Morality Plays

English drama developed out of early nonliturgical religious dramas, which had themselves probably developed out of the liturgical drama of the medieval church. Though secularized, these early dramatic forms—the mystery, miracle, and morality plays—still focused on the religious and moral themes that dominated the Christian imagination during the Middle Ages. The mystery plays dramatized sacred history, while Miracle plays presented the lives and miracles of the saints, or episodes of divine intervention in human affairs.

Unlike the perspective of the mystery and miracle plays, that of the morality play was individual rather than collective. The morality play (usually called simply a "morality") presented religious and ethical concerns from the point of view of the individual Christian, whose main concern was to effect the salvation of his soul.

The mystery and miracle plays developed first, around 1100 AD. Late in the 14th century, morality plays on such subjects as the seven deadly sins became popular in France, England and the Netherlands. In the first decades of the 15th century, secular plays concerning the conflict between good and evil in the individual soul began to be performed in France, and this type of play soon became popular all over Europe, including England.

A morality play is essentially an allegory in dramatic form that is intended to be understood on two or more levels. Typically, the morality play dramatizes the age-old battle between the forces of good and evil in the human soul. This interior struggle involves the Christian’s attempt to achieve salvation, despite the obstacles and temptations that he encounters as he travels through life, toward death.

In England the moralities dramatized the progress of the Christian’s life from innocence to sin, and from sin to repentance and salvation. Perhaps the most famous of all the English morality plays is Everyman (c. 1495). The purpose of these dramas was to warn the unwary that their souls would be in peril if they did not persist in their struggle to resist temptation. Ultimately, hope is restored as the main character chooses the path of righteousness and is saved.

(Excerpted from "The Morality Play in English Drama" by Tina Blue)