The characterisation of Pontius Pilate in the four gospels

[摘要] English: The absence of a consistent narratological analysis of Pontius Pilate may be indicated as a gap in the research on this interesting figure. The aim of this study is to rectify this by presenting a detailed study of the portrayal of Pontius Pilate in terms of a narratological approach, in particular in terms of a narratological approach to characterisation in texts.This is achieved by means of a detailed narratological analysis of the characterisation of Pontius Pilate in each of the Four Gospels. The results are as follow.In the Gospel according to Mark Pilate is portrayed as a flat character since only a few traits are revealed. His character does not show any development and relatively little of his inner life is revealed. In terms of the plot of the Gospel Pilate is portrayed as having two objectives: first he tries to see that justice prevails, but in the end he is forced to replace this objective by another one, namely that of pleasing the people, thus knowing that justice does not prevail. He is also portrayed throughout as reacting to events as they unfold instead of taking the initiative. The narrator characterises Pilate as a flat character and therefore only a few traits are revealed to the implied reader, namely attempting to be just, weak >> wanting to please people, unable to understand Jesus, shrewd, and thorough. Of these, the first two are the most important to such an extent that it can be said that the characterisation of Pilate in the Gospel according to Mark is dominated by the conflict between these two traits.In the Gospel according to Matthew, Pilate is portrayed as being somewhere between a flat and a round character since a relatively large number of traits are revealed. His character does not show any development and relatively little is revealed of his inner life. In terms of the plot of the Gospel Pilate is portrayed as having two objectives: first, he tries to see that justice prevails, but in the end he is forced to replace this objective by another one, namely that of (unsuccessfully!) trying to convince the crowd that he is innocent of Jesus' blood. Pilate is also portrayed throughout as unwillingly doing something he is forced to do and shows more resistance than the Pilate of the Gospel according to Mark. In terms of the traits associated with this character the following four dominate: attempting to be just, unwilling to act as God wants him to, weak >> succumb to pressure, and trying to shift the blame. The implied reader thus has a very negative picture of Pilate.In the Gospel according to Luke, Pilate is portrayed as somewhere between a flat and a round character since a relatively large number of traits are revealed. His character shows some development, as he develops from an enemy of Herod to a friend of Herod. Almost nothing is revealed of his inner life: his inner thoughts are revealed only once when the narrator tells that he wants to release Jesus. In terms of the plot of the Gospel Pilate is portrayed as having three objectives: first, he tries to see that justice prevails. This is followed by the second objective, namely getting out of the situation by sending Jesus to Herod. Lastly, he attempts to convince the crowd of Jesus' innocence. With regard to the traits associated with Pilate in the Gospel according to Luke, a number of these were identified, namely authority, cruelty, shrewd, attempting to be just, witness to Jesus' innocence, weak, and enemy of Herod >> friend of Herod. The narrator portrays Pilate in such a way that only one trait dominates his characterisation, namely witness to Jesus' innocence.In the Gospel according to John, Pilate can be described as being somewhere between a flat and a round character since a relatively large number of traits are revealed. His character shows no development and almost nothing is revealed of his inner life: his inner thoughts are revealed only once when the narrator tells that he became more afraid than ever. In terms of the plot of the Gospel Pilate is portrayed as having three objectives: first, he tries to see that justice prevails. In doing so, his objective shifts to something new, namely that of determining the identity of Jesus. However, he fails in this objective, as he is unable to grasp the real nature of Jesus' kingship. In the end both objectives (seeing that justice prevails, and determining the identity of Jesus) give way to a final objective, namely being a friend of the emperor. The only way in which Pilate could reach this objective was by failing to reach the other two objectives. A fairly large number of traits are associated with this character in the Gospel according to John. Two of these traits dominate, namely unable to understand the identity of Jesus and powerful <> afraid of Jesus. The characterisation of Pilate fits a general pattern in the gospel in that it shows a negative reaction to the identity of Jesus: although Pilate is shrewd and attempts to be just, he is unable to understand the identity of Jesus. It should also be pointed out that the narrator succeeds in creating a fairly complex picture of Pilate by revealing some interesting traits not found in the other Gospels, namely respecting the religious feelings of the Jews, irritable, cynical and wilful.

[发布机构] University of the Free State