Two real mysteries that have made themselves present on earth inlcude magic and religion. Both in their own distinctive manner. Both include the main producer of puzzlement, whether it be the magician or god, and both contain many puzzling ideas and components, whether it be the after-life, or sawing someone in half. With this both have been a means of entertainment, and enlightenment. In Fifth Business, Robertson Davies successfully uses the characters to correlate and illustrates both the theme of magic and the theme of religion. The greatest and strongest examples are illustrated through the characters and their respective actions. They are: Dunstan Ramsay, Paul Dempster, and Mary Dempster.
Dunstan is one of the first characters that Davies uses to exemplify the theme of magic and religion. Dunstan was Presbyterian. Dunstans continuos reading of the New Testament at war, clearly shows his connection to religion. He stated "Arabian Nights and the Bible were getting pretty close" (Davies, 37), referring to both magic and religion.
Canadian writer Robertson Davies, author of The De...
English: Monastic Chapel 1920, Holy Cross Monaster...
PAUL GALLENDunstans interest in magic as a youngster, and then his interest in religion later on, creates a good mix. The interest Dunstan has when he is young, and teaching Paul whilst looking after him, is a strong illustration of this. Another example of course would be when Dunstan had left the war. A part of his rebirth led Dunstable to Diana. Diana's discontent with his name, leads her to rename him after a saint.
"Why Don't you change it to Dunstan? St. Dunstan was a marvellous person and very much like you--mad about learning, terribly stiff and stern, and an absolute wizard at withstanding temptation." (Davies, 90) This another connection to religion. On top of that, Dunstan becomes very involved, and passionate about studying, and researching saints. This led him in travels around the world...