“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” -James 1:14-15, ESV
“There are vows, there are ties There are needs, there are standards There are shouldn'ts and shoulds. Why not both instead?” -Into the Woods
The Baker’s Wife is one of the most complicated (and compelling) characters in the musical theatre canon. One reason for this is that she appears to have it all together on the surface, but underneath, she is conflicted. Her desire for a child conflicts with her desire for personal fulfillment. Perhaps, however, personal fulfillment was truly her main objective the whole time. The desire of our hearts has a strong pull on our actions. When faced with the opportunity to fulfill a long-felt desire (a temptation, one might say), we often find our conscience shut off or shut out. Calling back to the introduction to these devotions, desire does not always lead to sin. In the passage above, the Apostle James points out that a person “is lured and enticed by his own desire” (James 1:14, ESV, emphasis added). Desire can be a good thing and lead to positive outcomes, but our fallen and sinful nature warps our understanding of what is good and what is bad. Our own evil desire leads to sin, and sin leads to death.
The Baker’s Wife is infatuated with Cinderella’s Prince and Rapunzel’s Prince. They represent many of the things she longs for in her personal relationships. While in the first act, she manages to keep her desire for the princes at bay, when presented with the opportunity in the second act, she gives in to her desire, which gives birth to sin, which gives birth to death. The Baker’s Wife and her choices demonstrate exactly what the above verse from James so clearly states.
Part of the problem is the fact that we think we can control the consequences of our sin. One slight compromise here or there surely won’t change us on the inside, yet the inside of us is the problem. Sin resides deep within our nature and tricks us into believing that we can control or minimize the effects of our deliberate wrong choices. Despite our misunderstanding that we can manage sin, our choices affect us and those around us. There are consequences not only for The Baker’s Wife, but also for The Baker and their young son.
Given the prominence of this storyline, Sondheim most certainly wants his audience to learn from The Baker’s Wife and her choices. Into the Woods demonstrates that when we place ourselves at the center of morality, we are doomed to failure. Humanity was not designed to be the arbiter of truth. We simply cannot bear that responsibility. There is only One who is completely holy and just. There is only One who has the authority to judge between right and wrong because of His sinless nature. The first half of Isaiah 57:15 states the case for God as ultimate holiness: “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place...’” Thank God for His gracious nature and the second half of this same verse: “‘and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’’’ When we sin, let’s remember that we have a great Redeemer who understands our nature and will forgive us our sins. And even though the consequences of our sin might remain, we understand that God can use all circumstances to accomplish His purposes and our eventual good.
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