Motivation of Cain

I was always under the belief that Cain and Abel was a tragic story. As seen in Genesis 4, the two brothers were giving up what they could offer. For Abel, this was a fat sheep, since he was a shepard. For Cain, this was his first batch of crops. Each gave up what they thought was meaningful, but God only took favor on Abel, and out of jealousy, Cain kills him. While this may seem irrational, I always imagined what it would be like to live my entire life to impress and meet my most admired idol who I have been told did so many amazing things for me, and after all this time he deems my gift worthy despite it being the most worthwhile thing I could give. I don't know if I would have killed my brother over it, but to me the motivation makes sense. Maybe he was a bad person before this incident, maybe he wasn't, but the point is that it's plausible this could have happened to any person. And in the end, even after being banished from the world, he proves to have had a pretty decent life and lineage, with the message being that even the worst men will be forgiven under god's eyes (though this is speculation on my part).

The N-Town Play takes all of that complexity away in my opinion. To start off, Abel is now this noble and honorable son and worshiper of God. When Adam gives him instructions on the sacrifices, Abel thanks his father, saying "Gramercy, father, for your good doctrine, for as you teach us, so shall we do" (45-46). Cain on the other hand is this an arrogant, stuck up punk, who literally is already packing up to go home before Adam finishes his instructions. When choosing his sacrifice, he chooses a field that is of no use to him, since God won't be able to eat it anyway, he won't know it's a bad field. The N-Town Play takes this idea that anyone, given the proper motivation, can do evil into a tragic Mary Sue gets killed by evil brother. The punishment, while in both is justified, lacks the tragedy that comes with knowing that Cain was just trying to be a good follower.