The Parable of the Prodigal Son: an economic reading

The Parable of the Prodigal Son, told by Jesus in the book of Luke, has inspired much art, but interpretations of it have been conventionally pious. Recent biblical scholarship and narratological analysis suggest that the elder brother is at least as important to the underlying narrative as the prodigal son. Through him may be uncovered an older fabula, whose ideological operations present a different dynamic about psychological maturity, social reciprocity, genetic descent, and economic power. This older pattern organizes giving, spending, and saving in a dynamic cycle, termed by Northrop Frye 'a do ut des bargain: I give that you may give.' This basic patriarchal paradigm, once glimpsed, may also be seen in such texts as King Lear and Paradise Lost.