Comparing Foucault's Discipline And Punish

In Michel Foucault’s book Discipline and Punish, he discusses the history of the modern penal system. He seeks to analyze punishment in its social context, and to examine how changing power relations affected punishment. there is a section of the text titled “Panopticism”. The idea of this excerpt is to exemplify disciplinary power. It is shown through Jeremy Bentham’s vision of this building, a prison, that models the idea that individuals can be controlled and supervised efficiently. It aims to reform the individual and deprive him of his freedom. The building is a very organized structure that is extremely well thought out. Everything and everyone is in the correct place and when it all comes together it works out ideally.

Bentham really

The peripheral building is divided into cells that each have two windows; one on the outside, and one corresponding to the windows of the tower. The idea of this set up is that the window on the outside allows the light to cross the cell from one end to the other. By using the backlighting like this, one can observe from the tower, while standing against the light, the shadows of the prisoners in the cells. Bentham uses the the simile, “They are like so many cages, so make small theaters, in which each actor is alone, perfectly individualized and constantly visible” (200). He portrays the prisoners like this because they are all consistently being watched as though they are performers at a show. It allows officials to recognize something immediately. It’s main goal is to reverse the idea of the encasement, deprivation of light, and hiding. Instead, giving the individuals full lighting and knowledge of a supervisor. Bentham created this building to avoid compact masses of people that were found in places of confinement. Each individual is confined to his own cell from which he is prevented from coming into contact with his companions due to side walls, and is seen from the front by the