The Tragedy of Mariam

Alone on stage, the messenger Nuntio asks what wrong he has done that has put him in the position of telling Herod that the beautiful queen is dead. He describes her virtues and wonders why Mariam chose him “to tell this luckles newes” (5.1.8). The only redeeming aspect of this for him is that he can tell Herod that Mariam died guiltlessly.

Herod enters and, seeing Nuntio, expresses joy that Mariam may still be alive. Nuntio immediately stops him, saying “Heav’n doth your will repel” (5.1.16). Herod beseeches him not to break his heart, even with his downcast countenance; he fears the news of Mariam’s death will kill him.

Nuntio describes being among the curious throng who watched her execution. He says he wanted to see if she would break down, but instead she scarcely revealed any emotion and was noble in her bearing. Herod says only he has the right to praise Mariam, but he nevertheless wants to hear more about the way she died.

Nuntio says that Mariam’s mother Alexandra cursed her as she passed by. Herod asks Nuntio why he allowed Alexandra to make a scene, since it defied the customs of execution. Nuntio reports that Alexandra told Mariam she had lived too long and that she was sorry Mariam was her daughter, since she had wronged Herod. Herod mocks Alexandra, saying he will repay her for cursing her daughter, and asks how Mariam responded. Nuntio replies that Mariam said nothing, but gave her mother “a dutiful, though scornefull smile” (5.1.53). Herod notes that he has seen that look before and been amazed by it.

Nuntio continues, describing the grace with which she approached the execution; everyone was crying except Mariam. As she drew close to him, he reports, she called him out by name. Herod wants to know exactly what Mariam said to him. Nuntio replies, “Tell thou my Lord, said she” (5.1.68). Herod is struck by her referring to him as her lord and asks Nuntio to tell him all she said. Nuntio says she told him to tell Herod that Nuntio watched as she died.

Herod expresses his regret again for sentencing Mariam to death. Nuntio says that if Mariam was guilty, he—Nuntio—should be condemned eternally. Herod replies that he knows in the depth of his being that she was innocent. Nuntio says that within three days Herod will wish he could restore her life, to which Herod replies he already wishes he could and asks the messenger to continue. Nuntio relates that she prayed silently and was content before being put to death. Herod asks if it’s possible she might really not be dead at all, to which Nuntio points out that her head was cut off. Herod asks if there might be some magical way to restore her to life, but Nuntio says it is just as likely that they can bring back Abraham, dead 2,000 years.

He warns Herod that he has more bad news, to which Herod replies that nothing can be worse than what he has just heard. Nuntio relates how, on the way to Herod, he saw a man in a tree with a rope around his neck; he told Nuntio to tell Herod he was the cause of Mariam’s death just before he jumped from the tree.

Realizing instantly that the man was the butler, Herod apologizes to Mariam’s “pure unspotted Ghost” for condemning her and says his punishment will be never looking upon her face again (5.1.119). He compares Mariam to the most precious of gems and rages about how no enemy robbed him of this greatest treasure, “But Herods wretched selfe hath Herod crost” (5.1.136). He says he and Mariam were a pair, and that he has killed the better half and allowed the worse to live. To Nuntio, he begs that this might all be a prank to demonstrate how much Herod loved Mariam. Nuntio responds that Mariam is as dead as Abel. Herod orders Nuntio to tell Mariam to adorn herself beautifully, smile gracefully, and come before him. Nuntio replies that she will appear before him in the robes of Heaven, reminding him that he sent her to a place from which he can no longer summon her. Herod proclaims that her murderers should be condemned to Hell. He mourns the beauty of her hands, which were white, knowing he will never see them again. Nuntio agrees, “Tis true, her hand was rare” (65).

Herod begins a lengthy soliloquy, saying that Mariam did not just have beautiful hands, but that they were beyond compare. He curses Salome, saying that Mariam would still be with him if not for his sister’s plotting. He says the real reason Salome hated his queen was because she was no match for her as a woman. In trying to elevate herself, he argues, Salome not only dethroned the rightful queen but degraded all women. One simple look from Mariam, he contends, was worth 100,000 from someone like Salome. He wonders why Judea does not rise up now and slay him since he has cost them their truest queen. He knows that history will remember him as the one who robbed the Jews of their purest nobility. Mariam traced her lineage back to the biblical Sarah, he says, wondering if he has tainted that unbroken line. He proclaims himself the “Villaine” who has committed the sacrilege of breaking the holy line of succession through murder (5.1.192).

Herod cannot understand why the sun is shining so blithely; does it not understand, he asks, that this was not merely some Egyptian or Ethiopian who died, but the pure wife of the Jewish King? He demands that the sun, moon, and stars cease shining, since they watched her death and did nothing to stop it; the Greek astrologers believe the zodiac controls everything, yet the stars won’t cease to shine upon him, who is responsible for her death. He says since Saturn is supposed to be the god of justice, he should come looking for Herod’s blood. Jupiter, he says, fell in love with the mortal Leda and thus knows the beauty of love; he therefore surely would want to punish Herod, even though Leda was not half as fine as Mariam. Mars, he says, would treat the death of Mariam as if she were his beloved Venus, and would turn back the sun and overthrow all natural laws to bring life back to her. Venus herself, along with Hermes, would fight for Mariam rather than allow her to die young.

Herod then changes his mind, claiming the gods were actually envious of Mariam and wanted her dead. The Paphian goddess was jealous of Mariam’s form, Mercury was jealous of her brilliant wit, and Cinthia envied her countenance. Finally, he acknowledges that these are all myths and have no impact in the real world; they didn’t bring about Mariam’s death.

If only she had been dark-skinned, he muses, she would have lived longer. It was her exquisite beauty, he says, that made him doubt her purity. Only in retrospect did he understand that her beauty was heavenly and thus pure. Herod vows to “muffle up [his] selfe in endles night, / And never let [his] eyes behold the light” as punishment for his crime (5.1.252-53), comparing himself to Cain. He envisions himself in a dungeon, happy to be drowned in his tears. As an inscription upon his tomb, he proposes: “Heere Herod lies, that hath his Mariam slaine” (5.1.263).

The play ends with six stanzas from the Jewish Chorus. They ask if any one day has ever held the number of strange events this one has. This day, they muse, would cause anyone to feel insecure. The morning began with everyone comforting Mariam about the apparent death of Herod. When Constabarus got out of bed with Salome, he didn’t expect their separation or his own demise. Pheroras rejoiced in taking a new wife, and the sons of Babus were confident of their safety. At the end of the day, however, Herod is virtually the only one alive. Though innocent, Mariam has been executed, and the fortunes of everyone else reversed (except Pheroras, who managed to hang onto his wife through the machinations of Salome).

Herod himself expected a joyous reunion with Mariam, the Chorus reminds us, rather than her execution. Even after such a brief time, he regrets his decision and grieves for her, knowing she was innocent. If he had only delayed, the Chorus laments, he would have lost nothing; he could have had her executed at any time. Now he has lost all power over her, including the ability to give her life. The Chorus concludes that God means this day “to be a warning to posteritie” (5.1.295), and that Jews will look to this day’s happenings to gain wisdom.