Seven Deadly Sins/Heavenly Virtues
August 25, 2011 11:09 AM Subscribe
Looking for personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins or the Seven Heavenly Virtues in television/film, visual arts, literature, etc.
For an audition I need to depict one of 14 roles: a personified sin or a virtue. Looking for inspiration to write a 2-5 minute monologue.
(I've heard of the movie Se7en but not yet seen it).
casting call is here.
For an audition I need to depict one of 14 roles: a personified sin or a virtue. Looking for inspiration to write a 2-5 minute monologue.
(I've heard of the movie Se7en but not yet seen it).
casting call is here.
Full Metal Alchemist had kind of a wacky take on Gluttony.
posted by doubleozaphod at 11:14 AM on August 25, 2011
posted by doubleozaphod at 11:14 AM on August 25, 2011
Some years ago Magnum had a Seven Deadly Sins-themed ad campaign. None of it was very profound but it might help, and it looks like searching for Magnum seven deadly sins gives you links to at least some of the ads on YouTube.
posted by rjs at 11:17 AM on August 25, 2011
posted by rjs at 11:17 AM on August 25, 2011
If you're a person who's into smells at all, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has a series of fragrances based on the seven deadly sins. Not exactly a personification, but maybe knowing what, say, pride might smell like might be some inspiration.
posted by corey flood at 11:23 AM on August 25, 2011
posted by corey flood at 11:23 AM on August 25, 2011
The play "Dr Faustas" by Christopher Marlowe has Faustas talking to personifications of the 7 deadly sins.
Here's a link of dubious quality!
posted by mukade at 11:25 AM on August 25, 2011
Here's a link of dubious quality!
posted by mukade at 11:25 AM on August 25, 2011
It's medieval and sung but Ordo Virtutum might have some inspiration. It has 17 virtues but there is some overlap with the 7 heavenlies. Some of the links here might help too.
posted by pointystick at 11:26 AM on August 25, 2011
posted by pointystick at 11:26 AM on August 25, 2011
The original Peter Cook/Dudley Moore version of Bedazzled has some great roles for the seven deadly sins. -- Including Raquel Welch as "Lillian Lust, the Girl with the Bust" and Barry (Dame Edna) Humphries as Envy.
Obviously, it's a comedy, so it may not be the right match for your audition. But it's a more modern take (set in the 1960's), which might give you some ideas you wouldn't have gotten from the original Faust texts.
(They did a more recent remake with Brendan Frazier, but apparently it was terrible. The original was fantastic.)
posted by PlusDistance at 11:32 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]
Obviously, it's a comedy, so it may not be the right match for your audition. But it's a more modern take (set in the 1960's), which might give you some ideas you wouldn't have gotten from the original Faust texts.
(They did a more recent remake with Brendan Frazier, but apparently it was terrible. The original was fantastic.)
posted by PlusDistance at 11:32 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]
Falstaff is a pretty classic example of gluttony and sloth, I'd have thought.
posted by Decani at 11:44 AM on August 25, 2011
posted by Decani at 11:44 AM on August 25, 2011
IIRC, Nagle Jackson's ''Faustus in Hell" (NYT review)/"The Show of the seven Deadly Sins" is exactly what you're looking for:
"Amlin Gray tackles ''Greed'' in the person of an emperor who loves to torture his subjects and knows that too much punishment can never be enough. In the most blasphemous sketch, John Guare imagines ''Gluttony'' represented by a contemporary Messiah as prodigal son gorging himself with junk food.
Savonarola sermonizes in Romulus Linney's ''Wrath'' and Jean-Claude van Itallie spoofs modern man's ''Pride'' in acquiring state-of-the-art anything. The personification of Christopher Durang's ''Sloth'' is a sluggardly mama's boy who ends by singing a chorus of ''Amazing Sloth.'' Miss Oates's ''Lechery,'' the least amusing of the sketches, is a stripper's lament.
The choicest sin is committed by Edward Albee. He has laughingly undertaken the subject of writer's ''Envy.'' In a light-hearted send-up of authorial aspirations, his speaker covets the ability to ''know one's own limits and aim a little lower.'' That line could serve as a warning to anyone trying to co-mingle classics. "
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:45 AM on August 25, 2011
"Amlin Gray tackles ''Greed'' in the person of an emperor who loves to torture his subjects and knows that too much punishment can never be enough. In the most blasphemous sketch, John Guare imagines ''Gluttony'' represented by a contemporary Messiah as prodigal son gorging himself with junk food.
Savonarola sermonizes in Romulus Linney's ''Wrath'' and Jean-Claude van Itallie spoofs modern man's ''Pride'' in acquiring state-of-the-art anything. The personification of Christopher Durang's ''Sloth'' is a sluggardly mama's boy who ends by singing a chorus of ''Amazing Sloth.'' Miss Oates's ''Lechery,'' the least amusing of the sketches, is a stripper's lament.
The choicest sin is committed by Edward Albee. He has laughingly undertaken the subject of writer's ''Envy.'' In a light-hearted send-up of authorial aspirations, his speaker covets the ability to ''know one's own limits and aim a little lower.'' That line could serve as a warning to anyone trying to co-mingle classics. "
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:45 AM on August 25, 2011
The Duomo in Florence has panels on the tower that represent the Seven Virtues/Vices---I believe they are by Alberti. Many of the Renaissance artists, for example Michelangelo and Raphael have allegorical works that treat the virtues.
If you can find a copy, Peter Greenaway's Dante TV has a series associated with suicides dragged from the Siene River which is wonderful.
posted by effluvia at 11:48 AM on August 25, 2011
If you can find a copy, Peter Greenaway's Dante TV has a series associated with suicides dragged from the Siene River which is wonderful.
posted by effluvia at 11:48 AM on August 25, 2011
Oh, Yeah, Dante Inferno Paradiso is all about that.
posted by effluvia at 11:49 AM on August 25, 2011
posted by effluvia at 11:49 AM on August 25, 2011
Gilligan's Island
Yes, in fact, in the reunion movie "Rescue from Gilligan's Island", towards the end the Professor laments how they have encountered all seven deadly sins since their return home, and proceeds to list them.
posted by Melismata at 12:00 PM on August 25, 2011
Yes, in fact, in the reunion movie "Rescue from Gilligan's Island", towards the end the Professor laments how they have encountered all seven deadly sins since their return home, and proceeds to list them.
posted by Melismata at 12:00 PM on August 25, 2011
TV Tropes: Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Heavenly Virtues
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:24 PM on August 25, 2011
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:24 PM on August 25, 2011
America's Next Top Model did a photo shoot based on the seven deadly sins (so embarrassed I remember this). The resulting photos are here.
posted by Dojie at 12:33 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Dojie at 12:33 PM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
Full Metal Alchemist has personifications of all seven deadly sins.
Lust
Envy
Gluttony
Wrath
Pride
Sloth
Greed
posted by lovedbymarylane at 4:50 AM on August 26, 2011
Lust
Envy
Gluttony
Wrath
Pride
Sloth
Greed
posted by lovedbymarylane at 4:50 AM on August 26, 2011
There is a lovely book of short stories called The Seven Deadly Sins, in which a famous author writes for each one: Angus Wilson, Edith Sitwell, Cyril Connolly, Patrick Lee Fermor, Evelyn Waugh, Christopher Sykes, and W. H. Auden.
I recommend that you watch Se7en. It is just a pulpy cop movie, but you may find it more inspiring than you expect. The depictions of each sin are certainly memorable. If you want to go even more lowbrow, there's always National Lampoon's Favorite Deadly Sins.
posted by heatvision at 8:32 AM on August 26, 2011
I recommend that you watch Se7en. It is just a pulpy cop movie, but you may find it more inspiring than you expect. The depictions of each sin are certainly memorable. If you want to go even more lowbrow, there's always National Lampoon's Favorite Deadly Sins.
posted by heatvision at 8:32 AM on August 26, 2011
Not a personification, per se, but you might find Skipping Towards Gomorrah by Dan Savage to be useful. Savage devotes a chapter to each of the seven deadly sins and his pursuit of them (in the greed chapter he spends a few weeks in Vegas casinos and for the lust section he goes to a swingers convention). He also devotes space to the Biblical/historical roots of each deadly sin and its development as a concept. Both hilarious and illuminating.
posted by wondrous strange snow at 6:03 PM on August 27, 2011
posted by wondrous strange snow at 6:03 PM on August 27, 2011
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posted by LN at 11:11 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]