Faustian parables unlock more interesting connotations when considered not in terms of politics, but of art.
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Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Jan. 2026
In the parable of the cave, in the Republic, Plato compares human beings to cave dwellers who never see the sun, but perceive everything by shadowy firelight.
This lawless crew shares dramaturgical DNA with the vice figures from medieval morality plays, personifications of sinfulness who would confide their schemes to the audience and make theatergoers their co-conspirators in a riveting game that obviously left its mark on a young Shakespeare.
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Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Jan. 2026
But culture wars tend to reduce every conflict to a simple morality play, as Hlavacik repeatedly shows.
Kratos and his son Atreus traverse the nine realms, dig up old traumas, and stand off against a whole bestiary’s worth of gargantuan, flesh-eating monsters.
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Luke Winkie,
Vulture,
1 Apr. 2025
Their violence — in medieval bestiaries, unicorns are regularly said to have beef with elephants and take them down by goring their bellies — is contrasted with their gentleness towards maidens and innate understanding of purity.
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