Thomas Henderson
Dr. Nakley
11/20/14
Final Paper
York Play of Crucifixion and Humanity As long as humanity has existed, humans have been trying to figure out what humanity is. It has bend elated for generations by people, and many people have different answers. Oftentimes, authors of various works try and explain humanity through their work. It 's often difficult, because we cannot really understand what humanity is. However, some artists get relatively close, and give pretty good explanation as to what it is. The York 's Play of Crucifixion especially shows what it means to be human, in a very intelligent and interesting way. What I believe means to be human is imperfection. As humans, we physically cannot be perfect. There is not one person …show more content…
They are brutal towards Jesus, but that shows something that is of grave importance to being human as a whole. The soldiers are ruthless towards Jesus, because "This traitor here tainted of treasoun" (York play of Crucifixion, line 77). The word tainted, which is a synonym for convicted, is an interesting word choice here. To call Jesus tainted sounds inevitably worse than convicted; it makes him sound sick, and that he cannot be helped. This is a common folly of human nature as a whole. Oftentimes, humans act extremely badly towards people who are convicted of crimes, even if they may not know the whole story. The soldiers immediately view him as a criminal, and a bad one at that, and automatically begin to talk down to him, and treat him poorly. And while Jesus was convicted of treason, which was and still is one of the most severe crimes one can commit, the soldiers felt an air of superiority around him because of his status as a criminal. Today, humans often look down their noses at criminals of all shapes and sizes because the criminals are considered to be worse than they are, simply for something they have done, oftentimes doing so without knowing all of the facts. Instead if trying to understand why a criminal would do something, many people simply write them off as a bad person. And it can stem from anything, from something as simple as a drug offense to something as intense as treason. While …show more content…
The soldiers believe they are doing good work by executing Jesus. When the soldiers say "His limbs on length then shall I lead, And even unto the bore them bring. Unto his head I shall take heed, And with my hand help him to hing" (York Play of Crucifixion, lines 85-89). They are slowly explaining what they are going to do to Jesus, right in front of him. Of course, this is a play and it 's done for the crowd as well, it still stands as a literary tool for showing a lack of remorse. The words used, like when he said he will lead Jesus 's head himself, are not the signs of someone who show remorse. The soldiers who are employed by the state, feel as though it is their duty to kill this man as an enemy of it. This is a very important topic when it comes to capital punishment, because a large amount of people are for it, especially in America. As someone who is personally against it, the ease in which these soldiers talk about it is a little jarring. The four soldiers not only do it willingly, but in fact want to do it, as shown when the 2nd soldier says, "Now sen we four shall do this deed, And meddle with this unthrifty thing" (York 's Play of Crucifixion, lines 89-90). Line 90 basically says that they will deal with this criminal. This is where the true nature of the soldiers really comes to light. The soldiers basically think of Jesus as a criminal that deserves to
Dr. Nakley
11/20/14
Final Paper
York Play of Crucifixion and Humanity As long as humanity has existed, humans have been trying to figure out what humanity is. It has bend elated for generations by people, and many people have different answers. Oftentimes, authors of various works try and explain humanity through their work. It 's often difficult, because we cannot really understand what humanity is. However, some artists get relatively close, and give pretty good explanation as to what it is. The York 's Play of Crucifixion especially shows what it means to be human, in a very intelligent and interesting way. What I believe means to be human is imperfection. As humans, we physically cannot be perfect. There is not one person …show more content…
They are brutal towards Jesus, but that shows something that is of grave importance to being human as a whole. The soldiers are ruthless towards Jesus, because "This traitor here tainted of treasoun" (York play of Crucifixion, line 77). The word tainted, which is a synonym for convicted, is an interesting word choice here. To call Jesus tainted sounds inevitably worse than convicted; it makes him sound sick, and that he cannot be helped. This is a common folly of human nature as a whole. Oftentimes, humans act extremely badly towards people who are convicted of crimes, even if they may not know the whole story. The soldiers immediately view him as a criminal, and a bad one at that, and automatically begin to talk down to him, and treat him poorly. And while Jesus was convicted of treason, which was and still is one of the most severe crimes one can commit, the soldiers felt an air of superiority around him because of his status as a criminal. Today, humans often look down their noses at criminals of all shapes and sizes because the criminals are considered to be worse than they are, simply for something they have done, oftentimes doing so without knowing all of the facts. Instead if trying to understand why a criminal would do something, many people simply write them off as a bad person. And it can stem from anything, from something as simple as a drug offense to something as intense as treason. While …show more content…
The soldiers believe they are doing good work by executing Jesus. When the soldiers say "His limbs on length then shall I lead, And even unto the bore them bring. Unto his head I shall take heed, And with my hand help him to hing" (York Play of Crucifixion, lines 85-89). They are slowly explaining what they are going to do to Jesus, right in front of him. Of course, this is a play and it 's done for the crowd as well, it still stands as a literary tool for showing a lack of remorse. The words used, like when he said he will lead Jesus 's head himself, are not the signs of someone who show remorse. The soldiers who are employed by the state, feel as though it is their duty to kill this man as an enemy of it. This is a very important topic when it comes to capital punishment, because a large amount of people are for it, especially in America. As someone who is personally against it, the ease in which these soldiers talk about it is a little jarring. The four soldiers not only do it willingly, but in fact want to do it, as shown when the 2nd soldier says, "Now sen we four shall do this deed, And meddle with this unthrifty thing" (York 's Play of Crucifixion, lines 89-90). Line 90 basically says that they will deal with this criminal. This is where the true nature of the soldiers really comes to light. The soldiers basically think of Jesus as a criminal that deserves to