Word: headsman
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...extinct, excelled at passionate rhetoric, just like that provided by the earl in his unforgettable eulogy at the funeral of his sister Diana. The Tudors too were embroiled in endless marital controversies, though Spencer cannot end his with the finality available to Henry VIII--the thud of the headsman's ax. Still, one may wonder if Spencer was trying to display a similarly majestic, if less fatal, gesture--whether his righteous bombast against the media, delivered ostensibly to deify his sister, was not a self-interested attempt to raise himself above the prying eyes of the press...
Beckmann's exile seems prefigured in the first of his triptychs, Departure, 1932-33. Its left and right panels contain scenes of horror, torment and dislocation: a man with amputated hands tied to a pillar, a woman in bondage about to be axed by a headsman, another woman with a lamp (perhaps a muse or a guide) to whom the upside-down corpse of her partner is bound. One cannot decode these too literally, but they presumably represent the chaos overtaking Beckmann's homeland. The center panel portrays the artist's dream of escape. The blue horizon (the color...
...other countries that still punish by death, the technology of execution is simpler. A handful favor the headsman's ax or the even more ancient practice of stoning to death. The rest employ either the rope or the bullet, both of which have fallen into near total disuse in the U.S. Outside the U.S., capital punishment in the 1990s is usually associated with underdevelopment or lack of democracy, usually both. The death penalty no longer exists in any European Community country. Most of the nations of the former Soviet bloc have abolished it, and the rest are considering doing...
...HEADSMAN'S BLOCK is hardly the ideal centerpiece for a comic opera, but The Yeomen of the Guard is hardly the ideal comic opera. Rife with unlikable characters and uninventive contrivances, this odd Gilbert and Sullivan number is rightfully among the rarely revived. The Harvard Gilbert & Sullivan Players have an obligation to give due attention to each of Sir William and Sir Arthur's works, however, and their spring production is an able and ultimately entertaining attempt at presenting the eleventh of the duo's 14 operettas...
...well as the bad, to kill." The dark side of religious conviction can be a violent intractability, an avenging angel's note of retribution. As Martin Luther wrote, "He who will not hear God's word when it is spoken with kindness must listen to the headsman when he comes with his ax." Religion can provide a warmth of certitude and belonging. When its energy is turned outward, it may express itself in acts of mercy and even saintliness. But piety can also be lethal when directed against strangers and infidels. William James, writing 75 years ago, defined...