I forgot to include the following two statements

1) The Elizabethans believed that everyone was linked together by a chain of rights and obligations. If someone broke the chain (Can I say "when the chain was broken"), the whole system would break down plunging the universe into chaos.
In the end, the guilty party (can I say the guilty or the bad) would be punished and order would be restored.

Thank you very much for your help.

yes, go with when the chain was broken and the guilty would be..