Salve Deus Rex and Beauty

In the early pages of Aemilia Lanyer’s poem “Salve Deus Rex Judæorum” we are presented with the idea that outward beauty is not as important as virtue.  Lanyer explains the importance of inner beauty and gives examples where beauty is the source of harm.  Later Lanyer blazons the image of Christ, detailing his physical beauty, even though she had previously argued that physical appearance should not be taken as important.  Although it would seem like Lanyer is contradicting herself, she is actually making Christ more sympathetic by comparing his death the the death of Lucrece, and comparing Pilate’s decision to crucify Christ to the decisions of Antony and Cleopatra.

Initially Lanyer claims that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty, because outer beauty is the cause of danger.  She says, “[a]s for those matchlesse colours Red and White, / Or perfit features in a fading face, / Or due proportion pleasing to the sight; / All these doe draw but dangers and disgrace” (Lanyer,193-196).  Here Lanyer is saying that whether you have rosy cheeks or pale skin, whether you have nice features or a nice body type, danger and disgrace are also attracted to you.  Lanyer also says, “[a] mind enrich’d with Virtue, shines more bright, / Addes everlasting Beauty, gives true grace” (Lanyer, 197-198).  Here Lanyer points out that someone with a good mind or a good heart is always beautiful, while physical beauty fades.  

Later in the poem, Lanyer brazons Christ.  She says, “[t]his is that Bridegroome that appears so fair, / So sweet, so lovely in his Spouses sight, / That unto Snowe we may see his face compare, / His cheeks like skarlet, and his eyes so bright / As purest Doves that in the rivers are, / Washed with milke, to give more delight” (Lanyer, 1305-1310).  Here Lanyer is describing Christ’s beauty.  He has rosy cheeks, white eyes, and is “[s]o sweet, so lovely”.  It would seem unusual that Lanyer takes so much time to describe Christ’s looks, especially when she thinks inner beauty is more important, but she is actually saying that Christ’s beauty drew danger to him.

Aemilia Lanyer articulates on the death of Lucrece, who was raped because she was so beautiful, then killed herself.  She says, “[t]was Beautie made chaste Lucrece loose her life, / For which Tarquins fact was so abhorr’d” (Lanyer, 211-212).  Here, Lanyer points out that physical beauty is what caused Lucrece to be raped and commit suicide.  Her beauty was so that Tarquin was proud to have conquered her and paraded her around Rome.  This led to a revolt against the Tarquins.  If Christ and Lucrece share the same physical beauty, Christ could have been a victim as well.  Although Lucrece was raped and Christ was spat on and crucified, they both suffered.  Lanyer compares Lucrece and Christ’s suffering by using their similarities of beauty.  By showing the Christ was a victim, he is more sympathetic.

Lanyer also uses a comparison between Christ’s beauty and Cleopatra’s and Pilate’s decision and  Antonius’. She does this to ask Pontius Pilate if authorizing Christ’s crucifixion was the correct decision.  Lanyer first analyzes Cleopatra and Antonius’ relationship.  She says, “[b]eautie the cause Antonius wrong’d his wife...Great Cleopatraes Beautie and defects... What fruit did yeeld that faire forbidden tree, / But blood, dishonour, infamie, and shame?” (Lanyer, 213-218).  With this, Lanyer explains that Antonius cheated on his wife because Cleopatra was so beautiful.  She then asks if cheating was worth the cost.  What fruit did yield from this decision?  Obviously it was not, considering both Antonius and Cleopatra committed suicide.  Comparing this to Pontius Pilate and his crucifixion of Christ, was the fruit from the tree worth it?  Was crucifying Christ the correct decision to make?  Because it was not the correct decision for Antonius and Cleopatra, Lanyer can draw the conclusion that it was not worth it for Pilate.  Because we have already understood that Christ is beautiful, we are able to put him in place of Cleopatra, and therefore put Pilate in place of Antonius.  Antonius made the mistake of cheating on his wife with the beautiful Cleopatra, and Pilate made the mistake of crucifying the beautiful Christ.  By making this comparison, Lanyer shows that Pilate made the incorrect decision, making Christ even more sympathetic because he did not deserve his death.

Aemilia Lanyer argues that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty in “Salve Deus Rex Judæorum.”  She does this because she believes being beautiful leads to danger.  She then describes Christ’s beauty, acknowledging that he is in danger.  By comparing Christ to Lucrece, we see him as a victim and by comparing Pilate to Antonius and Christ to Cleopatra, we see that Christ did not deserve to die, making him more sympathetic.  Lanyer is not contradicting herself when she describes Christ’s beauty after saying that inner beauty is more important, but instead uses beauty as a tool to compare Christ to sympathetic characters.

Works Cited

Lanyer, Aemilia. "Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum." The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer. Ed. Suzanne Woods. 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. 59-107. Print.