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History of English Literature Digvijay Pandya, Lovely Professional University

Notes Unit 3: Medieval Drama and the Early Renaissance:

Age of Queen Elizabeth I

CONTENTS

Objectives
Introduction
3.1 Medieval Drama
3.2 Mystery Plays
3.3 Morality Plays
3.4 The Interlude
3.5 The Early Renaissance- Beginning of the Era: Age of Queen Elizabeth I
3.6 Summary
3.7 Keywords
3.8 Review Questions
3.9 Further Readings

Objectives
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
Define medieval drama.
Describe mystery plays and morality plays.
Explain the early renaissance-beginning of the Era: age of queen elizabeth I.

Introduction

Drama traces its origins to religious observances both in Greek and European traditions. Indeed,
most Greek plays celebrated some aspect of Greek religion and they were intended not as an
amusement for the people but as an act of homage and reverence to whatever god was being
worshipped. Thus, Sophocles’ Oedipus trilogy is primarily concerned with the gods and their
relationship with men, not with a single human character who becomes the focus of all the plays.
Sophocles did not write for poetic or self-expression motives so much as an act of religious devotion.

3.1 Medieval Drama
The late Roman Empire, drama became debased and so obscene that is was an abomination. This
occurred because drama was forced to compete with the gladitorial events of the amphitheatre and
the excesses of the circuses. Once the influence of Christianity was felt in Rome, the theatre was
essentially censored and closed. The appearance of the scop in O. E. literature may have obscure
connections with the mimes, clowns, buffoons, and actors of Roman theatre although while the
latter were scandalized by the respectable citizens of Rome, the former was held in high esteem by
the nobility of A-S society.
The wandering minstrel of the middle Ages is probably a direct descendant of the A-S scop.
However, unlike the scop, the minstrels were not thought to be respectable, at least after the reign
of Charlemagne. The medieval Roman Catholic Church in particular was anti-minstrel. Among
the populace, on the other hand, they were very popular. Their good music, fine singing voices,
wit, good humor, and quick minds served them well at fairs, market days, feast days, and in the
service of the rich for an evening’s entertainment.
Although most minstrels were wanderers, eventually stable groups formed around rich and
powerful patrons who supported them financially. Soon even municipalities sponsored their own
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