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Morality Plays
Only five medieval English morality plays still survive:
1. The Pride of Life (a corrupted Anglo-Irish text)
2. The Castle of Perseverance
3. Wisdom
4. Mankind
5. Everyman (translated from a Dutch original.)
These are all that are left of an influential dramatic
genre.
The understanding of style has been developed
based upon the influence these plays had on
surviving literature and art
Morality Plays
An attempt to educate via entertainment
Dominican and Franciscan monks developed the morality play
in the 13th century by adding actors and theatrical
elements to their sermons.
They hoped the (mainly illiterate) masses could more easily
learn the basics of Christianity through dramatic spoken word.
The plays 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.
Morality Plays
The main theme of the morality play is
this:
1.Man begins in innocence
2.Man falls into temptation
3.Man repents and is saved.
The central action is the struggle of Man against the seven deadly
sins that are personified into real characters
The allegorical application of theatre to Christianity
was intended to help the audience understand sin and virtue