John Adams
The York
Crucifixion
Aimed at fostering affective piety, the cycle play
“The York Crucifixion” retells the story of mankind’s fall – and its
ultimate salvation – by contemplating the diametrically opposed stances on mercy
between humans and Jesus Christ – demonstrating our incapacity to fully
understanding the significance of his sacrifice. Loosely defined, affective piety describes a religious
experience in which a person/audience attempts to feel (emotionally and physically)
what Jesus Christ experienced on earth. Through heavy utilization of dramatic
irony, the play attempts to portray the shortcomings of man, the consequential
need for his forgiveness, and the common phenomenon of distancing oneself from
the passion of Christ.
The attitudes and values exhibited
throughout the play reflect human nature – our innate sense of selfishness, and
our blatant ignorance regarding eternal happenings. Dramatic irony is
prevalent throughout the entire work in the actions and banters of the roman
soldiers, and helps emphasize the point(s) the author is attempting to relay. Specifically,
the characters represent opposing perspectives on mercy. The soldiers are
trying relentlessly to make an execution as painful as possible – jesting with
each other and at Jesus; putting in almost as much effort into this as they
were in their work (nailing him to the crucifix). Jesus, on the other hand,
annoys the soldiers through his persistent disregard for his own welfare and
deep, blatant concern with that of humanity’s. Providing more insight into the
contrasting stances on mercy, Jesus asks his Father (God) to save the souls of
the men torturing him – which was met with more ridicule. To me, this was just
one instance that portrayed man’s inability to understand our inherent
imperfections.
The actions and lines of Soldier 1
particularly stood out to me as a reflection of the point. In his dialogue, he
seemed to be the unspoken leader of the group of soldiers. Numerous times he
relayed demands/orders to those working with him, which were shortly acted on.
If not the leader of the group, he certainly appeared as the catalyst that kept
things moving along. He displays sarcasm while nailing Jesus to the cross;
expressing that because Jesus thought himself a King, he would create a crown
for him to wear. This sarcasm underlines the point of the play, that although
Jesus was in fact a king, his (humanity’s) arrogance and ignorance blinded him
from the truth, and his self-interests dictated his actions.
Lines 189 – 200 struck me as important to
understand Soldier 1:
Soldier 1 – For-Great harm have I hent:
My
shoulder is asunder
Soldier 2 – And certes I am near shent,
So
long have I borne under
Soldier 3 – This cross and I in two must
twin,
Else
breaks my back asunder soon.
Soldier 4 – Lay down again and leave your
din;
This
deed for us will never be done
Soldier 1 – Essay, sirs, les see if any
fin
May
help him up withouten hone;
For
here should wight men worship win,
And
not with gauds all day to gone
In these lines, Soldier 1 somewhat
fulfills the leadership role – not only being the first to express agony, but
also the first to recommend not wasting time in getting the job done (line
201). From the footnotes, it is also apparent that Soldier 1 believes that his
work, upon completion, will provide him and his accompanying party with honor
(line 199). Here it becomes apparent just how self-serving Soldier 1 is – to
finish the job and gain what little amount of perceived honor that may result
from the apparently exhausting task of executing Jesus, he attempts to motivate
his men and basically tells them to focus. The paradox of the soldiers struggle
to carry the heavy cross was interesting to me. Each soldier expresses being in
pain from lifting and transporting Jesus and the cross, though it was nothing
comparable to the pain Jesus was in. I couldn’t help but think that the extreme
burden of carrying Jesus (and the cross he was nailed to) was so difficult
because they weren’t only carrying a man and some wood – but also the
additional weight Jesus bore on his shoulders from all the sins of the world...
past, present, and future. This paradox, I thought, summed up the author’s
point that men are too weak to save themselves. That without Jesus and his
sacrifice, which we still cannot fully understand, we would buckle under the
weight of our sins. We would be doomed.
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