Shakespeare and the Body Politic by Gish Dustin A. Dobski Bernard J

Author:Gish, Dustin A.,Dobski, Bernard J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books, a division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2012-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

Barnardine embodies Paul’s description of the human condition. He enjoys “the liberty of the prison.” It is a remarkably apt metaphor for the situation Paul attributes to us all.

And Barnardine, in one of the play’s funniest and most significant scenes, exemplifies the fate of all who enjoy only the “liberty of the prison.” The time of his execution arrives; the Duke has persuaded the Provost to send Barnardine’s head to Angelo in place of Claudio’s. Pompey, assisting the hangman Abhorson, summons Barnardine to his execution: “Master Barnardine! You must rise and be hanged, Master Barnardine” (IV.iii.22-23). Barnardine grumbles, so Pompey calls again: “You must be so good, sir, to rise and be put to death” (IV.iii.27-28). Barnardine replies that he is sleeping, so Pompey calls a third time: “Pray, Master Barnardine, awake till you are executed, and sleep afterwards” (IV.iii.31-32). In this brief trinity of exchanges we find summarized the lot of sinners. Our will corrupted by sin, we are doomed from the moment of birth. We rise to life, only to be put to death; awake, only to sleep forever. Until grace intervenes to conquer sin by ending the war ’twixt will and will not within us—by replacing the mere liberty of the prison with true liberty—we can expect no more than Pompey here offers Barnardine.

The remedy for this death, of course, is to rise to new life with Christ. For Christians, this new life begins at baptism. And here we may return to Paul. For Paul announces that in baptism, instead of being born only to die, the Christian dies to sin and is born to new life. Paul describes how baptism joins us to Christ’s death and resurrection:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is free from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. (Romans 6:3-8)

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