Introduction
The one-act play “The Bishop’s Candlesticks” is Norman McKinnel’s adaptation of the opening chapter of Victor
Hugo’s celebrated novel "Les Miserable".
The play is based on the concept that no man is a born offender. It is the embodiment of a
true Christian. The Bishop has all the virtues which a bishop ought to have −− he is selfless, kind, generous and charitable. He has a
childlike innocence and does not
understand any ‘dupe’. His absolute faith in God has made him fearless. The
convict’s treats to kill him fail to unnerve him. He hates sin but loves sinners.
The way he restores the convict’s faith in Christianity is remarkable. Even the
convict recognizes his goodness towards the end of the play, “… but somehow I
−− I … know you are good…” He is the most adorable character in the play.
No wonder person calls him the best man in the whole of France.
Love and Compassion
A Man is What We Think Him To Be
One night when the Bishop was about to go to bed, a convict entered the house.
At the point of his knife he demanded food from the Bishop. The Bishop was
unruffled. He called Persomme and asked her to give some supper to the convict.
The convict wondered why the Bishop kept his doors and windows open and whether
or not he was afraid of thieves and robbers. The Bishop told them that he was
not afraid but that he was sorry for them, as they were only poor sufferers. He
treated the convict with all love and respect as he regarded him too as a
sufferer. He regarded him as a fellowman and a friend. His attitude had some
effect on the convict. If we treat a man as a beast, then he becomes a beast.
If we treat a beast as a man then it becomes a man. A man is what we think him
to be.
The convict told the Bishop how he was caught by the police
while he stole some food for his ill and starving wife. He was caught and
sentenced to ten years in prison. The authorities did not pat any heed to the
fact that he had stolen only to feed his ill and starving wife, Jeanette. They
regarded him as a born criminal and treated him like a beast for ten years.
Then one day he escaped but the society treated him no better. As he was a
prisoner, nobody would give him any job. The police hunted him down. He was
running away from them starving. So he stole again for food. Thus, society with
its wrong attitude, did not give him a chance to lead a good life. Then he
entered the house of the Bishop as he was hungry.
Silver Candlesticks Stolen
The kind Bishop was touched and gave him a bed to sleep on. The Bishop went to
sleep. Left alone on his bed, the convict could not resist the temptation to
steal the silver candlesticks of the Bishop. He took them and went out of the
house. As he went out, the door slammed. Persomme got up at the sound and found
out that the convict had stolen the silver candlesticks and had gone away. The
Bishop was sorry to lose the candlesticks as they were given to him by his
mother. But like a true Christian, he felt that he was responsible for the
convict’s behaviour. By keeping them before him, he had led him into
temptation. The Bishop thought that he used to value the candlesticks very
highly. It is a sin to get addicted to wealth. Lastly, the candlesticks might
be of some use to the convict and what had happened had happened for the good.
Overwhelmed by the Love of the Bishop
But the convict was arrested by the gendarmes along with the candlesticks. They
recognized the candlesticks of the Bishop and brought him back to him. But the
Bishop told that the accused was his friend and that he himself had given the
candlesticks to him. The police sergeant released the convict and went away.
The convict was overwhelmed by the love of the Bishop and now he is convinced
that the Bishop was kind and loving. He regained his faith that there can be
goodness in men. He was sorry that he had stolen the candlesticks. He felt that
he was once again a human being and not a beast. The kind Bishop told him of
the secret road to Paris and gave
him the candlesticks. He asked him to remember that the body of man is the temple
of God. The convict was already a
changed man and he promised to remember the Bishops’ last words and he went
away.
Conclusion
The Bishop is a very noble person, who is always ready to help anyone in
distress. The doors of his house are always open. But his sister Persomme is
materialistic. She feels that the simplicity and nobility of the bishop is
misused by the people. He is often cheated and taken undue advantage of. Mere
Gringoire, the old women who lives on the top of the hill and does no work made
such a fool of the bishop by making him sell his silver salt cellars to pay her
rent. It is the
circumstances that force convict to be so. Punishment or conviction is not the way
to reform an offender or a convict. It is charity, faith, hope, sympathy and
forgiveness that are needed to regain the ‘lost soul’in a man. In the play the
convict says to the Bishop, ‘I was a man. Now I’m not a man,’ but upto the end,
he says you have made me feel that it is just as if something had come into
me-as if I were a man again and not a wild beast.’ The final message is in the words,
‘This poor body is The Temple of the Living God. The bishop succeeds in reforming the hardened convict and tells him that the
human heart is the abode of God.
Ardhendu De
Ardhendu De
References
Dickinson, T. H., & Crawford, J. R. (2009). Contemporary Plays. Wildside Press LLC.
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what is the aim of lesson bishop candlesticks?
ReplyDeleteThe aim of the lesson "Bishop's Candlesticks" is to explore themes of compassion, forgiveness, and redemption through the characters and their experiences.
Deleteits Persomme not Persona
ReplyDeletethanks for the correction
Delete