Morality play

Morality play
A cover of a sixteenth century doodle Plays, Mundas et Infans

The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme.[1] Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a Godly life over one of evil. The plays were most popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. Having grown out of the religiously based mystery plays of the Middle Ages, they represented a shift towards a more secular base for European theatre.

Contents

History

The morality play developed during the Medieval period.[2] The morality plays attempted to educate via entertainment. It is thought that the Dominican and Franciscan orders of Christian monks developed the morality play in the 13th century by adding actors and theatrical elements to their sermons.[3] By doing so, the (mainly illiterate) masses could more easily learn the basics of Christianity through dramatic spoken word. This made complex topics such as original sin and atonement more easily understood. By personifying vices, virtues, the Devil and the Good Angel, stories of temptation were made accessible to those who were unable to read them themselves.[4]

The main theme of the morality play is this: Man begins in innocence, man falls into temptation, Man repents and is saved.[5] The central action is the struggle of Man against the seven deadly sins that are personified into real characters (prosopopoeia).[4] It is believed that the allegory of vices and virtues fighting over Man’s soul goes back to the 4th century Roman epic, Psychomachia.[6] This allegorical application of theatre to Christianity is intended to help the audience understand the greater concepts of sin and virtue.[7] The three greatest temptations that Man faces in morality plays are The World, The Flesh, and The Devil.[8] It is stressed that “Sin is inevitable” but that “repentance is always possible”.[9] Morality plays were not holiday-specific; they could be performed at any time of the year, as repentance occurs at any time of the year.[10]

Characteristics

Morality plays typically contain a protagonist who represents either humanity as a whole or a smaller social structure. Supporting characters are personifications of good and evil. This alignment of characters provides the play’s audience with moral guidance. Morality plays are the result of the dominant belief of the time period, that humans had a certain amount of control over their post-death fate while they were on earth.[11]

In Everyman, perhaps the archetypal morality play, the characters take on the common pattern, representing broader ideas. Some of the characters in Everyman are God, Death, Everyman, Good-Deeds, Angel, Knowledge, Beauty, Discretion, and Strength. The personified meanings of these characters are hardly hidden. The premise of Everyman is that God, believing that the people on earth are too focused on wealth and worldly possessions, sends Death to Everyman to remind him of God's power and the importance of upholding values.[12] The emphasis put on morality, the seemingly vast difference between good and evil, and the strong presence of God make Everyman one of the most concrete examples of a morality play. At the same time, most morality plays focus more on evil, while Everyman focuses more on good, highlighting sin in contrast [13]

Other plays that take on the typical traits of morality plays, but are rarely given the title of "morality play" are The Second Shepherds' Play and Hickscorner. The characters in Hickscorner are Pity, Perseverance, Imagination, Contemplation, Freewill, and Hickscorner. They blatantly represent moral ideals.[14] In The Second Shepherds' Play, the characters are less obviously representative of good and evil, being primarily a trio of shepherds. But other characters such as Mary, The Child Christ, and An Angel show a strong moral presence and the importance of God in the play.[15]

Justice and Equity as characters

In early English dramas Justice was personified as an entity which exercised “theological virtue or grace, and was concerned with the divine pronouncement of judgment on man”.[16] However, as time progressed, more moralities began to emerge; it is during this transitional period where one begins to see Justice begin to assume more and more the qualities of a judge. The Justice in Respublica begins to concern himself with administering justice on “the criminal element”, rather than with the divine pronouncement on a generic representative of mankind.[17] This is the first instance where one may observe a direct divergence from the theological virtues and concerns that were previously exerted by Justice in the morality plays of the fifteenth century. The Justice in Respublica is personified as a “civil force rather than a theological one”.[17] An evolution of sorts takes place within the morals and agendas of Justice, he begins to don on the Judicial Robe of prosecutor and executioner.

Another change envelops in the character of Justice during the sixteenth century in morality plays; Equity replaces Justice and assumes the judiciary duties previously performed by Justice. This changing of rulers, or preceding justices, is done when Equity declares that his brother Justice has been banished from the country and that he (Equity) will from now on take on the duties of the former monarch, Justice.[18] This change of ruling heads is portrayed in the morality play, Liberality and Prodigality, where Equity serves Virtue in the detection, arrest, and punishment of Prodigality for the robbery and murder of Tenacity, a yeoman in the country of Middlesex.[19] Virtue states,

So horrible a fact can hardly pleaded for favour:
Therefore go you, Equity, examine more diligently
The manner of this outrageous robbery:
And as the same by examination shall appear,
Due justice may be done in presence here.
(Liberality and Prodigality 377)

The metaphases that Justice undergoes during the sixteenth century in morality plays, from “Justice” to “Equity” further illustrates the evolution of Justice; not only did Justice change from a “theological abstraction to a civil servant”,[20] but he experienced a corporeal change as well.

One may readily observe the evolutionary progression of Justice as portrayed in the plays of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. One encounters Justice in the early fifteenth century moralities as a performer playing the role of a theological virtue or grace, and then one sees him develop to a more serious figure, occupying the position of an arbiter of justice during the sixteenth century. It is a journey of discovery and great change on which Justice welcomes one to embark as one leafs thought the pages of morality plays.

Pre-Reformation versus post-Reformation

Although the purpose of all morality plays is to instruct listeners on the means of receiving redemption, morality plays after the Protestant Reformation are of a distinctly different didacticism than the morality plays before the Reformation.

Morality plays before the Reformation teach a Catholic approach to redemption. For example, in pre-Reformation morality plays, the focus is on attaining salvation through an individual's actions, known as a "justification by works" in Catholic theology. In the pre-Reformation plays, the importance of the sacraments of the Catholic Church (such as partaking in mass and baptism), the church clergy, the church hierarchy, the church establishment in general, and the abstinence from the Seven Deadly Sins, are all stressed. In these early morality plays the Virtues serve to reinforce the aforementioned pillars of the Catholic faith, urging listeners to live a righteous life. The function of the Vices is to demonstrate sinfulness to the audience, and serve as a warning against having whichever vice is being personified. Usually in the pre-Reformation plays, the Vice will come outright and state that he is wicked to the audience. This typically occurs briefly after he is introduced into the play.

Even after this initial introduction, however, the Vice will continually reiterate to the audience that his nature is diabolic. Very often, the Vice presented will bring his character into criticism by the manner in which he presents himself to his audience, thus further demonstrating his wickedness. For example, the Vices in the earlier morality plays often spoke using vulgar language and by blasphemous swearing. Often, these curses were spoken in Latin, which being considered the holy language, made these curses even more offensive to the audience. Moreover, the Vices often made a mockery of religious practices sacred to the audience, thereby castigating themselves in the eyes of their audience. Deceit is another means by which the Vice exposes his wickedness to the audience and serves as an example to them of what to avoid in a righteous life. Furthermore, in the pre-Reformation play, the Vices denounce their own characters by acting violently toward each other, and toward the Virtues.[21]

Whereas the pre-Reformation morality plays sought to reinforce the establishment of the Catholic Church and Catholic doctrine, the post-Reformation morality plays worked to destroy Catholic credibility and demonize the Catholic Church. Although post-Reformation morality plays were like its predecessor in that it also was concerned with the salvation of its audience, it differed in that it believed that the theology promoted by pre-Reformation plays was antithetical to salvation. Thus, a major shift in focus, from concern for the individual’s moral behavior to concern for the individuals theological practices, occurred with the post-Reformation morality plays. The wave of Protestantism which fueled the content of these plays dictated that more attention should be given to warning people against the Catholic Church than of their sinful nature. The means of redemption, according to the philosophy embedded in post-Reformation morality plays, is dependent upon the audience understanding the truthfulness of Protestant theology, verses and also the deceptiveness, wickedness of Catholic theology.

The Vices in post-Reformation morality plays are almost always depicted as being Catholic. At times this depiction is achieved through their physical appearance. For example, Vices in post-Reformation morality plays would be dressed as cardinals, friars, monks, or the pope. Other times, the Vice comes out and states he is a Catholic, or elucidates that he is Catholic by swearing a Catholic pledge. Often times, the Vice in post-Reformation plays admits that Catholic theology is flawed, and that by being Catholic the Vice is committing treason. Moreover, Vices often appear ignorant and naive, especially when it comes to their biblical understanding and knowledge of the New Testament. Often, morality plays coming out the post-Reformation period, ridicule ritualistic Catholic practices. Furthermore, these plays postulated that Catholics were opposed to moral behavior and truthfulness, and that the Catholic Church warped the text of the bible to justify sinning. To deceive the victim of post-Reformation morality plays, the vice typically assumes a new name to disguise what actual vice he is.

Because the Vice is aggressively tied to Catholicism from the outset of the play, when the Vice is reprimanded and damned, so are his Catholic beliefs. Therefore, the Vice served as a central component to discrediting the Catholic Church in post-Reformation morality plays.[21]

The role of the Virtues in post-Reformation morality plays is to preach a message of salvation based upon an individual’s faith and the grace of God. Protestant beliefs of original sin, the importance of biblical reading and meditation, the acceptableness of church officials marrying, the cleansing of sin only through Christ’s sacrifice, and the discrediting of the Catholic belief that during holy communion the sacramental bread actually becomes Jesus’ physical body, were all major points the Virtues expounded upon in post-Reformation morality plays.[21]

References

  1. ^ Richardson and Johnston (1991, 97-98).
  2. ^ Robert A. Potter, The English Morality Play: Origins, History, and Influence of a Dramatic Tradition (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1975). 6. Print.
  3. ^ Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983. 560. Print.
  4. ^ a b King, Pamela M.. "Morality Plays." The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre. Ed. Richard Beadle. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1994. 240-264. Print.
  5. ^ Potter, Robert. The English Morality Play. London: Routlede & Kegan Paul, 1975. 6. Print.
  6. ^ Potter, Robert. The English Morality Play. London: Routlede & Kegan Paul, 1975. 7. Print.
  7. ^ Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Oxford: Oxford U P, 1983. Print.
  8. ^ Potter, Robert. The English Morality Play. London: Routlede & Kegan Paul, 1975. 38. Print.
  9. ^ Potter, Robert. The English Morality Play. London: Routlede & Kegan Paul, 1975. 16. Print.
  10. ^ Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Cmpanion to the Theatre. Oxford: Oxford U P, 1983. 561. Print.
  11. ^ King, Pamela M. "Morality Plays". The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre. Ed. Richard Beadle. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1994. 235. Print.
  12. ^ Everyman and Other Miracle and Morality Plays. Ed. Stanley Appelbaum and Candace Ward. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. 36-59. Print.
  13. ^ King, Pamela M. "Morality Plays". The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre. Ed. Richard Beadle. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1994. 257. Print.
  14. ^ Everyman and Other Miracle and Morality Plays. Ed. Stanley Appelbaum and Candace Ward. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. 60. Print.
  15. ^ Everyman and Other Miracle and Morality Plays. Ed. Stanley Appelbaum and Candace Ward. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. 12-35. Print.
  16. ^ McCutchan, J. Wilson. "Justice and Equity in the English Morality Play."Journal of the History of Ideas. 19.3 (1958): 406.
  17. ^ a b Respublica, ed. by Leonard A. Magnus (London, 1905), Extra Series XCIV.
  18. ^ McCutchan, J. Wilson . "Justice and Equity in the English Morality Play."Journal of the History of Ideas. 19.3 (1958): 408.
  19. ^ Liberality and Prodigality, in A Select Collection of Old English Plays. ed. by W. Carew Hazlitt (London, 1874), VIII, 329-83.
  20. ^ McCutchan, J. Wilson . "Justice and Equity in the English Morality Play."Journal of the History of Ideas. 19.3 (1958): 409.
  21. ^ a b c Pineas, Rainer. “The English Morality Play as a Weapon of Religious Controversy.” Studies in English Literature 2.2 (1962): 157-180. JSTOR. Web. 28 September 2009.

Sources

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • morality play —    Morality plays were popular dramatic entertainments in late medieval England. In contrast with the MYSTERY PLAYS, which retold the universal biblical history of salvation from the Creation of the world to Doomsday, morality plays focused on… …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature

  • Morality Play — is a detective story by Barry Unsworth, a Man Booker Prize winning author for his book Sacred Hunger Published in 1996 by the W. W. Norton Company, the book was critically acclaimed and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.Time: Medieval times.… …   Wikipedia

  • morality play — ► NOUN ▪ a play presenting a moral lesson and having personified qualities as the main characters, popular in the 15th and 16th centuries …   English terms dictionary

  • morality play — n. any of a class of allegorical dramas of the 15th and 16th cent., the characters of which personify abstractions, as Everyman, Vice, Virtue, etc …   English World dictionary

  • morality play — an allegorical form of the drama current from the 14th to 16th centuries and employing such personified abstractions as Virtue, Vice, Greed, Gluttony, etc. Cf. miracle play, mystery play. [1925 30] * * * Allegorical drama of 15th–16th century… …   Universalium

  • morality play — noun an allegorical play popular in the 15th and 16th centuries; characters personified virtues and vices • Hypernyms: ↑play, ↑drama, ↑dramatic play * * * moˈrality play f8 [morality play] noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • Morality Play (novel) — Morality Play   First edition cover …   Wikipedia

  • morality play — moral′ity play n. lit.+sbz an allegorical drama of the 15th and 16th centuries in which personified virtues, vices, and other abstractions are characters Compare miracle play mystery play • Etymology: 1925–30 …   From formal English to slang

  • Morality play — These 15 16c plays usually had a central, allegorical figure, representing humankind between the personified opposing forces of vice and virtue. There was often a principal comic character. Cf. Miracle play; Mystery play …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

  • morality play — /məˈræləti pleɪ/ (say muh raluhtee play) noun 1. a type of allegorical drama employing personifications of virtues and vices, a form of which was in vogue in Europe from the 14th to the 16th centuries. 2. a play with a moral message …  

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”