The Image Of Wind In Ruhl's Passion Play

Contrary to the image of Christ as the calmer of the wind, P summons forth the wind on various occasions throughout Part Three. He directs the winds to safely navigate the Elizabethan ships home and to help his daughter Violet sleep at night (191, 235). Instead of surrendering to God’s calming authority, P rejects the traditional salvation found in Christ and takes matter into his own hands. He drops out of the play, and moves away from his family. Ruhl uses the symbol of wind in Part Three to further develop the meaning of P and J’s characters from Part One and Two. She has placed them in opposition of one another, and metaphorically portrays P’s shamanistic journey throughout the entire scope of the play. In the final scene, P rides a boat off the stage to signify the completion of his personal journey. Instead of striving to find salvation and cleansing from all of his guilt, he

Her scriptural symbols serve as a means to guide the audience towards a deeper understanding of the counter narrative she is presenting to the traditional Passion story of the Christ. In each Part, the eleven actors portray similar characters that play the same biblical characters in their own passion play. Through this repetitive style, Ruhl creates a Buddhist approach to the story of the Christ by focusing more on the element of rebirth rather than redemption. Certain elements are carried throughout each Part to reflect on the connections between each character from part to part. Instead of presenting the all-powerful image of Christ, Ruhl bestows divine powers and qualities upon numerous biblical symbols. From fish puppets passing Pontius on to the next phase of life, to a little girl being able to control the sky, Passion Play “disrupts the tragic depiction of the passion with versions of the second coming” (Al-Shamma