Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Melpomene |
Javert's suicide (not the song)Does anyone know if suicide was against the law when Javert killed himself? |
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| Oli-Ol |
Not 100% cartain but I think it was. Still is in England, technically.
It was definitely against his religion though |
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| Orestes Fasting |
England's legal history is quite different from France's though--religious laws and many laws relating to personal morality or victimless crimes were taken off the books during the Revolution, and not all of them were brought back under subsequent, more conservative governments. But I don't know about suicide in particular. A couple Google searches confirm that it was legalized during the Revolution, but I don't know if it was changed under the Restoration. |
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| Yakko |
Besides who would pay for the crime if the suicide is successful? | ||||
| Disney-Bway27 |
^ I've never understood that, either...if suicide is against the law, who can the officials really punish? The perpetrator and the victim are both dead, so you really can't do anything. 
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| Melpomene |
Well, in Hamlet the gravediggers say that Ophelia shouldn't have been buried in the churchyard because her death was a suicide - if she hadn't been who she was, she would have been "punished" by not being given a proper burial. | ||||
| demolitionhannah |
Suicide was illegal in the England and Wales, although it isn't anymore. Same goes for the United States - two states supported suicide as a criminal act until the early 1990's - but suicide is written into "common law" in some states. For example, if a family provider committed suicide, it could be the case that the family would be granted less rights and benefits afterwards.
Also, I think that when suicide is illegal, it's illegal because attempting to commit suicide or assisting suicide (whether in the case of euthanasia or not) can be punished, and is. As for France... "Louis XIV in 1670 was far more severe in its punishment: the dead person's body was drawn through the streets, face down, and then hung or thrown on a garbage heap. Additionally, all of the person's property was confiscated." [wikipedia] So, I don't know if it was still the same in 1832... |
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| jackrussell |
It's really just to show that society doesn't approve of it. Also, one advantage to making suicide a crime is that the authorities can prosecute somebody who assists a suicide, for conspiracy to commit a crime. Which is beneficial, otherwise you could murder somebody and then say you were only helping them commit suicide, and therefore it's legal. Of course with the euthanasia debate it's a very hot topic at the moment and the law will no doubt change and become ever more complex. |
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| Gargamel |
Suicide is not anymore a crime in France since 1810.
Then it was legal when Javert commited suicide... 
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| Artemis Entreri |
He would never do it if it was illegal... Poor thing.
Maybe he didn't even get a normal funeral? 
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| Melpomene |
Can anyone confirm this? |
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| Gargamel |
It is the case since the napoleonic code in 1810. I made a search on Google about that in french. But sure, feel free to search by yourself if you need some more confirmations. Wikipedia france: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide#Le_suicide_et_la_loi There is plenty of other sites that can confirm that. |
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| Disney-Bway27 |
He probably didn't even get a funeral. lol. He drowned himself. |
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| lesmisloony |
If he had had a funeral I guarantee you Valjean would have showed up and cried the whole time.
Nothing slashy. It's just... Valjean-y. |
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| Monsieur D'Arque |
Minister: Here Lies The Body of Something Javert. Ashes to ashes, funk to funky, we know Major Tom's a junkie, Deus Mimi, Deus Fedex...
Valjean: It should have been me! It should have been me! (He pats his own ass.) Valjean: Wait a minute... my anal sense! It isn't tingling! For the first time in years, no one's after my ass! I'm free! I'm free! Marius: Hello, Daddy? Valjean: Aaaaand... there it goes. |
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| Disney-Bway27 |
I'm seeing a future Barricade Boys spinoff...
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| mastachen |
The body would have washed out to sea, which would have then washed up to shore. So he probably would've been discovered and buried at some point, unless people back then didn't frequent beaches. |
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| lesmisloony |
It got caught under a boat, didn't it? I feel like a woman pulled it out or found it or something.
I could turn around and check in one of the four copies sitting on the shelf above my head, but... nah. |
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| Artemis Entreri |
Yes, he was found. (I can imagine the poor girls who found him.) So maybe, he got a funeral... but no priest.
I'm sure Valjean was there, but hiding before J's colleagues. His "reaction" in the book makes me run around the room screaming. At least he could understand J's reasons... 
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