The play entitled Corpis Christi was a communal effort which lasted quite long. It was seen as a day-long celebration which dramatizes the moments in the Bible. This play only has five main characters, four soldiers and Jesus. Everyone who has watched the play, or has seen one using the same plot knows how it ends. These plays are questioned because of their “lack” of Biblical depth, not telling the story how it was really told in the Bible. This was seen in a more dramatized, at times comedic and highly gruesome kind of point of view. The focal characters were really the soldiers and their dialogue. They were seen to be more worried about their involvement, not knowing the gravity of the event, rather than what was really happening. The comic relief was needed during the time. These plays were done during the 1300s up until the 1500s, maybe during this time a little comedy was needed in order to keep people interested. The little need for characters, the short plays and the comic dialogues suggest that these plays were meant to enlighten townsfolk about the events in the Bible. Nevertheless, the The York Play of the Crucifixion has elements of religious truth and can be seen through the elements in the story, the dialogue of the soldiers as well as the things Jesus was saying (Kolve 175).
The Dialogue
The first passage, around lines 65-70 is seen as the soldiers trying to give Jesus ill advice about what to do. They tell him to repent for his sins and think about the horrible things that he has done. They wanted to get this over and done with because they believed that Jesus was another lunatic who has blasphemed the church. During the time of Christ, Pilate had the last say, and since the people had decided, Jesus was deemed guilty of heresy. This adds dramatic irony to the play because the audience knows the outcome of the Biblical story of Jesus – he died on the cross, three days later rose from the dead and washed man away of sin (Kolve 175). The play is seen in the eyes of the soldiers who had no idea what was going to happen. For all they knew, Jesus would eventually die on the cross, but that would be the end of that. We see in this part some religious truth that Jesus is the only character in the play who knew what was going on and was ready for it. He continually conversed with God, since he knew his fate. He also prayed over the fate of the soldiers who knew not of theirs.
During the time this play was written and presented, the soldiers offered a comic relief. This might have a religious truth in representing people and how they do not really know what will happen. God is a presence all throughout the play, even without lines. The fact that the soldiers were comedic and gave off a laugh or two was because they seem silly thinking that they know what will happen. No one but God knows the fate of man (Smith 80). The soldiers are just mere fools. The only real dramatic lines were said when Jesus was speaking. This is because He sticks to the religious truth and He knew what was coming. Jesus’ lines were of forgiveness and love. These lines are the ones that stayed true to the Bible. Even though the soldiers were kind of annoying and were saying things that might aggravate any normal person, Jesus kept His cool. During the time that this was written, this was probably representative of the fact that he was forgiving in nature, since He was the Son of God.
The Audience
The audience, being omnipotent in the play, all throughout could represent an all-knowing being, even God. Since everything was happening in the play was already discussed in the Bible and through other means, anyone who might have watched the play already knew what was going on. Therefore, the audience had a bit of a hint as to how each play would end. This kind of omnipresent position is like how God is present everywhere. In religious truth, it is said that the world can be seen in relation to God, in any aspect (Smith 75). It can be through literary or poetic form. There can be no end to where there is relation to God, even in non-religious or secular situations. Jesus is seen talking to the air and not directly at anyone, however the audience hears it. Everyone has their own perception of God, whether they believe in a one true creator or not, at some point, each individual has thought about it. In this play, the fact that Jesus is speaking almost to himself portrays the mystery of God. This is another religious truth that can be seen in this comedic and even lighthearted act. The claim saying that the audience is almost god-like is not a statement saying that the audience plays God, however it is an argument saying that the omnipresent beings during this play can be seen in the audience as they have a couple of characteristics that can define them as so.
Characters
The characters in the play differ within themselves. You can see the real contrast in what Jesus is saying as compared to what the soldiers are talking about. A theme of mercy can be seen in this part of the play where the soldiers do not have any at all and Jesus exercises it with every ounce of His being. The soldier try their hardest in order for Jesus to feel pain. They get frustrated and annoyed when what they do does not phase Him at all. They want to see him writhe in pain. The soldiers were seen as merciless and heartless. All they wanted to see was Jesus showing His pain. They want to perform the execution without missing a beat. They are seen to be confused at Jesus’ reaction, how he was still concerned with humanity instead of fearing his long and painful death. Instead of feeling any remorse, they quickly think that He is mad.
Jesus’ unrivalled mercy is something that is beautiful in this play. Even though some parts might say that the focus is the funny dialogues of the soldier. The parts of Jesus show the true religious truths in the play. He does not show hatred, sarcasm or anything negative towards the soldiers. He just quietly takes his beatings, lashings and torture. This part stays true to the Bible in how Jesus did not try to resist the soldiers. He is seen to pray for the soldiers and executioners. Instead of praying to be released or praying for His suffering to end, he wanted to ask God to forgive those who are bringing Him pain. “Forgiffs thes men that dois me pine./ What they wirke wotte they noght.” (258). Not a lot of people would be able to do this. During the time that this play was performed, these lines were most likely more dramatized in order to feel the emotion and to contrast with the comic relief. The comic relief might have also played a part in showing how important Jesus was.
A Mistake
Close to the start of the play one of the soldiers mentioned something quite interesting. They mention Mohammed, an Islamic prophet. This is seen in this line “We! Herke, sir knightis, for Mahoundis bloode” (61). Now, Islam is a very well known religion and a great number of people have found peace in the Muslim way of life. However, during the Medieval times, when these plays were rehersed, the Muslims were not very popular people. Not only this, Mohammed walked the earth about 500 or more years after the crucifixion of Christ. Therefore, the soldiers should not know anything about the prophet. Why would they even mention him? As religious truths go, it was probably to show how Satan was influencing the thoughts of the soldiers. During the Medieval times, the people of York were familiar with the Islamic religion. Not that they welcomed it and part took in whatever events Muslims might have had during the time, but they had negative feelings towards anyone who had that faith. The Islamic religion was the cause of a number of wars and battles during the crusades; this was the time when the Catholic church was the most dominant in the land. York and the western world knew that the growth of the Ottoman Empire in the east and the fall of Rome. Since they strongly believed that their Catholic or Christian faith was the only one to live by, they might have associated anyone from the Islamic religion with evil. Therefore, having one of the soldiers mention Mohammed’s blood was saying that he was influenced by evil. This might have been a small way for the author to show why the soldiers were acting the way they were.
The York Play of the Crucifixion was an interesting piece which showed a number of elements that reinforced religious truths. This was seen in the characters, the dialogue the audience and in the “mistake” in the play. During the time that this play was presented, a bit of comic relief might have been needed in order to educate the people on events in the Bible. The comedy presented by the soldiers was probably used in order to emphasize the real drama in the story.
Works Cited
Jeremy Smith (1989). “Religious Experience and Literary Form: The Interrelation of Perception,
Commitment, and Interpretation”. The University of Notre Dame. 21(3): 61-83.
V.A. Kolve. “The Play Called Corpus Christi”. California: Stanford. Pp. 175-205
