Officers representing outdated views on punishment are, however, mostly shown negatively, with fierce opposition to any suggestion that redemption might work better than punishment, and where there is comedy in these scenes they are often crude and dark. These differences in representation between the old and new views of punishment strongly favor redemption over punishment, as does the overall progression of the work in which supporters of punishment are the only antagonists. Given these different representations of punishment and redemption, it is clear throughout the play that punishment is associated with tragedy and redemption with comedy; the condemned are not crushed into submission, but rise in society to achieve happiness. From this point of view the development of the work is overall comical, even with tragic elements introduced by the antagonists, both overcome by