THE LAW PLAYS OF DAVID MAMET: RACE AND THE ANARCHIST
2014; Wiley; Volume: 102; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/tyr.2014.0072
ISSN1467-9736
Autores Tópico(s)Cultural Studies and Interdisciplinary Research
Resumo1 1 7 R T H E L A W P L A Y S O F D A V I D M A M E T R A C E A N D T H E A N A R C H I S T B A R R Y G O L D E N S O H N One of the fundamental principles of the Jewish view of law is Torah lo baShomayim hi – the Torah is not in heaven. This a≈rms the covenant that God has made with his people, that the interpretation and application of the law of the Torah is placed in human hands. In a famous story in the Talmud (Bava Metzia 59b), Rabbi Eliezer is seconded by God’s voice about a point of law after the quorum of rabbis has resisted his arguments. But Rabbi Yehoshua tells God that the Torah is in their hands alone to interpret, not in heaven. This talmudic view is reflected in David Mamet’s plays in his view of the all-too-human working of law. His two law plays, Race and The Anarchist, deal with the eternal dramatic tensions between law and truth and law and mercy. Unlike the classical view of the philosopher-kings, however, truth does not always prevail in the talmudic view, nor is mercy negotiated by gods who protect their favorites and reconcile competing divine claims, as they do in Aeschylus’s Oresteia. Alongside this talmudic view is a complementary perspective based in Thomism and illustrated in Dante’s Inferno. Instead of our contemporary view of radical evil centered in cruelty, violence , and mass murder exemplified by Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot, 1 1 8 G O L D E N S O H N Y the lowest circles of hell in the Inferno are reserved for frauds, betrayers of the spirit and of God, crimes Thomas Aquinas considered much more grave than acts of violence, which are merely sins against individuals. Threats to the integrity of a culture and its values are the primary concern, and you need not be a Thomist to place in your visionary hell panderers, seducers, flatterers, simoniacs , sorcerers, barrators, hypocrites, thieves, counselors of fraud, sowers of discord, and falsifiers (the descending scheme of Dante’s malbolges). And the very worst, traitors to kindred and country, are placed in the depths of hell. This constitutes a severe and often caustic view of the human condition and the social world which is central to it. It explains the importance of confidence games, betrayal, lies, and mistrust in Mamet’s plays throughout his career, and it colors the way we see the working of the law in Race and the main character of The Anarchist, as well as her antagonist. Race appeared on Broadway in December 2009. It bears all the marks of Mamet’s hunger for moral clarity in di≈cult, ambiguous , and baΔing situations that we see in plays like Glengarry Glen Ross, American Bu√alo, Speed the Plow, Oleanna, and The Cryptogram. In Race we are immersed in a swirl of claims of privilege, loyalty to one’s race, and the lawyer’s profession, all pivoting on the pursuit of truth, law, and justice. The play opens with an exchange among three men: a black lawyer, Henry; his white partner, Jack; and Charles Strickland, a very wealthy client who is accused of raping a black woman. The two lawyers team up against their naive client. (The pauses are Mamet’s, setting the pace of the dialogue.) henry: Do you know what you can say? To a black man. On the subject of race? charles: ‘‘Nothing.’’ henry: That is correct. (Pause.) charles: Black people can talk about Race. henry: How about that. (Pause.) charles: I will do anything I can to wipe the slate clean. jack: You cannot wipe the slate clean. henry: Mmm-Hmm. T H E L A W P L A Y S O F D A V I D M A M E T 1 1 9 R jack: You say it isn’t fair? It is neither fair or unfair. None of us is...
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