Sin,Grace And Redemption

Martin McDonagh,a famous Irish writer,specializes in the use of dark humor for dramatic expression,delving into the human dilemma under extreme circumstances.Most of his works are based on the themes of violence,death,and redemption.Based on The Pillowman,In Bruges,The Lonesome West and The Beauty Queen of Leenane,this thesis discusses the topics of sin,grace and redemption under the concept of free will,and explores McDonagh’s thinking on human nature and the survival predicament by the character and destiny of the protagonists.This thesis is divided into six parts.The introduction outlines Martin McDonagh and the four works,reviews the research status at home and abroad,explains the source and significance of the thesis and interprets the concept of free will used in this thesis.Chapter one analyzes the relationship between free will and sin.The first section mainly states the presentation of sins driven by free will.The second section illustrates McDonagh’s view of sin and evil through the punishments from the torture of spirit and the alienation of kinship.Misfortune and tribulation are not only the sins of man but the prerequisites for redemption.Chapter two focuses on the characterization and fate of the protagonists in the plays from the perspective of free will and grace.The first part states the presence of grace through the process of restoration of human nature,and then explains the evidence of the existence of grace by the two female representatives.Chapter three centers on the connection between free will and redemption to illustrate how sinners regain their faith,recover their true free will,and embark on the path to redemption.On one hand,McDonagh presents the free choice of faith that ordinary people have in their present lives,and on the other hand,he affirms the power of love and faith in the redemption for the soul and freedom.Chapter four is a reconsideration of the concept of free will.Free will has been developed in the field of Christianity for more than a thousand years.Once placed in a specific literary context,it must assume the task of literary aesthetics.The themes related to the concept of free will: sin and redemption,are the basis for studying McDonagh’s works.McDonagh presents a series of human “good and evil”.The different ways in which his characters exercise free will reflect his understanding and thinking of “people and reality” and “people and environment”.By comparing the different interpretations of the theory of sin by Augustine and McDonagh,it is found that the view of redemption by McDonagh is different from Augustine’s redemption by Divine grace.McDonagh pays more attention to whether “mankind” can correctly grasp free will in the face of morality—Man should grasp the balance point between inner desire and moral principles,and realizes the truly meaningful “freedom of will”.