One of my projects last semester was to do historical research on a period of Presbyterian history and present it in some form, be it a research paper, a time line, or something else. Starving for some literary time, I decided the obvious choice was to again dabble in the realm of drama. The result was Consumed by Flame. I've mentioned it a bit before, but here are the gory details.
The drama takes place in 1540s Scotland, at the beginning of the Scottish Reformation. The particular inciting incident is the arrest of George Wishart, the Protestant Reformer, by his adversary, David Cardinal Beaton. It is a very interesting piece of history not just for the showdown between them, but for its lasting and serious aftershocks. To what extent did these events bring about the good of the Reformation and to what extent the bad? To what extent did it shape the negative events of later Scottish religious history? The play tries to engage with some of these questions at their root.
From a formal standpoint, the play follows the classic five act structure favored by Shakespeare. It is almost entirely a prose play, however, unlike many of Shakespeare's works. Besides the Bard, the style of the play was influenced primarily by Aeschylus and Marlowe. Of course, I do not claim to emulate any of these greats well, I merely note where I got the inspiration. Weighing in somewhere between Kit Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice in length, I estimate a performance time of approximately two hours, if it were put on stage. I like playing with darkness and light, and, weaving a story that peers into the psyche, and this play follows on those themes, though not as much, perhaps, as Deafening Silence did.
Well, if this has piqued your interested at all, and you would like to take a gander at the script, please let me know. I am looking for some comments on what works and what does not in the play. If nothing else, you'll get all of the footnotes and the works cited page, which will give you some nice material to go on, should you desire to do some historical research.
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Love the cover art! I’m not much on plays; I can grasp them, but they simply have little appeal to me.
Sounds interesting. I’ve heard it said “The history of Protestantism is the history of Prussia.” I’ve often felt that Calvin shaped the reformation as much as Luther, maybe more so.
On a timeline, church life goes through a 120 year lifecycle. Each cycle starts with the marginalized (poor immigrants), becomes acceptable to the middle class, then reaches a peak in the universities. Then a decline. Think Billy Sunday-Billy Graham-Jesus Movement(1970)-Jim Bakker-Ted Haggard. 1517 was Luther’s year, 1540 should put the church in a role where it has “gelled” as a discipline for the marginalized, and is knocking on the door of the middle class?
How much had Scotland evolved into “highland” and “lowland” - in an economic sense. The clans, on the one hand, were economically efficient, while there was potential to exploit the highland, as if it were a “colony”. The Church of England had its greatest upheaval when it became wealthy, did the same thing happen in Scotland? At this time?
Thanks, Ed. I was having fun with that.
Mike, interesting observation, hmm. The Highlands really don't play a role in the Reformation picture, I think, until the nineteenth century. It stays pretty strongly Catholic, while the lowlands convert early on. 1540 is at the very beginning as far as Scotland goes. John Knox is just starting at this time, and he is the one that will really oversee the switchover.
As far as wealth, the Catholic Church in Scotland was certainly wealthy at this time. The Church of Scotland does not solidify as the approved state church (and hence the church of the respectable wealthy) until the eighteenth century. After the throne goes from Mary to James, it is securely Protestant, but the sitting monarchs strongly favor the Church of England for all of the UK until the coming of William and Mary.
I'm not sure if that helps with where you were going or not?
Yes, it helps.
I’ve often thought that Ireland and Scotland should have their northerners swap homes “even steven”. In other words, every Ulster resident should be able to swap with a Highlander. Same house/farm for same house/farm. Make the IRA the Irish Relocation Army. I know it’s been done before, by force and by emigration (more highlanders live in US, Canada and Australia), but a balanced, legal, humane swap wpuld be possible nowadays.
It would make both countries very happy.
Interesting idea, Mike. I suppose the only problem would be that as I understand it, Scotland is on its way to being a Catholic majority, due to Southern Irish immigration, so I am told. Maybe if they all agreed to that idea, though, it will let them feel settled.
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