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British Drama

Notes morality plays dealt with man’s search for salvation .This was usually done by reminding them of
their mortality, and of the dangers of hell.

Morality plays were dramatized allegories of the life of man, his temptation and sinning,
his quest for salvation, and his confrontation by death. The morality play, which developed
most fully in the 15th century, handled the subjects that were most popular among medieval
preachers and drew considerably on contemporary homiletic (sermon, preaching) technique.

Morality plays held several key elements in common:
• The hero represents Mankind or Everyman.
• Among the other characters are personifications of virtues, vices and death, as well as angels
and demons who battle for the possession of the soul of man.
• The psychomachia, the battle for the soul, was a common medieval theme and bound up with
the whole idea of medieval allegory, and it found its way into medieval drama--and even into
some Renaissance drama, as Doctor Faustus indicates.
• A character known as the vice often played the role of the tempter in a fashion both sinister and
comic.
Certain themes found a home in the morality plays:
• The theme of the Seven Deadly Sins, which was a common place of medieval art and literature;
• The theme of Mercy and Peace pleading before God for man’s soul against Truth and
Righteousness.
Originally, because of their roots in religious drama and their didactic purpose, moralities were
serious in tone and style, but the increasing secularization of the plays led to the incorporation of
elements derived from popular farce, a process encouraged by the presentation of the Devil and his
servant the Vice as boisterous mischief-makers. These characters soon became figures of amusement
rather than of moral edification.
Characterization was also crude and naïve, and there was little attempt to portray psychological
depth. But over time, the moralities began to show signs of increasingly sophisticated analysis of
characters. From about the mid-sixteenth century, under increasing pressure from religious
authorities, the popularity of the moralities began to wane, but they continued to be a major influence
on mainstream drama.

Characterization was crude and naïve, and there was little attempt to portray
psychological depth. Explain.
Doctor Faustus contains references to classical mythology, and draws parallels between the downfall
of its central character and similar famous Falls (Icarus, Lucifer). It also contains sections in Latin
and Greek which further reference classical times and ideas. The story itself is an example of imitation,
a dramatic retelling of the Faust legend which had developed in the Middle Ages.
14.3 Elements of Aristotle’s Tragedy in Doctor Faustus

The classic discussion of Greek tragedy is Aristotle’s Poetics. He defines tragedy as “the imitation
of an action that is serious and also as having magnitude, complete in itself.” He continues, “Tragedy

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