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Shakespeare puts those words into the mouth of Dick the Butcher, a violent anti-intellectual anarchist, who for the sheer devilment of it joins forces with a de
by thombat 4y ago
Shakespeare puts those words into the mouth of Dick the Butcher, a violent anti-intellectual anarchist, who for the sheer devilment of it joins forces with a deranged pretender noble (who in turn sets about killing the literate while "liberating" their property, including in this their womenfolk)
Are you sure he's the company you wish to keep?
- infamouscow 4y agoAre you going to actually debate the merits of the statement or just change the subject to make ad hominem attacks of a fictional character?
- thombat 4y agoIt's actually the opposite of an ad hominem: Shakespeare puts those words in the mouth of a violent and disordered criminal precisely to attack such sentiments, tempting though they may be to us when faced with outrageous behavior by lawyers. It is a warning to us to avoid throwing the baby with the bathwater, and the deplorable character of Dick is exactly to the point. Other words of fiction on the topic, though placed in the mouths of real people who held something of these views (A Man For All Seasons): William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that! Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!