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Political Contextuality of Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen: An Intervention in the Debate over Capital Punishment in Britain

Year 2019, Vol 18 IDEA Special Issue, 92 - 101, 31.12.2019
https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.599599

Abstract

Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen(2015) is a contextual play as the work derives its material from an actual historical event, the abolition of capital punishment in the 1960s, and presents this topic at a time in which the same issue is debated again in 2015. The play refers to two distinct socio-historical backgrounds, 1960s Britain as the context of the plot, and the 21stcentury as the context of the audience/reader. Hangmentakes place in a very specific date in history, the year in which hanging was suspended in Britain. The portrayal of what seems to be the last hanging case in the country makes it possible to problematise the integrity of the judicial system at the time. Presentation of the rivalry between two famous executioners in the country, Harry Allen and Albert Pierrepoint, also underlines the play’s socio-political relation to a certain context. What is equally noteworthy about Hangmenis McDonagh’s choice of this topic at a time in which the issue of capital punishment is raised again in Britain. Concerning recent arguments about the reintroduction of death penalty in 2015, it is observed that McDonagh also initiates a discussion concerning the legitimation of state violence through a depiction of the history of hanging. In light of this observation, the aim of this article is to discuss McDonagh’s topical dark comedy as a political intervention in the debate over death penalty in Britain by providing appropriate case studies of several hanging offences in the history of Britain.

References

  • Campbell, D. (2015). A hanging offence. London: Wyndham's Theatre.
  • Canseco, M. (2011). Death penalty: Most Britons support reinstating the death penalty for murder. Angus Reid Public Opinion. Retrieved from web.archive.org/web/20120819163903/http:/www.angus-reid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011.08.23_Death_BRI.pdf
  • Capital Punishment Bill 2013-14. (2013). Retrieved from services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/capitalpunishment.html
  • Clark, R. (1995a). English hangmen 1850 to 1964. Retrieved from http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/hangmen.html
  • Clark, R. (1995b). James Francis Hanratty: The A6 murder. Retrieved from http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/hanratty.html
  • Cunliffe, H. & Gwilliam, J. (2006, Apr. 6). Harry had the regulars hanging on his every word. Manchester Evening News. Retrieved from www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/harry-had-the-regulars-hanging-on-his-every-word-1028098
  • Davies, C. (2014, Aug. 13). Britain’s last executions: Hanging of two jobless criminals a ‘low key’ affair. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/13/britain-last-executions-hanging-criminals-low-key
  • Davies, C. (2007). The strange death of moral Britain. London: Routledge.
  • Feeney, J. (1998). Martin McDonagh: Dramatist of the West. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, 87(345), 24-32. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30091859
  • Fielding, S. (2008). Pierrepoint: A family of executioners. London: John Blake.
  • Friedman, L. M. (2000). Lexitainment: Legal process as theater. DePaul Law Review, 50(2), 539-556. Retrieved from http://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1595&context=law-review
  • Kentish, B. (2018, Nov. 3). Tory MP asks government to consider bringing back death penalty. The Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-mp-bring-back-death-penalty-john-hayes-lincolnshire-capital-punishment-a8615731.html
  • Lonergan, P. (2015). A pacifist rage. London: Wyndham’s Theatre.
  • McDonagh, M. (2015). Hangmen. London: Faber.
  • O'Hagan, S. (2015, Sep. 13). Martin McDonagh interview: Theatre is never going to be edgy in the way I want it to be. The Guardian. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/sep/11/martin-mcdonagh-theatre-never-going-to-be-edgy-hangmen-interview
  • Seal, L. (2014). Capital punishment in twentieth-century Britain: Audience, justice, memory. London: Routledge.
  • Tomlinson, A. (2006). Capital punishment in Great Britain: Theories concerning abolition. Historia, 15, 20-30.
  • Twitchell, N. H (2009). The politics of the rope: The campaign to abolish capital punishment in Britain 1955-1969 (Doctoral dissertation). London Metropolitan University, London, UK.
  • Wade, S. (2009). Britain’s most notorious hangmen. Barnsley: Wharncliffe.
  • Wright, T. J. (2014). A barbarous penalty which the community has no right to exact: Why capital punishment was abolished in Britain, 1947-69 (Doctoral dissertation). University of York, York, UK.

Martin McDonagh’ın Hangmen Oyununun Politik Bağlamsallığı: İngiltere’de İdam Cezası Tartışmalarına Bir Müdahale

Year 2019, Vol 18 IDEA Special Issue, 92 - 101, 31.12.2019
https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.599599

Abstract










Martin McDonagh’ın Hangmen (2015)
adlı oyunu, konusunu 1960’larda idam cezasının kaldırılması gibi gerçek bir ta
rihî olaydan alması ve aynı konuyu 2015’te
bu cezanın yeniden getirilmesi tartışmalarının ardından işlemesi bakımından
tarihsel bağlamı olan bir oyundur. Oyun, konusunun geçtiği 1960’lar
İngiltere’sine ve okuyucunun/seyircinin içinde bulunduğu yirmi birinci yüzyıla,
yani birbirinden uzak iki farklı sosyal ve tarihî döneme gönderme yapmaktadır. Hangmen, İngiltere’nin geçmişinde çok
belirli bir tarih olan idam cezasının kaldırıldığı yılda geçmektedir. Komik bir
biçimde ülkedeki son idam cezası olarak gösterilen olay, bu dönemdeki adalet
sisteminin doğruluğunu sorgulamayı mümkün kılmaktadır. Bu dönemde ülkenin meşhur
iki infazcısı olan Harry Allen ve Albert Pierrepoint’in oyunda karakterler
olarak kullanılması ve aralarındaki rekabetin gösterilmesi de yine oyunun
belirli bir döneme gönderme yaptığını göstermektedir. Bu oyunla ilgili eşit
derecede önemli olan bir diğer konu ise McDonagh’nın bu konuyu işlemeyi
İngiltere’de idam cezasının yeniden getirilmesinin gündemde olduğu bir zamanda
seçmiş olmasıdır. Son yıllarda ölüm cezasının yeniden getirilmesi konusundaki güncel
tartışmalar düşünüldüğünde, Martin McDonagh, bu oyunuyla geçmişten bir olayı
göstererek aynı zamanda devlet destekli şiddetin meşrulaştırılması konusunda
bir tartışmaya girmektedir. Bu gözlem ışığında bu makalenin amacı, McDonagh’ın
gündemle ilişkili olan bu kara mizahı ve İngiltere tarihindeki gerçek idam
cezası vakaları arasındaki bağlantıyı konu edinerek Hangmen oyununu ülkedeki idam tartışmalarına siyasî bir müdahale
olarak tartışmaktır.  

References

  • Campbell, D. (2015). A hanging offence. London: Wyndham's Theatre.
  • Canseco, M. (2011). Death penalty: Most Britons support reinstating the death penalty for murder. Angus Reid Public Opinion. Retrieved from web.archive.org/web/20120819163903/http:/www.angus-reid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011.08.23_Death_BRI.pdf
  • Capital Punishment Bill 2013-14. (2013). Retrieved from services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/capitalpunishment.html
  • Clark, R. (1995a). English hangmen 1850 to 1964. Retrieved from http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/hangmen.html
  • Clark, R. (1995b). James Francis Hanratty: The A6 murder. Retrieved from http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/hanratty.html
  • Cunliffe, H. & Gwilliam, J. (2006, Apr. 6). Harry had the regulars hanging on his every word. Manchester Evening News. Retrieved from www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/harry-had-the-regulars-hanging-on-his-every-word-1028098
  • Davies, C. (2014, Aug. 13). Britain’s last executions: Hanging of two jobless criminals a ‘low key’ affair. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/13/britain-last-executions-hanging-criminals-low-key
  • Davies, C. (2007). The strange death of moral Britain. London: Routledge.
  • Feeney, J. (1998). Martin McDonagh: Dramatist of the West. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, 87(345), 24-32. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30091859
  • Fielding, S. (2008). Pierrepoint: A family of executioners. London: John Blake.
  • Friedman, L. M. (2000). Lexitainment: Legal process as theater. DePaul Law Review, 50(2), 539-556. Retrieved from http://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1595&context=law-review
  • Kentish, B. (2018, Nov. 3). Tory MP asks government to consider bringing back death penalty. The Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-mp-bring-back-death-penalty-john-hayes-lincolnshire-capital-punishment-a8615731.html
  • Lonergan, P. (2015). A pacifist rage. London: Wyndham’s Theatre.
  • McDonagh, M. (2015). Hangmen. London: Faber.
  • O'Hagan, S. (2015, Sep. 13). Martin McDonagh interview: Theatre is never going to be edgy in the way I want it to be. The Guardian. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/sep/11/martin-mcdonagh-theatre-never-going-to-be-edgy-hangmen-interview
  • Seal, L. (2014). Capital punishment in twentieth-century Britain: Audience, justice, memory. London: Routledge.
  • Tomlinson, A. (2006). Capital punishment in Great Britain: Theories concerning abolition. Historia, 15, 20-30.
  • Twitchell, N. H (2009). The politics of the rope: The campaign to abolish capital punishment in Britain 1955-1969 (Doctoral dissertation). London Metropolitan University, London, UK.
  • Wade, S. (2009). Britain’s most notorious hangmen. Barnsley: Wharncliffe.
  • Wright, T. J. (2014). A barbarous penalty which the community has no right to exact: Why capital punishment was abolished in Britain, 1947-69 (Doctoral dissertation). University of York, York, UK.
There are 20 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section English Language and Literature
Authors

Özlem Özmen 0000-0003-3432-8621

Publication Date December 31, 2019
Submission Date July 31, 2019
Acceptance Date December 6, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2019 Vol 18 IDEA Special Issue

Cite

APA Özmen, Ö. (2019). Political Contextuality of Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen: An Intervention in the Debate over Capital Punishment in Britain. Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences, 18, 92-101. https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.599599