Lecture no.

10 English Medieval Drama The growth of towns, and with them the growth of craft guilds, encouraged the development of religious drama in the vernacular towards the end of the fourteenth century. During the Middle Ages, mimetic/imitative performances in Latin were added as an ornament of the liturgical rituals of the church. The quotations and answers introduced into the authorized text of the liturgy as tropes became dramatic when they were subjected to impersonation First presented in Latin during the liturgical service, these dramatic dialogues or tropes, little by little developed into short dramas which were acted out in the porch of the church in the vernacular. The best example of a transitional drama of this kind is Adam, written in French in the 12th century, comprising three parts the fall of Adam and Eve, the death of Abel, and a procession of the prophets announcing the coming of the Redeemer. Towards the end of the 11th century and during the 12th, the liturgical drama almost lost completely its religious character and left the Church precincts for the highway, market places, and fairs. Dramatic progress is mainly connected with the increase of peoples wealth, the rise of the burgher class, and last but not least the emancipation of the vulgar tongue.

Little by little drama severed all its connections with the Church much to the annoyance of the clerks, mendicant friars and the Franciscans who lost their monopoly on playing, the actors coming to be laymen (guilds and secular fraternities). Religious drama was removed from the interior of the church outside, on the steps, and, later, in open squares. In England, Latin was first replaced by French, and later, by English. Thematically, they fall into three groups. 1. The mystery and miracle plays 2. The morality plays/ moralities 3. Popular poetry (ballads and carols) 1. Mysteries were liturgical dramas inspired from the Bible (from Creation to the Last Judgement). The term itself is derived from the Latin ministerium which means divine service. If at its beginnings drama within church walls was mostly pantomime intermingled with very short dialogues, inspiring awe and pious collectedness in the congregation, later on it became 1

surcharged with fun and merrymaking. The horrors of Hells Mouth in which caricatured devils frolicked about or the tragicomic performance of Noahs nagging wife in scrambling aboard the ark in the last moment while swinging about a symbolic bird cage only inspired roars of laughter in an audience set on having some fun out of an otherwise tiresome and most demanding routine. In 1210, Pope Innocent III banished drama from the church interior. However, the church porch became the stage and the newly dug graves in the graveyard turned to be standing seats. In what the audience was concerned, it consisted of simple folk, drunks, peddlers1, pickpockets and merry gapers2 uttering noisy catcalls3 at the overplaying actors. These circumstances which were not meant for a holy scenario drove away the drama from all holy ground. The acting was done on wooden platforms mounted on wheels, called pageants, which could be drawn from one place to another. The performers were role-playing themselves, in a way, as the scenes were appropriate to their daily work. For instance at York, the plasterers4 showed God creating the earth; the shipwrights5 undertook the construction of Noahs ark; the bakers staged the Last Supper.

However, some miracle plays got up saints lives. The language of the anonymous playwrights (clerics or minstrels) was fitted to the broad, unsophisticated audiences of towns and villages: the lucid, plain vernacular, condensed and concise, yet not devoid of a certain ceremonious solemnity. The interpolation of comical scenes (interludes) was felt as a necessary psychological relief from the strain of an action charged with the complexities of medieval theology, even if the audience was familiar with the dogmatic body of the Church, popularized in the frequent addresses from the pulpit. Among the best known cycles of mystery plays were Cornwall Cycle (late 13th century), Chester Cycle (1475-1500), Wakefield Cycle (mid- 15th century), Coventry Cycle (late 15th century) and Towne Cycle (c. 1468).
1 2

a person who sells from door to door or in the street. Rom. Gur- casc 3 A harsh or shrill call or whistle expressing derision or disapproval. 4 a worker skilled in applying plaster rom. tencuitori 5 Builders and repairers of boats and vessels (rom. tmplar de vapoare)

The Cornwall Cycle, for example, contains fifty dramatic episodes arranged into a trilogy, apparently for performances on three successive days. Part I, dwelling on the origin of the world, deals with the Old Testament from the Creation to Solomons temple-building. Part II, dealing with The Passion of Christ, follows Christ from the Temptation to the Crucifixion. Part III, The Resurrection of Christ, dwells on the Resurrection and Ascension and also on the Death of Pilate in a separate episode. With all its popular interpolations, medieval drama reveals a subtle mind, casting a philosophical net on each happening, with the emphasis falling on causality. The author is a Scriptural commentator, doubling up as dramatist. In The Creation, and the Fall of Lucifer, God is making the doctrinal I am Alpha and Omega, the life, the way, the truth more explicit: I am maker unmade, all might is mine (...) Unending without ending. Apparently, in making Lucifer mirror of [His] might, He displaces Himself from his logocentric, full and unique presence. He changes himself into a sign to be read by Lucifer, to be reflected in a mirror image of Himself. The moral plays kept repeating the lesson of the omnipresence of evil which was inherent to the believer. This microscopic stage of mans conscience, wakened up the spectators to a sense of responsibility for the way they lived their lives. 2. The morality plays, warning of the existence of evil in the human soul, and pointing to the need for and means of salvation, are allegorical in form. Their characters are personified qualities or ideas: The Castle of Perseverance, Wit and Understanding, Mankind, Everyman. While mystery plays dramatized the Biblical text, morality plays were dramatized sermons presenting abstract personifications of the forces of good fighting for the salvation of mans soul against the forces of evil. Like the mystery plays, Moralities were deliberately didactic and they tried to bring home to each individual the application of his faith to his own daily life and conduct. During the 14th century, preaching developed into an oratorical art with wide popular appeal and Christs example was dramatically preached as a message that the reward for crime was punishment throughout eternity and that man could only hope to attain to personal salvation by living a strict moral life as taught by the Scriptures. The forces of good represented by the four daughters of God Truth, Justice, Temperance and Mercy and the three Cardinal 3

Virtues Faith, Hope, and Charity were preached as mans protection against Sloth, Pride, Covetousness6, Anger, Envy, Greed and Lechery7, the principal evil agents unleashed by the Devil to ensnare8 him in this world and take his soul to eternal torment in the next world. Presented again and again in the most vivid language during sermons, these abstractions come to be argued about in real life situations and they were also given physicality and more credibility at the same time by painters such as in the sinister pictures of the Danse Macabre. The next step was the transfer of this concept of man together with virtues and vices, from the sermon to the dramatic environment of the public theatrical entertainment. The earliest English Moralities coincided with the wave of allegory sweeping all forms of Western art and literature in the late 14th century, largely from the influence of Le Roman de la Rose. Moralities developed a personalized character and the figure of Vice, appearing under numerous disguises and names became the prototype for the Renaissance dramatic villain and jester. The earliest morality play surviving to us is The Castle of Perseverance (c. 1405). It follows the history of man, Humanum Genus, from his creation to Judgement Day, dwelling on the ethical conflict between good and evil. During a dramatic fight with the Good Angel, the Bad Angel secures the soul of man who is given as worldly guides Pleasure, Folly, Backbiter9 and the Seven Deadly Sins. With the help of Confession, Shrift10 and Penitence, man is lodged by the Good Angel in the Castle of Perseverance which is successfully defended by the forces of Heaven against the forces of Hell until Avarice tempts man outside the castle and Death strikes man down who dies repentant. Mercy, after a hot debate with Peace, Truth and Righteousness, saves his soul and places it in Heaven. The most popular 15th century Morality was Everyman (c. 1470), possibly of Dutch origin, attributed to Petrus Dorlandus. Its theme first dwelt upon in an ancient Buddhist parable, is that of the summoning of Man out of the world by Death in order to be judged by God. Quite unprepared and unable to gain a respite11 of twelve years, he looks for former friends to accompany him, but neither Fellowship nor Kindred nor Goods will go with him, while at his

6 7

avarice unrestrained and promiscuous sexuality 8 to catch or trap in a snare 9 Attacker of the character of reputation of a person 10 absolution or remission of sins granted after confession and penance. 11 Delay, postponement

graveside, Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five Wits depart. Only Good Deeds will finally enter the grave with him to help him defend his case before God. The great popularity of this play all through the Middle Ages was due to its strict unity, resembling that of the Greek tragedy: unity of action, of time and place. All action is focused upon the central character, who is presented as a carefree youth, living a life of pleasure and material abundance, surrounded by merry companions. Death strikes a real flesh and blood person, perfectly recognizable in anyone in the audience, and his terror at being deprived so suddenly and unjustly of all worldly pleasures and possessions is every mans as well. 3. Popular poetry: The most original and fruitful development of English popular poetry generated, in the fourteenth century, the ballad and the carol. The latter was derived from carole or dancing song, connected with fertility rituals (maybe that was how it came to be associated with Christmas). The leader sang the stanza, while the chorus danced round in a circle, stopping to sing the refrain, or burden, rhyme-linked with the stanza. The ballad, with its alternating refrain, probably developed from another kind of dancing, is based upon a simple verse pattern: four-line stanzas consisting of two iambic pentameters alternating with two iambic trimeters: God prosper long our noble king, Our lives and safeties all ! A woeful hunting once there did In Chevy Chase befall. (Chevi Chase) Some ballads are founded on romances (Hind Horn, or King Horn), on historical events, battles (The Hunting of the Cheviot), legendary figures (the Robin Hood ballads). Others are woven round simple life situations: lovers separated by feuds of class distinction, fidelity and betrayal, rescue and sudden death. Supernatural elements are not unfrequent, a widespread motif being the dead lover that returns to haunt the living (The Demon Lover, The Wife of Ushers Well).