Three Late Medieval Morality Plays: Everyman, Mankind and Mundus et Infans: A New Mermaids Anthology

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Three Late Medieval Morality Plays: Everyman, Mankind and Mundus et Infans: A New Mermaids Anthology
Authors and Contributors      Edited by G.A. Lester
SeriesNew Mermaids
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:208
Dimensions(mm): Height 198,Width 129
Category/GenrePlays, playscripts
Literary studies - c 1500 to c 1800
Literary studies - plays and playwrights
ISBN/Barcode 9780713666618
ClassificationsDewey:822.05160801
Audience
A / AS level
Undergraduate
General
Illustrations c 5 photographs/line drawings

Publishing Details

Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint Methuen Drama
Publication Date 20 December 2002
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Morality plays were the main form of theatre in England between about 1400 and 1600. They usually portrayed a representative Christian figure locked in spiritual conflict. They have recently been revived as early examples of living theatre. The three plays offered here are typical stories of sin and repentance. The surprisingly racy "Mankind" shows an honest farmer first resisting then giving way to, and finally being redeemed from, the guileful temptations of the devil. The bleaker "Everyman" focuses on the struggle to die a holy death, while "Mundus et Infans" tells the life story of an arrogant bully, led astray by the personification of Folly, but repenting in old age.

Author Biography

G. A. Lester has taught Medieval Language and Literature in Britain and the U.S.A. and has published books and articles on The Anglo-Saxons, Middle English Manuscripts, Chaucer, Medieval Drama, and Heraldic Literature.