Medieval Morality Plays Throughout time, there have been many books, plays, songs, pamphlets, sermons, lectures, etc. written. These writings were all written with some kind of purpose to either inform, persuade, entertain, or teach their audience. One such form of literature not too widely known about is that of the medieval morality plays. These plays were not aimed to entertain, but to teach morals and religion to the uneducated lower classes of people in medieval Europe. The morality plays were also quite necessary to teach and inform the underclass people, through the thoughtful persuasion of play entertainment.
Morality plays, as said above, were most popular and most widely present in medieval times. They were also found in the early times of the renaissance, but in those times they were aimed more for entertainment rather than their original purpose of teaching and informing. (Warren 2).
Location wise, most morality plays were written by French and English playwrights, but they can be found throughout Europe at that time.
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An early predecessor of the morality plays were the mystery and miracle plays of the earlier medieval period. (1).
Of the two, morality plays were more similar in the aim of the messages and such to the miracle plays rather than the mystery plays.
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The main difference between the morality and the miracle plays is that the morality plays were allegorical, not historical like the miracle plays. (1).
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The morality plays were also known to be more on the entertainment side than the miracle and mystery plays. (1).
The content of the morality plays is what played a hand in the persuasion of its audience.
They taught their audiences because their main object was both religious and ethical and easy to grasp for the uneducated population whom largely went to its productions. (Warren 1).
The plays also often examined the Christian character so that the flaws and strengths can be pointed out. (1).
The plays were centered mainly on faith, dogma, and the application of the Christian doctrine to common folk life. (1).
The characters of the morality plays were usually abstract qualities such as greed, friendship, love, death, etc. (1).
There were many other cases when the characters of the morality plays were not abstract qualities. These alternative roles were ones of angels, devils, priests, doctors, fools (found usually in English writings), etc. (1).
The morality plays focused on the ‘hero’ or main character, who’s flaws were pointed out through ‘diabolic forces’, but the hero did have the option to choose redemption and take help from figures such as the four daughters of god.
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One commonly used subject of the morality plays was that of the seven deadly sins. (1).
The setup of the morality plays were actually quite simple. In the early development of the plays they did not have much technical structure to them. (Warren 2) Later on, they were usually played outdoors on moving ‘scaffolds’ with the normal usage of props.
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When morality plays were first introduced, the were often shown with miracle plays to get the audiences used to them and also to popularize them. (1).
Until the later period of the morality plays, they were performed by amateur actors who relied wholly on public support. (Morality Play 1).
When it comes to the plot aspect of morality plays, there were four main story lines. The majority of the morality play plots consisted of debates or conflicts. The three which did were the debate of heavenly graces, the debate of soul and body, and the conflict of vices and virtues. The other form of plot was the coming of death. (Warren 2).
English morality plays didn’t really get into all aspects of the plot structure and setup.
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During the medieval period, there were many morality plays written about many different parts of the Christian life. Sad enough though, many of the morality plays have been lost and sections out of a numerous plays have also been lost. For example, the earliest know morality play, ‘Pride of Life’, has many lost parts to it.
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Another morality play, entitled ‘Creed’, is also now lost. (2).
The earliest known English morality play, ‘Lord’s Prayer’, which was written in the late 14 th century, has been lost. (2).
Fortunately enough, there is a guild in York, England which is devoted to keeping the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ going.
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One of the most known morality plays, ‘Everyman’, was once regarded as lost, but another copy has been found. This particular play was about the Christians need to confront morality and judgement. (1).
‘Everyman’ is also an excellent depiction of the general aim of the morality plays, the main character is brought to meet with the importance of the Christian faith. (1).
Later in the cessation of the medieval times and the dawning of the renaissance period, the morality play began to change and take hold onto a new shape and form which influenced both modern drama and renaissance drama. In the course, the morality play also took on a couple new names, on such is the moral interlude, which came to place in the late 15 th century. (Hanning 1).
The name of the morality play began to change because many changes were made to them in the 15 th century. (Warren 2).
For instance, many scholars say that morality plays which were written in the 15 th century were not true morality plays.
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A main reason for this was that the morality plays lost their religious connotation and became more and more secular as time progressed. (2).
The plays also began to show being played indoors by professional actors, versus the indoor amateur shows of their earlier days. Because the morality plays were to teach about religion and morals, the church had many influences in their writing. In fact, the medieval church was very aware that the ideals of the Bible could be effectively taught to the uneducated community through the morality plays and exceedingly supported the plays.
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One scholar was noted to say that ‘morality plays were virtually sermons dramatized through allegory.’ (Morality Plays 1).
As history explains, in 16 th century England, there was a division between the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Anglican church. This division of the churches caused a problem for the morality plays. The problem which was created was that the morality plays were suppressed because both churches believed that the plays were a tool of politico-religious propaganda. (1).
By virtue of this suppression, many uneducated people were not able to get the proper teachings from the Bible and often times the sermons. As with all things, the morality plays had its shares of both flaws and strengths. One flaw which was easily come by was that if the plays were acted carelessly, the substitution of the abstract characters over human characters could cause a problem for the audience. (Warren 2).
If there was any kind problem with the understanding of the play, the audience risked the chance of not grasping the moral of the play and totally missing the point of the play. The intricacy at which these plays had to be performed at would generally create a boring story line, but the plots of the morality plays were in fact quite interesting. (1).
The opinion of the morality plays have changed considerably over time. When the plays were first in their development stage, no one knew what to really think about them. As time progressed, they gradually built up their strength and became something great.
Many theatre historians believe that the morality plays were dull and they place them lowly in the world of dramatic art. (Warren 1).
Modern opinion on the other hand believes that the morality plays were extraordinary because they not only taught the uneducated, but they also influenced many forms of western drama down the line. (1).
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In conclusion, the morality plays of the 14 th, 15 th, and 16 th century medieval periods have a rich history behind them. The morality plays did not only entertain the higher, educated classes of the medieval times, but they taught Christian morals and values to the uneducated lower class of people.
Without the morality plays, the underclass people would of never learned about their religion and in result many things in the church may not be how we know it now. The morality plays also persuaded modern drama and that too, may of been very different from what it is today if it wasn’t for the medieval morality plays. All in all, morality plays were important for the cultural growth of the western world. Works CitedDohrn, Lori.
Religion and Medieval Literature: A Look at Morality Plays. 14 Feb 1999. Hanning, Robert W. ‘Miracle, Mystery, and Morality Plays.’ The Encyclopedia Americana.
1997 ed. Morality Play. 22 Feb 1999. Morality Plays. 22 Feb 1999. Warren, K.
M. ‘Moralities (Morality Plays).’ The Catholic Encyclopedia. 1998 ed.
