Research topic:morality play

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morality plays

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | © The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

morality plays, medieval allegorical plays in which personified human qualities are acted and disputed, mostly coming from the 15th cent. They developed into the interludes, and hence had a considerable influence on the development of Elizabethan drama. They lost popularity with the development of naturalistic drama, but interest in them has revived in the 20th cent., prompted by a new interest in more mannered, pageant-like theatre, such as the Japanese Nōh theatre and the plays of Yeats and Brecht. Among the most celebrated English examples are Everyman; Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis by Sir D. Lindsay; Magnyfycence by Skelton; King John by Bale; Mankind; The Castle of Perseverance. See P. Happé ed., Four Morality Plays (1979); G. Wickham ed., English Moral Interludes (1976).

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "morality plays." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 22 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "morality plays." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (November 22, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-moralityplays.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "morality plays." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved November 22, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-moralityplays.html

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Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

morality play
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition morality play form of medieval drama...The characters in the morality were personifications...drama. The first known moralities were called the Paternoster plays. The greatest English morality is Everyman . See miracle play .
Morality Play
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church Morality Play, or Morality . A form of drama, popular in the 15th and 16th cents., in which a moral truth or lesson was inculcated by the chief characters personifying various abstract qualities. It developed independently of the Mystery Plays , but at the same time.
morality plays
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature morality plays, medieval allegorical plays in which personified human qualities are acted and disputed...Castle of Perseverance . See P. Happé ed., Four Morality Plays (1979); G. Wickham ed., English Moral Interludes...
moralities
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music moralities. See miracle plays .
Morality plays
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions Morality plays: see THEATRE AND DRAMA .

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