institution
Guillotine
guillotine
also: La Guillotine, nyaktiló
A beheading machine adopted by the French Revolution as the instrument of 'humane' capital punishment, named after Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814). During the Terror (1793–94) it claimed thousands of lives, becoming the defining symbol of revolutionary justice in Madách's Danton scene (scene 9 of Az ember tragédiája).
Reading notes
- The Tragedy of Man §9 guillotine
A beheading machine adopted by the French Revolution as the instrument of 'humane' capital punishment, named after Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814). During the Terror (1793–94) it claimed thousands of lives, becoming the defining symbol of revolutionary justice in Madách's Danton scene (scene 9 of Az ember tragédiája).