If I cringe inwardly now and again, it's a small price to pay for the joy of performing some classic roles. Its use in no way connects to character or plot, and I see no reason to gratuitously enrage the audience. Certain scenes in Showboat , however, would lose their punch if the racist attitudes and language were cleansed from the production. Trial by Jury has never bothered me too much. I can see more argument against Ida for mysogynistic undertones than against Trial .
Trial is really theater of the absurd.
Ida could be seen as more realistic or, like a fairy tale, using makebelieve characters and places to tell a realistic story. But I digress. At Oberlin, they did Trial by Jury and, as far as I was told, no one batted a politically correct eyelash. It's amazing how violent previously calm people who are kind by nature can become when trying to prove a point to someone they are trying to get rid of. My 02 cents sees his wifebeating comments as just an example of quick footed thinking designed to get himself out of any monetary claims submitted by Angelina.