The question of time runs throughout the entire play and informs the theology behind Thomas's recognition of his role as a martyr. In many ways, a true martyr must die as Christ did – because God wills it – and those Christians who follow are expected to subsume their own lives in service of God for that reason. The chorus must come to terms with the fact that a martyr's death saddles them with a burden to validate the sacrifice through their own lives. Further, the play explores martyrdom in terms of how it impacts the true believers who come afterward. Thomas's journey in Part I is marked by his acceptance that he wants to seek martyrdom for the sake of his pride and worldly glory, and his subsequent willingness to rid himself of those desires and to die solely for God's cause. He argues that a martyr is not made by accident, but rather by God's will. As Thomas explains in his Interlude sermon, a martyr is not merely one who dies for God, but rather one who allows himself to be "the instrument of God" (199). One of the most explicit philosophies Eliot explores is what constitutes a true Christian martyr.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |