
Philosophical/Spiritual Context – The idea that everything is interconnected (similar to gestalt in psychology).
Meditation helped him feel the sense of the whole—how his life was part of a greater universe.
what does Wasson say on Aristotelian Justice?
‘For it will be remembered that Aristotle distinguished two types of incontinent man: the type like Angelo who chooses what is right but cannot follow his own advice; and the excitable type, who “does not deliberate at all”. Claudio is this excitable type.’
J.Wasson, 1960, ‘A Play of Incontinence’
Magedanz on the unity of private and public justice?
‘The Duke engineers the final judgment scene to unite public and private, and specifically to expose Angelo’s hypocrisy as a civil authority while eliciting Isabella’s personal sense of compassion. The climax comes in the Duke’s dramatic condemnation of Angelo:’
Stacy Magedan, 2004, Public Justice and Private Mercy in “M4M”
What does Patsy Hall say about the system of Justice?
‘We are meant to question a system of justice which sentences to death the faithful Claudio for generating life while allowing leniency to a degenerate like Pompey if he’ll commit judicial murder.’
What does Brendan Jackson say about Justice and Mercy’s prerequisite?
‘Although Justice and Mercy have been served, duplicity has been required from the forces of good as well as the forces of evil.’
Brendan Jackson, 2015, Testing Comic Boundaries
What does Fiona Dunlop say about Claudio’s punishment?
‘Because of the necessity to arouse terror in the spectating public, the punishment may be disproportionate to the crime.’
Fiona Dunlop, 2009, Surveillance and Paranoia in Measure For Measure
Lord Acton
Absolute power corrupts absolutely
John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, KCVO, DL (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), better known as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, Liberal politician, and writer. A strong advocate for individual liberty, Acton is best known for his timeless observation on the dangers of concentrated authority. In an 1887 letter to an Anglican bishop, he famously wrote, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,”[1] underscoring his belief that unchecked power poses the greatest threat to human freedom. His works consistently emphasized the importance of limiting governmental and institutional power in favor of individual rights and personal liberty.
