The Garden of Earthly Delights: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Garden of Earthly Delights" explores the themes of innocence, temptation, and moral decline through its major characters, primarily drawn from biblical and medieval contexts. Central to the narrative are Adam and Eve, who embody the original human experience in the Garden of Eden. Their graceful duet represents innocence, which is disrupted by the Serpent, symbolizing temptation and the loss of paradise. The Serpent's seductive movements around the couple foreshadow their eventual fall from grace. The Tree-Man, a silent observer, adds a layer of commentary as he witnesses the transition from innocence to chaos throughout the piece.
Supporting characters include a group of Peasants who illustrate the seven deadly sins through exaggerated, often comedic behaviors, juxtaposing humor with darker implications. Angels and Demons further enrich the narrative; the Angels, representing divine influence, contrast sharply with the chaotic and tormenting actions of the Demons, who embody humanity's descent into moral decay. This interplay of characters invites viewers to reflect on the complexities of human nature, the consequences of choices, and the balance between innocence and corruption.
The Garden of Earthly Delights: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Martha Clarke
Genre: Play
Locale: A landscape painted by Hieronymus Bosch
Plot: Surrealism
Time: Biblical creation and the fifteenth century
Tree-Man, who appears during the opening measures of music, a man in a gray body suit who trudges slowly and stiffly to center stage, holding bare tree limbs overhead. He remains onstage, silently watching the unfolding scene between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He stalks offstage glumly at the end of the scene but reappears throughout the piece to survey the ensuing decadence and eventual desolation. Throughout the piece, his presence is ambiguous, but he seems to watch the events with the natural gaze of a choral commentator.
Adam and Eve, the biblical characters, representing the first man and woman on Earth. Wearing skin-colored body suits, Adam and Eve perform a lyrical, gently danced duet in the first scene. Eve's long hair, hanging straight to her waist, is choreographed into the dance sequence. Adam uses it to manipulate her movements by wrapping it around himself and pulling her from the floor by it. The dance follows the couple's short-lived innocence in the Garden of Eden to their encounter with the serpent that ends their innocence and symbolically sends humanity from paradise. They are transformed into lumbering, awkward, bent-over animals as they slowly exit.
The Serpent, based on the serpent in the biblical creation myth. Wearing a white body suit and clutching an apple between her thighs, the serpent slinks onstage toward Adam and Eve in their opening duet. Her movements are coquettish as she reaches between her legs for the famous apple, with which she tempts Eve and Adam. As they exit in shame, she exits in smug triumph.
Peasants, seven men and women in various medieval costumes representing farmworkers, town gossips, the village idiot, a nun, and town laborers. They broadly enact the seven deadly sins in a quick series of pantomimed scenes, using potatoes as props. Alternately humorous and cruel acts are performed clownishly, but the implications of the peasants' coarse behavior often are frightening.
Angels, musicians or actors who are flown in over the heads of the other performers at various times throughout the piece. Two play harp and flute over Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; one floats and somersaults over a group in the Garden of Earthly Delights section; and another holds her head as she sails over the group of peasants in the Seven Deadly Sins section. They are dressed in white body suits, and the mechanisms of their flying, such as the harnesses and wires, are clearly visible.
Demons, musicians and actors who use onstage musical instruments to torture one another and to set up a cacophony of sounds signaling humanity's damnation and descent into hell. In the final scene, demons fly, tumble, and plummet through the air; crash their heads into drums and keyboards; beat each other with drumsticks and cymbals; and stab one another with violin and cello bows.