Penned in the dock, as I again stood outside it at the corner with his hand in mine, were the two-and-thirty men and women; some defiant, some stricken with terror, some sobbing and weeping, some covering their faces, some staring gloomily about…a great gallery full of people, – a large theatrical audience, – looked on, as the two-and-thirty and the Judge were solemnly confronted.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 56. Magwitch’s trial is short and quick, as he is sentenced to death for fleeing from his sentence in Australia. On the same day before the same judge, 32 prisoners are subjected to the same grim fate. The use of the word “penned” suggests that these unfortunate men and women are treated as if they are cattle or sheep. Dickens is being critical here of the inhumanity of the Victorian justice system.