Question

I was a man once, and I am a beast now . - what circumstances turned the man into a beast in Bishop's candlestick ?

Answer 1

The convict was actually a good human being before. When her wife was ill and was starving then he stole food for her dying wife but the police caught him even after when they got to know the truth. He was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. They lashed him like a wild hound, they made him eat on fildh, he was covered with vermin and he slept on boards for continuously 10 years. All these sufferings changed him into a beast from a man.

Answer 2

Answer:

In the context of ‘The Bishop’s Candlestick’, we come face to face with the circumstances that compelled the convict into a beast when he narrates to him his past life. As the play unfolds in front of us, the audience comes to know the convict in his past was a normal promising man who had a wife. Owing to bad economy of his country, he had to steal a loaf of bread for his ill wife. The cruel society had no sympathy and pity for him! Instead of sympathizing with him, the police arrested him and tried him in a court. Even the cruel judge did not hesitate passing such a harsh sentence against him.  He was treated like a beast for such a minor and pardonable offence. He was beaten, fed on filth, and tortured. His wife died in his absence that turned him into a criminal.

The cruelty of the society did not stop only here! They tortured him for ten long years! The prison authorities persecuted him mercilessly. His fault was very minor in comparison to the inhuman and heartless punishment he was given. They chained him up like a wild animal; they lashed him like a hound. He was fed on filth, he was covered, with vermin, he slept on boards, and when he complained, and then they lashed him again. For ten years they persecuted him in this manner. They took away his name, they took away his soul, and they gave him a devil in its place.

Explanation:

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