2 h 38 minAudiobook10 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does betrayal cost when conscience refuses to stay silent?
In Judas, Augusto de Lacerda turns to a disciple at the heart of the Christian story. According to the Gospels, Judas Iscariot gives Jesus up to the authorities. This lyric drama approaches that familiar figure through speech and feeling, asking what can lead a follower to betray his teacher.
The struggle is inward: faith meets doubt, loyalty gives way to betrayal, and conscience demands a reckoning. Lacerda's drama in verse invites reflection rather than a simple verdict. Its questions reach beyond the act itself to the motives behind it—and the guilt that Christian tradition connects with its aftermath.
What you’ll discover
- A betrayer seen within Look beyond a familiar name to the moral questions surrounding Judas and his choice.
- Faith beside doubt Consider how belief and uncertainty can share the heart of a devoted follower.
- The weight of conscience Explore the troubling distance between making a choice and living with its moral cost.
- Poetry carrying the conflict Enter a lyric drama where speech and feeling carry the weight of the struggle.
- Questions without easy verdicts Reflect on loyalty, motives, and guilt without reducing betrayal to one simple explanation.
Who will love it
Readers who love poetry on the stage, retellings of sacred stories from an unexpected side, and portraits of a troubled mind, along with anyone curious about Judas, Pilate's household and the women of Bethany.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Bethany waits under a darkening spring sky
- Two women meet Pilate's wife on the road
- The Twelve arrive and Judas stands apart
- A lonely man speaks of a burning desire
- A quarrel and a secret offer in Bethany
- Maria refuses him and Judas loses control
- In Pilate's palace the plot is sold
- Maria begs Claudia and the dawn brings grief
- What the play is about and how it speaks
Who’s who
- JudasA rough, dark-skinned disciple from Judea who keeps the money bag, feels scorned by the Galileans, and burns with love for Maria.
- Maria of BethanyA proud, grave young woman who loves the Master with a pure devotion and wants only faith.
- MarthaMaria's lively younger sister, cheerful and curious, who loves songs and dislikes secrets.
- EleazarTheir melancholy brother, who dreams of freeing Judea and hides his fear for the Master.
- JohnA fair young Galilean disciple, passionate and quick to anger, who distrusts Judas and longs for the promised new age.
- GamalielAn old scholar of the Law who warns the household of the plot and urges struggle by the word rather than the sword.
- HananThe aged former High Priest, sly and powerful, who wants the Nazarene silenced without causing a riot.
- ClaudiaPilate's restless wife, longing for Rome and ready to mock Judea, yet open to a sudden change of heart.
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- Audiobook
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- The key ideas in about 10 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Judas
A jealous disciple holds the money bag and a secret love for Maria, while priests wait to buy what he can give.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Judas is a lyric drama in four acts by the Portuguese poet Augusto de Lacerda, written between 1888 and 1890. It retells the Passover week of Jesus, but it puts the traitor at the centre.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Bethany waits under a darkening spring sky
The first act opens on the eighth of Nisan, in the village of Bethany, an hour and a half from Jerusalem. The author paints the setting: the house of Simon the Leper, the spring pouring into a Roman basin, the Mount of Olives, the Kidron stream and the crowded city in the distance. It is a calm evening, and that calm is soon broken.
The old scholar Gamaliel arrives from the city with grave news. He speaks first to Eleazar, a young man who lives in the house with his two sisters, Maria and Martha. The Council of priests is plotting to seize the Master, and Gamaliel urges silence. Eleazar dreams of a nation rising against Rome, while Maria answers that the Master offers only the word, with no sword and no cross.
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What is the play Judas by Augusto de Lacerda about?
It is a four act verse drama about the Passover week of Jesus. It follows Judas, his jealousy and his hidden love for Maria of Bethany, along with the priests, the disciples and Pilate's household.
Does Jesus appear as a character in Judas?
No. The Master is spoken of by everyone but never appears. The audience sees him only through the hopes, fears and love of those around him, which keeps attention on the people who must decide.
Who are Maria, Martha and Eleazar in the play?
They are three orphaned siblings who live in Bethany in the house of Simon the Leper. Maria loves the Master with a pure devotion, Martha is lively, and Eleazar dreams of freeing Judea from Rome.
The author
Augusto de Lacerda
1864–1926 · Portuguese writer
Augusto de Lacerda was a Portuguese writer who died in 1926. He wrote Judas between 1888 and 1890, in the verse and symbolist taste of late nineteenth century poetry. The play opens with a line from Ernest Renan's Life of Jesus and is dedicated to Manoel Maria Bordallo Pinheiro.
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