''The Resurrection'' is a short prose play by

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature, 20th-century literature. He was ...

depicting a discussion among three men ("The Greek" or "The Egyptian," "The Hebrew," and "The Syrian") who are among the first to meet the resurrected

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

. Offstage, a rampaging mob of followers of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

enact their bloody and crazed rituals, all the while threatening to burst into the house in which the protagonists are debating. Yeats' principal theme is the collapse of the classical worldview and the impending collapse of the Christian. The Greek and Hebrew are left intellectually and emotionally crippled at the end of the play, whilst the Syrian, a believer in the power of the irrational, is the only character who can truly understand and embrace the consequences of the resurrection. Yeats began writing the play in 1925 or 1926, and it was first published in ''

The Adelphi ''The Adelphi'' or ''New Adelphi'' was an English literary journal founded by John Middleton Murry and published between 1923 and 1955. The first issue appeared in June 1923, with issues published monthly thereafter. Between August 1927 and Se ...

'' in 1927. It was first performed in the summer of 1934 at the smaller peacock theatre within the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

in Dublin.

References

External links

Full text of ''The Resurrection'' at HathiTrust Digital Library
Plays by W. B. Yeats 1927 plays Works originally published in The Adelphi {{1920s-play-stub