Cain's Byron: A Mystery – On the Inscrutability of Poetic Providence

Attempts by theologians to discern the character of God from the shape and substance of the world are notoriously problematic. In a parallel manner, it is argued, efforts to fathom the extent of Byron's orthodox or heterodox commitments from the content of Cain are flawed, and miss the essential point: that in a genuinely creative act, the maker remains hidden behind as well as being revealed in and through his or her poetic output. The play (like the world) raises powerful theological questions, but if we seek clear answers we are compelled finally to appeal beyond the horizons of the play itself.