Morality Plays

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Morality Plays Interludes

• Fabio Pesaresi
• fpesaresi_at_aliceposta.it

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A match in Heaven
The 7 Deadly Sins vs. The 7 Virtues

• The goal
• the possession of the soul of a man

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How would you represent that?

• a football match
• a duel
• arm wrestling
• a battle

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Allegory

• representing something
• with an other
• sense

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• a complex symbol

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Exemple of allegory

• Odyssey

universal voyage of human life
Odysseus
all men
Penelope
love, faithfulness, patience
Telemachus
youth, impatience, filial love
Suitors
lust, sin, traitors, bad companies
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• What about Circe
• Nausicaa
• the The Lotus Eaters
• the Sirens
• Polyphemus ?

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• In an allegory every element must have a
• second -higher- meaning

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Second example

• Divina Comedia
• Dante all men, or the soul of men
• Beatrice faith
• Virgil reason

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Morality Play(14th 16th century)

• is
• allegory in a dramatic form

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Themes

• Does not tell real events
• but
• give a concrete form to universal spiritual
  problems

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example

Christian death
divine forgiveness
sin
repentance
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3 necessary elements

• Allegorical structure
• Abstract characters
• Pedagogical objective

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Famous titles

• The Castle of Perseverance
• Mankind
• The Pride of Life
• Everyman

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Everymanaround 1485

• theme
• Everyman, a rich merchant, receives a visit by
  Death who wants to take him with her
• who will help him against her?

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• Beauty?
• Worldly Goods?
• Friendship?

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• Knowledge accepts to stay with him, but just till
  the moment of death.
• Only Good Deeds will accompany him after death

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Morality plays go on until 1640

• closing of the theatres

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Interludesmid 16th century

• light break between acts of a play

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features

• Serious theme funny elements
• Music
• Dance

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Activity

• Write the plot of a Morality Play
• Title Everystudent
• Goal giving advice to how to succeed in
  studying
• Characters allegorical representations of good
  and evil qualities or companies

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