Incendium Amoris



"But I haven't lost the demons' craft and cunning: I've inherited
from them some useful things, but they won't be used for their benefit!"


--Robert de Boron, Merlin

Name:
Location: Ontario, Canada

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Drama and Vision in the Middle Ages

The end of the semester is near but one essay remains to be done. Unlike my last essay that I wrote recently, this one isn't going to be easy. This essay is for the Drama and Vision in the Middle Ages course.

I am having trouble keeping the essay simple, without attempting some grand narrative or dissertation on the play: Brome Abraham and Isaac. The question goes like this: Discuss the methods used in this play to dramatize or make visual certain key doctrinal points or aspects of salvation history. Consider the potential or intended impact of this dramatic representation of the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac on the audience.

So far I've figured out that the two areas where the playwright seems to reveal key doctrinal points or aspects of salvation are:
(a) literally associated with Abraham's body, e.g. heart/bosom and his hands.
(b) allegorically associated with Isaac's burdens, e.g. the wood, his mother, and the sacrificial beast.

I have developed an outline, but I know from experience that I'll never stick to it, as Abraham obeys God. Instead, I'm thinking of typing out all the quotations I've picked and letting my mind figure it out as I go. That way I won't make up my mind that the work is done before I've written the paper. No, an essay is about progressing towards the end, like a journey, or an odyssey. Likewise I won't fret about it too much, since I have all weekend to write it.

The sun is going down, so I should cease to work on my school work. It's time to reflect, rest and remember. Adieu.

ADDENDUM: The essay is finished. You can read it here, if you dare.

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