불교적 관점에서 본 『시련』에 나타난 악의 문제 (The Problem of Evil in The Crucible from a Buddhist Point of View)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국동서비교문학학회
· 수록지 정보 : 동서비교문학저널 / 59호 / 489 ~ 517페이지
· 저자명 : 채수경

초록

This paper methodologically re-examines the problem of evil in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and, from a Buddhist critical stance, reads the play as an allegory of our times. Miller’s text dramatizes the Salem witch hunt (1692) and presents a series of possible causes that combined to create this tragedy, in which nineteen villagers were hanged for witchcraft. Employing the perspective of Buddhist Pratītyasamutpāda (sometimes translated into English as “dependent arising”), this paper reads the witch hunt in Salem as occurring through an interdependent meshing of factors including (a) similar Puritan persecutions taking place in England, and (b) the severely theocratic social organization of Salem village, which (c) suppressed individual freedoms, and (d) assumed that evil lay hidden somewhere inside each of the Salem villagers (and indeed their domestic animals too: as a result of the witch hunt, two dogs were also executed). From a Buddhist point of view, the roots of evil are avarice, anger, and stupidity; to rid oneself of these three limitations is the way to restore oneself to goodness and mercy. For this purpose, Buddha teaches the eight Right ways and the Middle Way. In Miller’s play, the village of Salem is a miniature version of the world; by extension, as in Salem, without ridding ourselves of anger, avarice, and stupidity, witch hunts will continue. In that sense, the spiritual victory of Miller’s protagonist, Proctor, who overcomes evil and chooses goodness by exercising free will alone, exemplifies an ethical model that foregrounds hope in human goodness.

영어초록

This paper methodologically re-examines the problem of evil in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and, from a Buddhist critical stance, reads the play as an allegory of our times. Miller’s text dramatizes the Salem witch hunt (1692) and presents a series of possible causes that combined to create this tragedy, in which nineteen villagers were hanged for witchcraft. Employing the perspective of Buddhist Pratītyasamutpāda (sometimes translated into English as “dependent arising”), this paper reads the witch hunt in Salem as occurring through an interdependent meshing of factors including (a) similar Puritan persecutions taking place in England, and (b) the severely theocratic social organization of Salem village, which (c) suppressed individual freedoms, and (d) assumed that evil lay hidden somewhere inside each of the Salem villagers (and indeed their domestic animals too: as a result of the witch hunt, two dogs were also executed). From a Buddhist point of view, the roots of evil are avarice, anger, and stupidity; to rid oneself of these three limitations is the way to restore oneself to goodness and mercy. For this purpose, Buddha teaches the eight Right ways and the Middle Way. In Miller’s play, the village of Salem is a miniature version of the world; by extension, as in Salem, without ridding ourselves of anger, avarice, and stupidity, witch hunts will continue. In that sense, the spiritual victory of Miller’s protagonist, Proctor, who overcomes evil and chooses goodness by exercising free will alone, exemplifies an ethical model that foregrounds hope in human goodness.

참고자료

· 없음