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  • The Development of Drama: From Religious Beginnings to Elizabethan Theatre

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    The document traces the development of drama from religious plays in the late 10th century through the rise of secular plays in 16th century England. Early religious plays performed by amateurs transitioned to morality plays performed by professional actors between 1420-1600 that used allegory to explore themes of good versus evil. The most famous morality play, Everyman, was atypical in being based on a earlier Dutch play and following one character's summons by Death. As the Protestant Reformation began in the 1540s, censorship of religious plays increased and led to the rise of secular academic plays performed in schools and inns of court, as well as the earliest English comedies and tragedies in the 1560s-1570

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    drama

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    The Development of Drama

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    The document traces the development of drama from religious plays in the late 10th century through the rise of secular plays in 16th century England. Early religious plays performed by amateurs transitioned to morality plays performed by professional actors between 1420-1600 that used allegory to explore themes of good versus evil. The most famous morality play, Everyman, was atypical in being based on a earlier Dutch play and following one character's summons by Death. As the Protestant Reformation began in the 1540s, censorship of religious plays increased and led to the rise of secular academic plays performed in schools and inns of court, as well as the earliest English comedies and tragedies in the 1560s-1570

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    92 views12 pages

    The Development of Drama: From Religious Beginnings to Elizabethan Theatre

    Uploaded by

    davesta
    The document traces the development of drama from religious plays in the late 10th century through the rise of secular plays in 16th century England. Early religious plays performed by amateurs transitioned to morality plays performed by professional actors between 1420-1600 that used allegory to explore themes of good versus evil. The most famous morality play, Everyman, was atypical in being based on a earlier Dutch play and following one character's summons by Death. As the Protestant Reformation began in the 1540s, censorship of religious plays increased and led to the rise of secular academic plays performed in schools and inns of court, as well as the earliest English comedies and tragedies in the 1560s-1570

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 12

    The Development of

    Drama

    Beginnings
    sprung up in the late 10th century
    religious plays: biblical themes
    amateur actors
    priests, choir boys

    later on: guilds


    men only

    comical elements mixed in


    cycles of plays

    Transition: Morality Plays


    from c. 1420-1600
    allegorical plays, didactic purpose
    religiously inspired:
    conflict Good / Evil
    tempus fugit / memento mori
    alienation from god

    important: written in verse, acted by


    professional actors, comic figures

    Parallels to later drama


    impressive stage techniques
    theatre in the round
    male-only cast
    stock characters (sterotypes)
    lit interest in drama

    Everyman
    most famous morality play
    atypical
    based on earlier Dutch play
    Metrical form:
    921 verse lines
    irregular form and metre

    17 characters, mostly allegorical

    Everyman: Plot
    main character summoned by death
    abandoned by "Goods", Friends and
    Family, "Beauty", etc.
    repents: turns to "Knowledge" and
    "Good Deeds"
    changes into "garment of contrition"
    and goes to his grave

    Further Development
    Reformation
    at first: censorship
    1543: Henry VIII bans religious plays
    leads to the development of secular drama

    The Four Ps, John Heywood


    Academic or School Drama
    The University Wits

    Academic or School Drama


    started out in the 1540s and 50s
    plays written and performed at Eton, Oxford,
    Cambridge, Middle Temple, St. Paul's
    Gammer Gurton's Needle

    first performed at Cambridge


    William Stevenson
    comedy of chaos
    doggerel verse

    Ralph Roister Doister

    first English comedy


    Nicholas Udall
    English setting and characters
    classical influence

    Plautus, Terence
    three unities
    five acts
    dramatic devices

    also written in doggerel verse

    The Stationer's Register


    ban on religious plays lifted under Mary I
    could be used for political propaganda
    Protestant undertones needed to be checked

    royal charter granted to publishers and booksellers


    had to enter every title in the Stationer's Register
    manuscripts checked at the Stationer's Office
    early form of copyright
    provides record of dramatic activity

    Gorboduc

    or the Tragedy of Ferrex and Porrex


    First English tragedy
    Thomas Norton & Thomas Sackville
    Performed by law students before the Queen
    Makes use of
    dumb-shows and minor allegorical characters
    epic monologues and a chorus
    the revenge-motiv and horror, bloodshed and torture

    Model: Seneca
    5 acts, symmetry
    little action, mostly talk

    Development in the 1570s


    1572: Miracle and Morality Plays forbidden
    by Parliament
    demand for plays answered by professional
    acting companies
    First theatres built
    James Burbage: 'The Theatre', 'The Curtain'
    later on: 'The Rose', 'The Swan', 'The Globe'
    attacked by Puritans => outside city walls

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