Shortly after Hermione was put in prison by Leontes, she gave birth to a girl. While in this setting we meet Paulina, Antigonus' wife, and she has an exchange with a prison guard about whether the baby should inherited the punishment of Hermione. Paulina wanted to take the baby to the king in hopes that the site of such innocence will soften his heart; but I find their conversation an interesting plug that believing in original sin is not a natural inclination, but an imposed doctrine:
GAOL:
Madam, if 't please the queen to send the babe,
I know not what I shall incur to pass it,
Having no warrant.
PAUL:
You need not fear it, sir:
This child was prisoner to the womb, and is
By law and process of great nature thence
Freed and enfranchised; not a party to
The anger of the King, nor guilty of,
If any be, the trespass of the queen
GAOL:
I do believe it.
It seems like Shakespeare would have agreed on at least that point. AND he also wrote for Paulina: "It is an heretic that makes the fire, not she which burns in 't," which applies to many martyrs in the apostacy.
Not to turn this into a Sunday school lesson, but it's interesting what Mormon says about those who believe in the necessity to baptize little babies: http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/8.20?lang=eng#19 Not only do they misunderstand Adam's and Eve's sin, but they're denying the power of the Atonement and denying Christ as the Savior.
ReplyDeleteJust like a lot of beliefs that popped up during the Great Apostasy, they just don't make sense. Of course a little baby is innocent! Since when did it become a debate?
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ReplyDeleteI like to take that into today's context. Can a daughter be put to death for her's mother's actions? Of course not. Interestingly enough, I learned in a class about an old code, the Code of Hamurabi, which is similar to the Law of Moses. It says, "If a man has struck a free woman with child, and has cause to miscarry... if that woman die, his daughter shall be killed" (History of Creativity Pre-1500, pg. 23; Brent Strong, Mark Davis). So we do know this has been a dispute in the law for a long time. As far as I know the law of Moses, which was divinely inspired, talks of no similar punishment.
ReplyDeleteInteresting... I wouldn't have thought of this or taken it this way. I don't really know what to think of the play. I wish I knew where Shakespeare was coming from when he wrote it, but I like the connections to the church and the History of Creativity bit that you guys shared.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the jailer/gaoler was hesitant to let the baby out of prison simply because he has no way to predict Leontes' reaction, since he's acting so irrationally. For all we know, the jailer will be executed, given Leontes' behavior.
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