CSLewisSociety

The Man Born to be King                                      * not certain of the writer 
Dorothy Sayers

The Man Born to be King is a radio drama based on the life of Jesus, produced and broadcast by the BCC during the second world war. It is a play cycle consisting of twelve plays depicting specific periods of Jesus' life, from the events surrounding his birth to his death and resurrection. It was first broadcast by the BCC Home Service on Sunday evenings, beginning on December 21, 1941, with new episode broadcasts at four-week intervals, ending on October 18, 1942.

The Project aroused a storm of controversy, even before it was broadcast.
Objections arouse to the very idea- atheists complained of Christian propaganda, while devout Christians declared that the BBC would be committing blasphemy by allowing the Christ to be impersonated by a human actor- and also to Sayers' approach to the material. Sayers, who felt that the inherent drama of the Gospel story had become muffled by familiarity and a general failure to think of it's characters as real people, was determined to give the plays dramatic immediacy, featuring realistic, identifiable characters with human emotions and motivations. (And speech-patterns. The decision to have the characters speak in contemporary colloquial English was, by itself, the cause of much disquiet among those more used to hearing Jesus and his followers speaking in the polished and formal words of the King James Bible.) In the event, although it continued to be criticised by conservative Christians- one group going so far as to proclaim the fall of Singapore in February 1942 to be a sign of God's displeasure with the series- The Man Born to be King was generally considered a great success, both as a drama and as biblical representation.

     1.  In another work, Dorothy Sayers says of the practice of Christianity that "the dogma is the drama," meaning that those hidebound words all children must memorize are among the most mindbending concepts around- the virgin birth, the incarnation of God, the resurrection of Jesus, etc. In The Man Born to be King, Sayers presents a very  undogmatic dramatization of the life of Jesus Christ, with Jesus as a very casually-spoken young man with a distinct sense of humor. Are these antithetical pronouncements?  Where is the dogma in The Man Born to be King?


2. Faith in Jesus and what he preaches are, in this work, very much bound to actual perception of  Jesus in action- witness Benjamin in "A Certain Nobleman" and Proclus in "The Heirs of the Kingdom." Does this portrayal of the life of Jesus weaken the ability to have faith when Jesus is not around? Why would the other characters in this work continue to have faith after Jesus is dead, and why would those who never met him and were born after his death have faith in this Jesus?

3. The portrayal of Judas in this work is somewhat more sympathetic than the widely-held perception of Judas.  Should Judas as portrayed in this work be condemned?  Is he to some degree admirable or sympathetic?  How does that change the dogma that is the drama?

4. What do you think of Jesus' take on the Old Testament, as set forth in "The Heirs to the Kingdom"?  Is it a logical extension, e.g. from "thou shall do no murder" to "never hate anybody-for hatred is what leads to murder"?  Is it repudiation, e.g. "an eye for an eye" rejected for "take no revenge at all"?  Is Dorothy Sayers rejecting the Old Testament with this speech?  Is she commenting upon and perhaps seeking the root of the old laws?

5.  The attitude displayed by contemporaries in this work toward Jesus' miracles is one of gossip and mundane interests, e.g. with the commentary on Lazarus' rising from the dead in "Royal Progress" taking the form of dinner table gossip and the comment that "if only this miracle was properly advertised..." Is this attitude present today? Is it contemptible?  A way to deal with the incomprehensible?   Does it lessen the drama or make it more accessible to have the dogma discussed in such common terms? 

6. What do you think of the character notes set forth in each play?  Does it help your understanding of the characters or interfere with it?  How does it play into the actual biblical portrayal of these events- does it change your thinking of Peter's denial of Jesus to read his character notes in "The King's Supper?"

7. Why does Jesus make an effort to save Judas from himself if in fact he knows that Judas will betray him?

8. These plays were broadcast in the middle of World War II, after the demise of appeasement as a strategy and the beginning of Churchill's regime of blood, sweat, toil and tears.  How do you think that affected the people hearing the play, hearing about Jesus for really the first time speaking in the vernacular?  How do you think the war and the tensions leading up to the war affected Dorothy Sayers' writing?

9. Why do you think C.S. Lewis encouraged Dorothy Sayers to write this work, and why did he read it every year on Easter?