Morality and Religion

One of the intriguing and potentially confusing aspects of Artaud's play is its treatment of religion and morality. It is important to recognize that The Cenci is largely absent of religious and moral values in the sense that they control the actions of the characters. Some characters, such as Beatrice and Lucretia, believe in God and cling to a conventionally moralistic view of the world, but their basic moral values and religious convictions begin to erode once they are exposed to the full extent of Cenci's tyranny. Artaud is concerned with the eruption of fundamental, amoral forces in the play, in accordance with his philosophy about the Theatre of Cruelty and its guidelines for shocking the audience and capturing its imagination.

In a sense, therefore, the play portrays the Catholic Church less as a faith-based organization than as an institution of cynical and amoral power. This...