LIT 251
Prof. G. Steinberg

 

Response Paper:  Mystery Plays

The mystery plays were a phenomenon that developed in towns.  They were performed by guilds of tradesmen (i.e., skilled labor and entrepreneurs) on big festival days (most often the feast of Corpus Christi in June).  For this reason, their depiction of the social ills of late 14th-century England is particularly interesting, representing a viewpoint other than that of the court and the peasants.

Choose one of the following areas as the focus of your response paper:

  1. People often say that the family is the building block of society.  How a family functions is a microcosm of how the larger society and state function.  So, what do we learn about the attitude of the guilds on the functioning of society from the family politics of Noah and his wife?  How does Noah's family function (or not function)?  Does the play suggest how it should function?  If so, how should it?  What are the implications of that implied proper functioning for how society as a whole should function?  Based on the Chester Noah, what sense do you get of how the guilds felt about society's functioning?  What seems to be wrong with it?  What's the solution for fixing it?
  2. The Second Shepherds' Play is, believe it or not, a nativity play.  It's a play about the birth of Christ (note the singing angels and the visit to the babe in Bethlehem at the play's end).  The shepherds depicted in the play (Coll, Gib, and Daw) are supposed to be the shepherds outside Bethlehem on Christmas night – the ones to whom the angels came and sang, "Gloria in excelsis deo."  But these shepherds are clearly a direct comment on conditions for peasants in 14th-century England.  So, what does The Second Shepherds' Play tell us about the guilds' attitudes toward the peasants.  Does the play seem to sympathize with peasant complaints?  What role does Mak play in revealing the guilds' attitudes (and shaping the audience's) with respect to the peasants?  Is Mak a positive or sympathetic figure?  In what ways?  Is Mak a negative or unsympathetic figure?  In what ways?  What do Mak and The Second Shepherds' Play tell us about the guilds' attitudes toward peasants, rebellion, and the proper functioning of society?

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