Resurrection Blues (Plays, Penguin) [Mass Market Paperback]

Arthur Miller (Author)

Book Description

Series: Plays, Penguin | Publication Date: February 7, 2006

Arthur Miller’s penultimate play, Resurrection Blues, is a darkly comic satirical allegory that poses the question: What would happen if Christ were to appear in the world today? In an unidentified Latin American country, General Felix Barriaux has captured an elusive revolutionary leader. The rebel, known by various names, is rumored to have performed miracles throughout the countryside. The General plans to crucify the mysterious man, and the exclusive television rights to the twenty-four-hour reality-TV event have been sold to an American network for $25 million. An allegory that asserts the interconnectedness of our actions and each person’s culpability in world events, Resurrection Blues is a comedic and tragic satire of precarious morals in our media-saturated age.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A funny, pertinent and sharptoothed satire aimed at the materialist maladies of modern America (The Guardian, London)

About the Author

Arthur Miller (1915–2005), born in New York City, was one of the greatest American playwrights and authors of the twentieth century. His numerous awards include New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Jerusalem Prize.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143035487
• ISBN-13: 978-0143035480
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #690,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was born in New York City in 1915 and studied at the University of Michigan. He was awarded the Avery Hopwood Award for Playwrighting at University of Michigan in 1936. He twice won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, received two Emmy awards and three Tony Awards for his plays, as well as a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He also won an Obie award, a BBC Best Play Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, a Gold Medal for Drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Literary Lion Award from the New York Public Library, the John F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Algur Meadows Award. He received honorary degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University and was awarded the Prix Moliere of the French theatre, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Lifetime Achievement Award and the Pulitzer Prize, as well as numerous other awards. He was named the Jefferson Lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2001. He was awarded the 2002 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters and the 2003 Jerusalem Prize.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A crucifixion always quiets things down.", February 7, 2006

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Resurrection Blues (Plays, Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

What would Jesus do? Miller's play brings that phrase to mind as a repressive Latin American country prepares for the grand spectacle of a crucifixion. A popular rebel has captured the attention of the common people. That miracles have been performed is common knowledge, people changed by their encounters with this man. General Felix Barrieux orders a crucifixion, certain that a prompt response to the temporary celebrity of this man is the perfect lesson for the citizens, an assertion of the state's power. While perusing an agreement contract from a US advertising group proposing to film the event for seventy-five million dollars, the general is confronted by his cousin, wealthy industrialist Henri Shultz, who has recently been at his daughter's side after her failed suicide attempt. Henri's daughter has been profoundly influenced by the man her country wants to crucify and Henri himself is desperate to convince Felix of the foolishness of his plan: "People are desperate for someone this side of the stars who feels their suffering himself."

Felix is dazzled by the money offered for filming the crucifixion, unwilling to believe Henri's assertions that there will be commercial breaks for the sale of sundry products. Seventy-five million dollars can purchase significant changes for a poor country. Anticipating trouble from the man's followers, the general has ordered troops to the site, prepared to ward off any violence or interruptions. A cross is erected, nails at the ready, when the rebel escapes custody. No undue chaos erupts at this news; the man can be easily recaptured. Stanley, an apostle, appears, explaining that even the rebel is uncertain, on the one hand compelled to meet his fate, but on the other wishing only for the life of a mortal man, ambivalent about accepting the mantle of son of God. The American director and producer arrive on the scene, the director rhapsodizing over the striking view, imagining American-made SUV's filmed against the backdrop of mountains and blue sky, but she balks when she learns she will be filming a man's death, her aesthetic principles affronted. The whole project is fraught with problems, Felix's display of power in danger of failure.

Miller has perfectly captured the dilemma faced by a world where every event has a price, the ubiquitous media at the ready, history repeating itself in more modern garb. A simple crucifixion intruded upon by cameras and artistic temperament, the main character is unwilling to commit to his part in the play. At the crux of all is opportunity: the general is caught between avarice (on behalf of his country) and fear of the citizen's reactions; the Americans envision enormous profits at the box office from exclusive rights, the greatest coup in modern reality television; those inspired by the actions of the rebel are sorely tempted by the advantages of such an event, rising property values, increased tourist traffic to the region. Suddenly greed becomes the great motivator, an insidious infestation that has taken root in the modern world. Staring into the new face of humanity, Henri is abject about the future, where profit determines morality: "The world will never again be changed by heroes." Luan Gaines/ 2006.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Survival can be hard to live with.", March 10, 2006

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Resurrection Blues (Plays, Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

In a rare change of form, Arthur Miller tries his hand at comedy in this 2002 play, which he was still revising at the time of his death in 2005. Blackly humorous, Resurrection Blues combines absurdity with farce to satirize the venality of politicians, their cynical manipulation of the people, and the crass sensationalism of the media which will do anything to gain viewers and sell advertising. Setting the play in an unnamed South American dictatorship, where a civil war has been going on for thirty-eight years, Miller focuses on General Felix Barriaux, the chief of state, who has just captured a young man who has inspired the countryside by performing "miracles," and whom the peasants believe is the son of God.

Stating that "a crucifixion always quiets things down," the general plans the death of this young man--Jack Brown aka Juan Manuel Francisco Frederico Ortega de Oviedo aka Ralph. Barriaux has secretly sold the film rights for the forthcoming crucifixion for twenty-five million dollars to a New York agency, which is already planning the advertising spots for the day-long crucifixion, even including underarm deodorant. All the company needs to do is keep other venues, such as CNN and the major networks, from finding out about it and ruining the exclusivity of their film rights.

Farcical complications arise when Ralph escapes, and the film director, repulsed by the concept of the crucifixion to start with, wants out of the agreement. The general comes to believe that Ralph can help him with his sexual problems, the director and the general become attracted to each other, and Ralph weighs his options, trying to decide whether he really wants to die.

More like Christopher Moore's Lamb and Monty Python's The Life of Brian than it is like The Crucible or Death of a Salesman, this is a unique Miller play, one which still manages to convey Miller's political and social points of view through satire. As a play, however, it is neither broad enough to be appealing as a farce nor fierce enough to have the impact of an absurdist drama or major satire. Caught somewhere in between, with subjects that are not new, it often feels a little silly, rather than shocking or dramatic. It is entertaining, but it comes across as Miller Lite. n Mary Whipple

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Devine Interventions, November 8, 2008

By 

JMack (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Resurrection Blues (Plays, Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

In the mold of Monty Python's "Life of Brian", "Resurrection Blues" is a biting satire that mocks American materialism through the exploitation of religion and less industrialized countries. Although readers may not laugh out loud at this satire, they are certain to smile at how clever Arthur Miller was in composing this work.

Civil war has destroyed a fictitious Latin American country for years, with little interest from the outside world. A Guerilla leader, who many believe to be the returned Jesus Christ, has been captured by General Felix Barriaux's army. For the profits gained in television rights, the general plans to have the alleged deity crucified on a live broadcast. Yet as the time of the crucifixion draws near, mysterious occurences mount, and the general begins to have second thoughts. Is it really profitable to crucify this illusive guerilla leader?

Some may find the portrayal of the deity to be offense. One must remember that this is fiction and a satire. It is not intended to mock religion or Jesus. Yet the indecisiveness of the character in the story may run contradictory to one's values. Even religion is not off-limits from satire. I would suggest that religion is not being mock so much as the exploitation of religion in this clever work. In this respect, I suspect "Resurrection Blues" would not offend most readers.