While it has modern literary merit, it contrasts with the many Jewish mothers before and after Mary’s time whose sons (and daughters) lost their lives in Messianic movements, wars and foreign occupations. Tóibín’s account of Mary’s reaction to her son’s death is also problematic. She is suspicious of cult-like behaviour (on the part of Jesus and the disciples), anguished in her drawn-out introspection, and attracted to a glamorised view of “pagan” worship (neglectful of the violent and slavish aspects of it). This contrasts with Tóibín’s Mary, who seems more like an educated modern sceptic.
Madonna of Humility by Fra Angelico, circa 1440. It was expected that God would act to restore Israel (through a Messiah) in opposition to foreign occupation. Hers was a devoutly Jewish environment, permeating all aspects of life, with regular prayer, synagogue attendance, purity laws, temple worship, religious teachers and talk of miracles and signs. Mary likely laboured for her household, was illiterate, and married at a young age, which meant entering into a large extended family. Israel was then an agrarian economy with a small amount of commercial activity. There are various studies of first-century Palestine that give insight into the kind of life that Mary likely would have lived in small-town Galilee. But how plausible is this portrayal, from a historical, textual and theological perspective? The historical context for Mary’s Life As the blurb on the Malthouse Theatre website puts it (the play will run there in November): “This Mary is unrecognisable from the meek, obedient woman of scripture, painting and sculpture”. The play and the book it is based on have been much acclaimed for bravely challenging traditional beliefs about Mary. Ultimately, she rejects her Jewish faith and the idea that Jesus was the Son of God. She struggles with the trauma of losing her son to what she sees as religious fanaticism. Though looked after by these disciples, Tóibín’s Mary distrusts them and resists their efforts to twist her story to suit their agendas. Tóibín claims that Mary’s “real” story was repressed by the early disciples of Jesus. He undertakes an interesting literary experiment – though underlying this, his novella is littered with historical and theological claims that draw heavily on Christian literature. Toibin’s is a moving portrait of a woman grieving her son’s death, with a distinctly modern feel. The play has toured globally and is now having its Australian premiere at the Sydney Theatre Company with Alison Whyte in the role of Mary. Colm Tóibín’s play and Booker-nominated novella The Testament of Mary aims to “demythologise” the story of Mary (the mother of Jesus).
0 kommentar(er)
