Heinz: "That priest is a shrewd man." (The
Farmer with the Blur)
In The Stolen Bacon, The Farmer
with the Blur, and The Grand
Inquisitor in the Soup, the priest character fulfills a different purpose
than typically expected of a religious figure.
The priests have hidden agendas and are more focused on themselves than
the lives of those around them.
Hans Sachs is making quite a
statement with these character types. He
is portraying the church as deceitful and self-serving. Although priests are usually depicted as
upstanding citizens with high morals, Sachs is asserting that priests steal
from those around them and are not interested in the welfare of others. This could be commentary on the society at
the time when these plays were written.
Perhaps Sachs felt strongly that the clergy were being deceptive, and
instead of saying it outright, he disguised his beliefs as carnivalesque plays.
In The Grand Inquisitor in the Soup, Simon is described as a
simple-minded man, and he manages to outsmart the Inquisitor and not pay a fine. To me, this is representative of the common
man overcoming the oppressive church. (I’m
not saying that the church in general is oppressive, but that is how I am interpreting
Sachs’ portrayal.) Sachs could have been
encouraging his readers to not fall victim to a priest’s scheme for money, but
instead to stand up for themselves. On
the other hand, the priests could be representative of the government and its
lack of compassion toward the citizens.
These plays made me think about a
few questions: Why does society expect a
priest to have higher morals than the common citizen? Do the priests in these plays begin their
profession with a selfless attitude, then slowly transition to one of
selfishness, or is the selfishness present all along? Are there any upstanding and honorable
priests mentioned in other carnivalesque plays?
