A Masque of Reason is a 1945 comedy written by Robert Frost.
A Masque of Reason is a short play that purports to be the chapter 43 of the book of Job. In the Old Testament, Job has 42 chapters, and thus Frost has written a concluding chapter in the form of the play. In the play, Job and his wife are sitting out under a palm tree when a tree, called the Burning Bush or The Christmas Tree, enlightens itself. The man and the woman explain that this tree rustling is God, and he has come to talk to them. It ends up actually being God, and Job goes over and talks to him. God sets up his throne ("a plywood flat, prefabricated" that God pulls upright on its hinges to support him) and talks to Job about his condition (because he was ill). God then says "You are the Emancipator of your God, and as such I promote you a saint". Job is grateful of this title, and then his wife comes along, and tells God about her punishment when she was accused for witchcraft. God says that he is sorry for her and the reason he didn’t do anything about it was because “That is not Of record in my Note Book.” .
According to James E. Hartley, an Professor of Economics and instructor on Western Civilization at Mount Holyoke College, the poem, while surpassing the talents of most people, is not Great. The poem lacks greatness chiefly because it neither offers a new insight into the Book of Job nor does it raise any questions not addressed by the canonical 42 chapters. [1]
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