Advent of the Morality Plays in the 15th and the 16th century in Europe

Liturgical drama, confined to the church, paved the way for the plays in English, to be performed in the open and separate from the liturgy, though still religious in content. Such early plays were known as Miracle or Mystery plays.

The transition from simple liturgical drama to Morality and Mystery plays cannot be accurately dated or documented. It is believed that Miracle plays developed rapidly in the thirteenth century; there are records of cycles of Miracle plays in many regions of England during the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries. With the Miracle plays still going strong, there emerged in the fourteenth century another dramatic form, essentially medieval in nature – the Morality plays. Flourishing in the fifteenth and the sixteenth century, it differed from the Miracle play by not dealing with a Biblical or pseudo-Biblical story, but with personified abstractions of virtues and vices contending for a man’s soul. The earliest complete extant Morality play is ‘The Castle of Perseverance’, written circa 1425. It begins with a conference between the World, the Flesh and the Devil (Mundus, Caro and Belyal).

Morality plays had several notable features:

a)   The hero represents Mankind or Everyman.

b)   Among other characters are personification of Virtues, Vices, Death , as well as angels and demons - who battle for the possession of the human soul.

c)  It had the presence of Seven Deadly Sins, a commonplace theme in medieval art and literature.

d)  It also had the theme of Mercy and Peace pleading for man’s soul against Truth and Righteousness, as well as the ‘Dance of Death’ focussing on Death as God’s messenger. ‘The Dance of Death’ is a dramatic rendition of the ‘ubi sunt’ theme, which figured largely in the literature of the Middle Ages.

In the fourteenth century, appeared the Paternoster drama, to reveal the triumph of virtues over vices. In the first half of the fifteenth century, appeared ‘The Castle of Perseverance’. For this production, a series of mansions called ‘scaffolds’ were constructed. In the centre stood Castle and encircling it were Scaffolds of Caro, Mundus, Belial, Covetousness and Deus. These characters were not taken from the Bible, they were all allegorically conceived. 

In the fifteenth century, two similar dramas developed – ‘Mankind’ and ‘Nature’, where there was an independent development of plot. The performers of the Morality plays were a group of amateurs. In the later years of the century, association of players with the names of their towns or districts received rewards for their services. It has been supposed that probably a privileged group of minstrels attached themselves to the houses of the gentry and engaged themselves in theatrical activities.

It was well into the sixteenth century that the Morality plays sustained. ‘Everyman’ is perhaps the best known Morality play. The play portrays Death, commanded by God, approaching Everyman. While all his companions, Fellowship, Kindred and others forsake him; in the end, only Good Deeds accompanies him to the grave. The next play, ‘Fulgens and Lucrece’, was intended for presentation by a group of amateurs in a private place. It presents a humanistic theme- a maiden Lucrece is confronted by two lovers, one is an aristocrat Publius Cornelius and the other is low-born but virtuous, Flaminius. The third play, ‘Hick Scorner’ differs from the other two. Intended as a performance by professionals, here Pity, Contemplation and Perseverance meet and lament the evils of the time. With the entrance of Freewill, Imagination and Hick Scorner, a jolly character the plot of the play comes to a happy conclusion.

However, the tradition of ‘amateur morality’ established in ‘The Castle of Perseverance’, ‘Mankind’ and ‘Nature’ continued in several directions. In the hands of some writers, it tended towards political rather than religious themes, as in John Skelton’s ‘Magnificence’. Written about 1515, it introduces a central character called Magnificence laid astray by Counterfeit, Countenance, Folly, etc. Brought to Poverty and Despair, the protagonist later embraces Good Hope and Redress.

On the other hand, Political Morality plays gave birth to Chronicle History plays. ‘Kynge Johan’ written by John Bale is a fine illustration of such type. Emphasising upon the evils of Catholicism, the dramatic characters in this play are Ynglond, Sedicion, Civil Order, Commonality, Private Wealth and Dissimulation. To make his arguments more powerful, Bale turned to English history.

Besides these, another type of morality play came into being, pleading for the advancement of learning and to promote humanistic concepts. Among them, worth mention are John Redford’s ‘Wit and Science’ and John Rastell’s ‘Nature of the Four Elements’. In ‘Wit and Science’, Wit, the central character enters with Study, Diligence and Instruction. But as Tediousness destroys his power, he is entrapped in the ensnaring provocation of Idleness, until at the very end, Shame rescues him. In Rastell’s play, ‘Nature of the Four Elements’, Science becomes the prime virtue conceived in terms of the discoveries being made by the voyagers, across the vast Atlantic Ocean.

Thus the growing popularity and diversity of the drama, the growth of a class of writers not a member of any holy order, led in the sixteenth century to the rise of a new phenomenon -  the emergence of secular professional playwrights.