NO87 The place of execution (A Rose from Weimar)
I painted this painting with the help of my story and the Holy Spirit, inspired by Goethe's Faust, Part I, the scene of the Chapel, Walpurgis Night and the Prison, and Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Faust leaves Margarete and is invited by Mephistopheles to attend the festival of the demons on Walpurgis night.
There, however, he sees a vision of Margarete being dragged to the place of execution for the murder of her child.
Unable to resist his conscience, Faust rushes to the place of execution on his magic horse, urging Mephistopheles, who is reluctant to go.
Dawn is about to break. Then something strange happens to the two.
Faust says. “Just when I thought the chill of the night was wearing on, how about you and I, both completely naked? What is the meaning of this?”
Mephistopheles twisted his mouth and replied.” Whether fair or foul, The Bible is a disaster for the devil.
Because written there is no creature hidden from God’s sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of God to whom we must account.
It seems we are going to the judgment seat of God. The devil is not going to stand for this.”
Then Faust said,” If that is the case, then the place of execution where we are going is not only the place of Margarete's judgment but also the place of judgment for all.”
Mephistopheles nodded and said,” Some girl she is for calling God! I'd rather not go there, and the horses are frightened.
But in the pre-dawn darkness, while the afterglow of Walpurgis is still in our bodies, we can manage. The darkness will be on our side.”
Meanwhile, Goethe had finished writing the first part of Faust and was holed up in his study.
One night, he suddenly wondered if he had not killed Margarete because of his mere desire, and he suffered by beating on his chest.
Then he goes into the garden to catch the night breeze and sees many white roses blooming.
He clips one of the roses and heads for the place of execution by the first horse-driven cab of the morning.
When Goethe gets out of the horse-driven cab and rushes to the place of execution, many people are already there.
As he walked through the crowd to the front row, he saw an anxious-looking gentleman (Note 1) standing there.
With his bald forehead and mustache, he looked familiar to Goethe. He went up and spoke to him in English(Note 2), wondering if he might be interested, and said,
“Excuse me, but are you by any chance the famous Mr. Shakespeare?”
The gentleman said,” Yes, I am the one you thought. And who are you, knowing me?”
Goethe bowed graciously and replied, “I am Goethe, a German Minister here in the Duchy of Weimar, and an admirer of yours. Your works are popular here in Germany.”
The gentleman was astonished and said, “Oh! I didn't know I was in Germany. No wonder I was at a loss and had no idea what they were talking about. You've come to the right place. Thank you.”
Goethe, too, was astonished and asked, “By the way, why are you, a man of the past, here now?”
The gentleman smiled and replied, “Wuu, you know, Goethe, there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy.
I tell you the truth, I don't know why I am here. But it is no coincidence that you and I met here. Perhaps you are related to the girl who is about to be executed there?”
Goethe replied,” That's right. That girl is Margarete, the heroine of a play I created. I am here because I have something to tell her. “
Then the gentleman asked,” What is your message to tell her?”
Goethe frowned and said, “Actually, she is innocent, but an evil spirit living in the church has framed her for the murder of her child.
I studied law when I was young and have a degree. So, I know that she cannot be executed for causing the death of one’s child through negligence.
However, out of some thought, I left out a scene that proved her innocence from my work. Looking back, it was an embarrassment for me. So, I came here with an aching heart.”
The gentleman opened his big bright eyes and said, “If you don't mind, I want to know why you left that scene out. As a playwright myself, I am intrigued by your work.”
Goethe contemplated and replied. “To put it simply, she is here to redeem for the sin of Eve, who was the first to eat of the forbidden fruit.”
The gentleman nodded and said, “Then you say that the girl is the same Christ who died on the cross for our sins.
Interesting. Paul says that Christ redeemed only for the sin of Adam, (Note 3) so half of mankind is still a sinner.
I know that. That is why I let Hamlet, who reincarnated my son, (Note 4) say this. He saw that his mother Gertrude became his uncle's bride so rapidly that he came to think that all women are unfaithful sinners.
No wonder, since he was like me when I was young and is a pure-hearted man who believes in women’s fidelity.
He manifested his thoughts to Ophelia, the daughter of a vassal. You have probably heard this line on stage.
He pretends to be a madman and yells, ‘You should go to a convent！ Why you should want to stay here and be the mother of sinners?’
Ophelia, thinking that Hamlet hates her, kills herself in a fit of sadness. No matter how much you criticize with your mouth, it is sad when the other person dies.
I also felt depressed for a while after I wrote that. I understand your feelings, Goethe, but why did you force her into such a big role?”
Goethe replied immediately, “It's simple. If Christ is a man who had no sin, I want to believe that eternal salvation will be brought to us through the death of the sinless woman.”
The gentleman said, “Are you a Christian?” Goethe replied, “If you ask me that, I would normally say yes in this country. But I don't go to church.”
The gentleman said,” I suppose not. That kind of thinking never comes from the Catholic or Protestant church. It's truly Germanic, or even Gothic. (Note 5)
I apologize if I'm wrong, but sense in Gothic about the sound of your name. I'm sure you've been teased about it.”
Goethe replied bitterly, “Yes, I was hurt about it by a letter from a friend once.”
Then the gentleman laughed and said, “It seems you are a nobleman by birth, the opposite of me.
When I started as a playwright in London, a colleague called me a parvenu, a crow that had decorated itself with other people's feathers.
He also made fun of me by changing my name to mean someone who "shakes the scene."
However, I retorted for my three children and wife left in my hometown, saying, just now, I'm the one who shakes the scene, but I'll shake up the globe one day.
As you know, the Globe is the name of the permanent theater built at the time.
Young men tend to say big things, but my words have made the path. Now I am pleased that my name is known even here in Germany. I thank you for telling me.
By the way, evil spirits indeed live in churches. The Bible also says that Satan has a throne in the church of Pergamum. The church has swallowed many treasures of iniquity from the past to the present.
In the basement of the church is a set of equipment to turn the innocent into sinners.
I once made my son Hamlet say that humans are a wonderful creation. But the most terrifying thing in the world is not evil spirits, but human beings.
I believe, you know the meaning of 666. As you know, our great King Henry VIII parted company with the Pope and founded the England Established Church.
The truth was a trivial divorce of a couple, but if England is protected from the damned villain by his philandering, I must say he was a nice guy. (Note 6)
By the way, what is the white rose holding in your hand? As opposed to Henry's family, like red roses. (Note 7)”
Goethe stared at the white rose and said, “This flower is the one I saw this morning in the garden, and picked it, for it would be just the thing to prove her innocence.”
When the gentleman heard this, he went red and shouted,
” Then throw it into the place of execution at once. What have you been waiting for? Only when that white rose turns red will your wish be granted. (Note 8)
That single white rose is heavier for you than the Duchy of Weimar, which you serve.”
Goethe came to himself and shouted like this, and threw it with all his might into the place of execution. “A rose from Weimar!”.
At that moment, the church bells rang. The place fell silent, and the dry sound of the executioner breaking his cane echoed through the hushing place.
The decapitator's throat gurgled. Margarete heard it behind her.
Then she murmured,” Oh, the church bells have rung. The time has come at last. It was my wedding day, and now I'm going to die in such a miserable way.
But it can't be helped, for this is my love. Besides, I would get to see my little sister and my baby. And of course, I will see him. Lord, into Your hands I commit myself. Save me a sinner!”
The axe slicing through the air beeped in her ears like a whirlwind.
Whether she saw the white rose thrown in the place or not, I do not know. But God, who was there, knows all. Amen.
Note 1: Only the gentleman's class could have a family crest then. His father John applied and was denied, and his son William, who later became successful in London, re-applied and was granted permission.
Note 2: Goethe was skilled in languages, and thanks to his father's enthusiasm for education, he learned English, French, Italian, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew from tutors.
Note 3: The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans. Chapter 5 verse 12. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men.
Note 4: Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than him when he was 18.
The following year, their first daughter was born, and two years later, they had a set of twins, a boy and a girl.
Their eldest son was named Hamnet. It seems that the name was written as Hamlet for a while. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 11.
After that, it is not surprising that Shakespeare, who had succeeded in London and wanted a male heir, would not be surprising if Shakespeare had resurrected his eldest son on stage and gave him eternal life.
Note 5: According to a summary of the writings of Cassiodorus, a scholar of the Eastern Gothic Kingdom, written by the Arian monk Jordanes around 550, the Goths were a people who originated in the Scandinavian Peninsula and later crossed the Baltic Sea to live in Germania (present-day Germany and Poland).
This theory is now rejected, but in any case, they certainly held the Arian faith.
The Arian faith was rejected as heretical at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, as it went against the present Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The Arian faith held that Jesus was a man and a created being.
Note 6: In his 1817 book “Characters of Shakespeare's Plays”, William Hazlitt wrote that although Catherine and Wolsey were portrayed as brilliant, the real Henry VIII was an abhorrent character, but he was portrayed too well here.
Note 7: The War of the Roses was fought in England between the House of Lancaster and the House of York from 1455 to 1485.
The conflict is called the War of the Roses because the Lancastrians and the Yorks used red and white roses as their family crests respectively.
The conflict ended when Henry Tudor, a member of the House of Lancaster, defeated Richard III of the House of York, established the Tudor dynasty, ascended to the throne as Henry VII, and married Elizabeth of York.
Note 8: Goethe fell in love with the daughter of a pastor, Friederike, when he was 21.
Goethe went on frequent trips from his study abroad destination of Strasbourg to her home in Sesenheim, but the love affair only lasted a year.
The reason for this is not well known, but there seems to be a hint in the conversation between Faust and Margarete in “The Garden of the House of Martha”.
Perhaps she believed that faith was the most important thing, and Goethe's inner voice, “Only this feeling is everything," his genius, which would eventually give birth to “Werther”, tore them apart.
Goethe was proud of his genius, could not help but realize in front of her that his understanding was nothing more than vanity and superficiality.
He has Faust say this, “True innocence or purity know nothing of itself. On the contrary, it is unaware of its sacred worth.”
I think this is what he was looking for in his eternal woman. That is why she was said to be Margarete's model, a lovely young girl.
Goethe followed the voice of his genius, but he felt deep regret losing her and this is said to have led to the creation of his famous work, “Little Rose of Field”.
And this wild rose is red, which was sung.
Of course, Shakespeare had no way of knowing this, and he was only trying to convey that the red rose of the House of Lancaster had surpassed the white rose of the House of York.
October 2024 Oil 910mm×1167mm
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