The York Crucifixion

The York Cricifixion shows through the representations of mercy (shown by Jesus) and cruelty (which the four soldiers displayed) the love God gives and makes the audience reflect on the wrongs that they do on a day-to-day basis. The main characters are Jesus, who speaks only twice and has a very limiting number of lines in the play, and four soldiers, who take up the large majority of the play’s dialogue. Jesus shares many of the values and attitudes the unknown author has which will be examined further.

The author, as well as the people of York, grew up religious and believe in Jesus the Savior. Because of this, the figure of Jesus represents what they believe to be right and just. Therefore, many, if not all, of the views Jesus has in the play overlap the values of the playgoers and the authors. Jesus represents mercy and forgiving others. He also condones the evil that the soldiers commit and asks God for their forgiveness. In contrast, the devilish actions of the soldiers serve to remind the audience to think about what they sins they commit on a daily basis.

The main value in Jesus that the author wanted to portray is forgiveness. Even when the soldiers are taunting him and getting ready to murder him, Jesus is asking God for forgiveness. This trait is what the author wanted to get across to his audience. The author want the audience to remember forgiving is never easy, but it is what God wants to see in His children. This is important because everyone can use a reminder of what is right (or what a society values as right). The stark contrast between Jesus and the soldiers will make the audience think about how they react in small, everyday interactions.

The lines of the play that best illustrate Jesus’s characteristic forgiveness are lines 49-60:

“Almighty God, my Father free,
Let these matters be marked in mind:
Thou bade that I should buxom be,
For Adam’s plight to be pined.
Here to death I oblige me,
From that sin for to save mankind,
And sovereignly beseech I thee
That they for me may favour find;
And from the fiend them fend,
So that their souls be safe
In wealth withouten end;
I keep not else to crave.”

This dialogue illustrates Jesus’s forgiving powers. What really strikes me is that Jesus knows these men are going to kill him, but he nonetheless asks for their forgiveness and mankind’s forgiveness. Being able to forgive humankind even when they are putting you to death is such an act of forgiveness it shows that the audience should be able to also offer forgiveness in situations that will likely never be that extreme. This very clearly illustrates the author’s key idea of forgiveness.