Engl 2230 final
What does Sir Andrew Aguecheek mean when he tells Cesario: "I'll be as good as my word. He will bear you easily, and reins well"
"I have promised you and you have my word. He is an easy horse to ride and is responsive to the reins"
Why are The York Play of the Crucifixion and The Second Shepherd's Play called "mystery" plays?
"Mystery" is another word for "guild", and these plays were presented at festivals where each guild would produce a play about a biblical story, often related to their trade.
Why does Malvolio say to himself "the Lady of Starchy married the yeoman of the wardrobe"
"an aristocrat woman married her servant"
What is the difference between a Folio and a Quarto?
-A folio was bigger and more expensive-to-make book, reserved only for important texts. -A quarto was the equivalent of a mass market paperback today
Restoration Comedy
-Characteristic comedy of the period known as the English Restoration (1660-1700) -Restoration comedy is known for its glittering language, salacious plots, and frequently debauched characters
Which of the following is true of British involvement in The Atlantic Slave Trade?
-Even after slave trade was abolished, slavery was allowed on the British Empire for another 25 years -England used slaves primarily on its colonies, not in England itself -The British Empire banned the slave trade via the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, more than fifty years before the American Civil War began.
Match each genre with one of the texts:
-Fabliau = The millers tale -Dream vision = Piers Plowman -Mystery Play = The York Play of the Crucifixion -Morality Play = Everyman -Epic = Beowulf -Elegy = The Ruin
What are the names of the two apprentices in Industry and Idleness?
-Francis Goodchild -Thomas Idle
Ways that Morality Plays (like Everyman) were performed differently than Mystery Plays (like the York Play of the Crucifixion):
-Morality Plays were not written as cycles, and they weren't recreations of biblical stories -Morality Plays were sometimes performed indoors -Morality Plays were frequently performed by professional groups who traveled from town to town
Result of the popularity of The Beggar's Opera?
-Plays become more daring and critical of the government, eventually leading to the highly restrictive Licensing Act of 1737 -Over a hundred new ballad opera's were written, several new theaters were established, and more authors turned to writing plays -Sermons denouncing the wickedness of the play became commonplace
Which of the following is true of 16th century stagecraft?
-Trapdoors allowed for ghosts and such to "magically" appear and disappear -Each theater (The Rose, The Globe,The Red Bull, &c) was run by a single repertory company who wrote, acted, and produced every play done at that locale -The action was performed in three-quarter round, on a platform that jutted out into the pit, where most of the spectators stood
Everyman Summary
-begins with messenger preparing the way for God, who after an opening meditation commands Death to seek out Everyman and warn him that God sits in judgment of Everyman's soul -Everyman says that he's unready to make such a reckoning and is horrified to realize who Death is -Everyman asks Death if he can have any company to go on journey from life to death -Death tells him yes, if anyone was brave enough to go along with him -Fellowship enters and offers to help but then abandons him after hearing about the journey -Kindred and Cousin do the same -Everyman turned to "Goods and riches" to help him, but Goods tells him love of Goods is opposite to love of God, so he leaves -he turns to Good Deeds but she's too weak to accompany -Knowledge accompanies him to Confession, who instructs him to show penance -
When was Dr. Faustus written?
1592
When was The Way of the World written?
1700
When was The Beggar's Opera written?
1728
When was The Harlot's Progress written?
1732 (18th century)
When was "Ode on the Poetical Character" written?
1746 (18th century) neoclassical and romantic period
When was "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" written?
1750 (18th century)
When was Twelfth Night written?
17TH CENTURY (1601-1602)
The Harlot's Progress summary:
A Harlot's Progress (also known as The Harlot's Progress) is a series of six paintings (1731, now destroyed)[1] and engravings (1732)[2] by the English artist William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country and becomes a prostitute. The series was developed from the third image. After painting a prostitute in her boudoir in a garret on Drury Lane, Hogarth struck upon the idea of creating scenes from her earlier and later life. The title and allegory are reminiscent of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. In the first scene, an old woman praises her beauty and suggests a profitable occupation. A gentleman is shown towards the back of the image. In the second image she is with two lovers: a mistress, in the third she has become a prostitute as well as arrested, she is beating hemp in Bridewell Prison in the fourth. In the fifth scene she is dying from venereal disease, and she is dead at age 23 in the last.
The Harlot's Progress basic history:
A Harlot's Progress is an opera in six scenes by the British composer Iain Bell which is based on William Hogarth's series of etchings of the same name.[1] The libretto is by British author Peter Ackroyd. The story concerns a country girl, who comes to the big city and becomes mistress of an old, rich man. Thrown out by him because of her taking of younger lovers, she becomes diseased and mad and eventually dies in misery. The protagonist "M. Hackabout" (see Plate 1, Plate 3, and the coffin-lid in Plate 6, which reads: "M. Hackabout Died Sept 2d 1731 Aged 23") is either named after the heroine of Moll Flanders and Kate Hackabout or ironically after the Blessed Virgin Mary.[3] Kate was a notorious prostitute and the sister of highwayman Francis Hackabout: he was hanged on 17 April 1730; she was convicted of keeping a disorderly house in August the same year, having been arrested by Westminster magistrate Sir John Gonson.[citation needed] The series of paintings proved to be very popular and Hogarth used his experience as an apprentice to a silversmith to create engravings of the images, selling a "limited edition" of 1,240 sets of six prints to subscribers for a Guinea. Pirate copies of the engravings were soon in circulation, and Hogarth procured a 1735 Act of Parliament (8 Geo. II. cap. 13) to prohibit the practice. Soon after, Hogarth published his second series of satirical and moralistic images, A Rake's Progress,[4] followed ten years later by Marriage à-la-mode.[5] The original paintings were destroyed in a fire at Fonthill House in 1755, the country house of William Beckford (1709-1770), a politician and father of William Thomas Beckford (1 October 1760 - 2 May 1844) builder of Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire. The original plates survived, and were sold by Hogarth's widow, Jane, to John Boydell in 1789; by him to Baldwin, Cradock and Joy in 1818; and then to Henry Bohn in 1835. Each produced further copies
What did "Twelfth Night" designate in Elizabethan England?
A celebration that took place on the Feast of the Epiphany (early January) that often included pastimes that inverted the traditional cultural hierarchies.
Who was Jonathan Wild
A criminal who pretended to be a crime-fighter to enrich himself. He is the model for Gay's Peachum
Who were the University Wits?
A group of well-educated playwrights (like Marlowe) who were educated at Oxford or Cambridge. They preceded the actor playwrights (like Shakespeare) and helped establish many of the conventions of the Renaissance stage.
Epic
A long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
Who was Jeremy Collier?
A notorious outspoken critic of the immorality of the Restoration stage
Many of the texts for the final class show a transition from the Eighteenth Century into Romanticism. What is Romanticism?
A reaction to the eighteenth century valorizing of rationality and conformity, Romanticism was a cultural movement that emphasized passion, individual uniqueness, and spontaneity
Characteristics of the Restoration Comedy of Manners?
A satirical, even cynical outlook
Fabliau
A short comic tale with a bawdy element, akin to the "dirty story." Chaucer's The Miller's Tale contains elements of the fabliau.
What is a personification allegory?
A text where the characters represent abstractions, such as Hatred Wisdom, or Music
What is Blackletter?
A typeface also known as "Gothic Script" that often signified that the work so printed was frightening or forbidden.
The Beggar's Opera Summary:
Act I An "introductory" scene opens The Beggar's Opera, featuring the Beggar and the Player. They directly address the audience about the impending story's origins, intentions and form. Of primary importance is that the piece be understood as opera, even though it contains no recitative and no epilogue or prologue. The Beggar — the "author" of the piece — assures the audience that his play follows all other conventions of the day's fashionable operas. The story begins in Peachum's house, as Peachum flips through his account book. Peachum is a professional "impeacher"; he runs a gang of thieves, highwaymen and prostitutes, profiting by their earnings. When they are no longer of use, he betrays his associates to the criminal court system for a tidy reward. In other words, he impeaches them. Peachum inquires of his wife, Mrs. Peachum, whether she has lately seen Captain Macheath, one of their more distinguished highwaymen. She has. More importantly, she believes their daughter Polly may be embroiled in a love affair with the Captain. Peachum revolts against this news. It is imperative that they intercede to stop the romance in its tracks. Above all, Polly must not marry Macheath, or else her money and potential earnings will default to Macheath. Mrs. Peachum asks one of the lesser henchmen, Filch, for information about the romance. Filch is torn between guarding Polly's confidence and his loyalty to Mrs. Peachum. Mrs. Peachum retires with Filch to ply him with alcohol. Peachum has meanwhile found Polly, who enters the scene assuring her father that she is merely trifling with Macheath for goods and gifts. This is revealed to be a lie, however, as Mrs. Peachum storms in to announce that Macheath and Polly have indeed married (information she has gotten from Filch). Both parents are outraged. Polly confesses that she married Macheath because her sexual ardor was so aroused that she needed to safeguard her reputation. Peachum suspects Macheath has married Polly in an attempt to gain control of her family's money. Regardless, he realizes a potential benefit to this union. If Polly can secure a jointure — a guarantee of property conferred to a widow upon her husband's death — he might gather evidence against and then betray Macheath to the authorities. Then the Peachum family will receive both reward money and Macheath's property, while Macheath will end up hanged. Polly protests this plan vehemently. She married Macheath for love, not money. Polly resolves to warn Macheath of her parents' cruel intent, so she releases him from her bedchamber, where he has been hiding. As he enters, he swears oaths of fidelity to Polly. Polly enjoins him to flee, insisting they shall reunite when the path is safer. Act II At a tavern near Newgate prison, the thieves of Peachum's gang drink, smoke and wax poetic about their depth of friendship towards one another. Matt of the Mint gives a short, rousing speech justifying their trade as a means towards the redistribution of wealth. Macheath enters the tavern, and asks the men to convince Peachum that he has fled town and quit the gang. The rest of the men exit for 'work,' leaving Macheath alone in the tavern. He is not alone for long before he is visited by several female consorts, the female counterparts to the gang. Although the women strive to imitate the airs of the gentry, they are actually raunchy and lewd. Macheath jostles with them flirtatiously, and two of them, Jenny Diver and Suky Tawdry, wrangle him into a compromising physical position. They draw pistols on the unsuspecting man, and signal to an awaiting Peachum, who enters with the constable. Macheath is subdued and then led away to Newgate Prison. At Newgate, the jailer Lockit displays his fine assortment of fetters from which, for the right price, Macheath may select the most comfortable pair. Lockit is also Peachum's most important business partner. They are conspiring to share the reward gained from Macheath's death. Macheath, alone in his cell, laments his entanglement with Polly. Enter Lucy, daughter of Lockit and jilted lover of Macheath. Lucy is in a rage because Macheath had promised to marry her, but married Polly instead. Macheath lies and assures her that he has not married Polly, and Lucy softens. Peachum and Lockit, in a different part of the prison, come to blows when Peachum accuses Lockit of stealing money. They soon resolve the matter, reasoning that they need each other. Lucy enters and pleads with her father for Macheath's release, but Lockit refuses. Lucy returns to Macheath to deliver the bad news. Enter Polly, who has come to visit her beloved, incarcerated husband. In an effort to keep Lucy's good faith — after all, she has more power to secure his release than does Polly — Macheath ignores Polly altogether. The women's enmity towards one another grows hot. Eventually, Peachum bursts in and tears Polly away from Macheath. Lucy conceives of a way to spring Macheath: her father has a habit of drinking with the inmates and then passing out for several hours. She shall steal the keys from him while he's out cold. Act III Lucy's plan has worked (in between Acts), and Macheath has fled the prison. Lockit immediately realizes his daughter's part in this escape. If she has collected a fee from Macheath for her services, then there is no harm done, so long as Lockit may collect half. But Lucy has acted only in the service of love. Lockit, enraged, banishes Lucy from his sight. Left alone, Lockit realizes that Peachum will reap the total profit of Macheath's capture, since Macheath is sure to return to Polly. Meanwhile, Macheath has fled to the gambling-house, where he reunites with members of his gang. Macheath distributes money owed his friends. The men then discuss their operating plans for the evening's thievery. Lockit has tracked Peachum to the man's stolen-goods warehouse. There, the two discuss their profits from the day until a Mrs. Diana Trapes arrives. She is a manager of stolen goods, and a madam of working women. She despairs that one of their mutual employees, Mrs. Coaxer, is behind on a debt. Mrs. Trapes has forced Mrs. Coaxer to 'work' for the night with a gentleman until the debt is repaid. She refers to this gentleman as "Captain." Peachum immediately discerns that this captain is Macheath, and offers to pay off Coaxer's debt in exchange for access to the Captain. Back at Newgate, Lucy has summoned Polly on the pretense of reconciling with her. Lucy's real goal, however, is to poison Polly. Polly suspects something untoward in Lucy's enticement, and refuses to drink. The two women are interrupted as the chain-bound Macheath is dragged back into the prison hold, having been captured at the home of Mrs. Trapes. The women rush at Macheath, begging for a sign of affection, each one hoping and believing she is (or will be) his one, true wife. Peachum asks Macheath to resolve the matter, so they may avoid a lawsuit between the women after Macheath's hanging. Macheath refuses to make a choice. The women once again beg for leniency from their fathers, but the men dismiss their pleas. Soon after, in the condemned-man's hold, Macheath drinks heavily and steels himself for his imminent hanging. His friends Ben Budge and Matt of the Mint enter to say a fond farewell. Once they are gone, Lucy and Polly rush in, weeping and swearing their love. A jailer enters to announce the arrival of four more women, each with a child and each calling herself Macheath's wife. This is enough to make Macheath call for the hangman; he is led away. The Player and the Beggar re-enter in the play's penultimate scene. The Player disputes the Beggar's intended ending, suggesting Macheath's death would make the opera a tragedy, rather than a popular comedy. The Beggar concedes that the fashionable operas of the day always end happily, and agrees to conform to that model. He then directs the rabble to "cry reprieve" for Macheath. In the final scene, Macheath has been pardoned from hanging. Accompanied by the rabble and the women, he enters in high spirits. Macheath publicly takes Polly as his one, true wife, and the play ends with a high-spirited, carefree song and dance.
When was The Wakefield Second Shepard's Play written?
Although nothing is known about the author, or the origins of the plays, it is agreed by several scholars that they date sometime between 1400-1450. Because of his influence in most of the Wakefield plays, it is possible he was brought into Wakefield with the purpose of editing and reworking the several plays that were already written, and did such a successful job that he was kept on to write several other plays afterwards. The plays he wrote might have replaced plays that were taken from York and it is believed that he is a contemporary to the "York Master", another unnamed playwright who produced several other influential plays during the same era.
Who performed in medieval mystery plays?
Ametuers: tradesfolk and other citizens of the town
What is a "mute inglorious Milton" according to Thomas Gray?
An unlettered poetic genius whose work was lost because it was never shared publicly
What does the "second" in The Second Shepherd's Play mean?
At Wakefield there were two different plays, both about the nativity. This play was preceded by another play about the same subject.
The Way of the World summary?
Before the action of the play begins, the following events are assumed to have taken place. Mirabell, a young man-about-town, apparently not a man of great wealth, has had an affair with Mrs. Fainall, the widowed daughter of Lady Wishfort. To protect her from scandal in the event of pregnancy, he has helped engineer her marriage to Mr. Fainall, a man whom he feels to be of sufficiently good reputation to constitute a respectable match, but not a man of such virtue that tricking him would be unfair. Fainall, for his part, married the young widow because he coveted her fortune to support his amour with Mrs. Marwood. In time, the liaison between Mirabell and Mrs. Fainall ended (although this is not explicitly stated), and Mirabell found himself in love with Millamant, the niece and ward of Lady Wish-fort, and the cousin of his former mistress. There are, however, financial complications. Half of Millamant's fortune was under her own control, but the other half, 6,000 pounds, was controlled by Lady Wishfort, to be turned over to Millamant if she married a suitor approved by her aunt. Unfortunately, Mirabell had earlier offended Lady Wishfort; she had misinterpreted his flattery as love. Mirabell, therefore, has contrived an elaborate scheme. He has arranged for a pretended uncle (his valet, Waitwell) to woo and win Lady Wishfort. Then Mirabell intends to reveal the actual status of the successful wooer and obtain her consent to his marriage to Millamant by rescuing her from this misalliance. Waitwell was to marry Foible, Lady Wishfort's maid, before the masquerade so that he might not decide to hold Lady Wishfort to her contract; Mirabell is too much a man of his time to trust anyone in matters of money or love. Millamant is aware of the plot, probably through Foible. When the play opens, Mirabell is impatiently waiting to hear that Waitwell is married to Foible. During Mirabell's card game with Fainall, it becomes clear that the relations between the two men are strained. There are hints at the fact that Fainall has been twice duped by Mirabell: Mrs. Fainall is Mirabell's former mistress, and Mrs. Marwood, Fainall's mistress, is in love with Mirabell. In the meantime, although Millamant quite clearly intends to have Mirabell, she enjoys teasing him in his state of uncertainty. Mirabell bids fair to succeed until, unfortunately, Mrs. Marwood overhears Mrs. Fainall and Foible discussing the scheme, as well as Mirabell and Mrs. Fainall's earlier love affair. Since Mrs. Marwood also overhears insulting comments about herself, she is vengeful and informs Fainall of the plot and the fact, which he suspected before, that his wife was once Mirabell's mistress. The two conspirators now have both motive and means for revenge. In the same afternoon, Millamant accepts Mirabell's proposal and rejects Sir Wilfull Witwoud, Lady Wishfort's candidate for her hand. Fainall now dominates the action. He unmasks Sir Rowland, the false uncle, and blackmails Lady Wishfort with the threat of her daughter's disgrace. He demands that the balance of Millamant's fortune, now forfeit, be turned over to his sole control, as well as the unspent balance of Mrs. Fainall's fortune. In addition, he wants assurance that Lady Wishfort will not marry so that Mrs. Fainall is certain to be the heir. This move of Fainall's is now countered; Millamant says that she will marry Sir Wilfull to save her own fortune. Fainall insists that he wants control of the rest of his wife's money and immediate management of Lady Wishfort's fortune. When Mirabell brings two servants to prove that Fainall and Mrs. Marwood were themselves guilty of adultery, Fainall ignores the accusation and points out that he will still create a scandal which would blacken the name of Mrs. Fainall unless he gets the money. At this point, Mirabell triumphantly reveals his most successful ploy. Before Mrs. Fainall married Fainall, she and Mirabell had suspected the man's character, and she had appointed her lover trustee of her fortune. Fainall is left with no claim to make because Mrs. Fainall does not control her own money. He and Mrs. Marwood leave in great anger. Sir Wilfull steps aside as Millamant's suitor; Lady Wishfort forgives the servants and consents to the match of Mirabell and Millamant.
Who wrote Dr. Faustus?
Christopher Marlowe
What genre is "Ode on the Poetical Character"?
Collins's style is formally Neoclassical but presages the themes of the Romantic period.
Did Shakespeare write in Old English, Middle English, or Modern English?
Early Modern English
What is the only prop in Everyman?
Everyman's Account Book
Dr. Faustus summary:
Faustus becomes dissatisfied with his studies of medicine, law, logic and theology; therefore, he decides to turn to the dangerous practice of necromancy, or magic. He has his servant Wagner summon Valdes and Cornelius, two German experts in magic. Faustus tells them that he has decided to experiment in necromancy and needs them to teach him some of the fundamentals. When he is alone in his study, Faustus begins experimenting with magical incantations, and suddenly Mephistophilis appears, in the form of an ugly devil. Faustus sends him away, telling him to reappear in the form of a friar. Faustus discovers that it is not his conjuring which brings forth Mephistophilis but, instead, that when anyone curses the trinity, devils automatically appear. Faustus sends Mephistophilis back to hell with the bargain that if Faustus is given twenty-four years of absolute power, he will then sell his soul to Lucifer. Later, in his study, when Faustus begins to despair, a Good Angel and a Bad Angel appear to him; each encourages Faustus to follow his advice. Mephistophilis appears and Faust agrees to sign a contract in blood with the devil even though several omens appear which warn him not to make this bond. Faustus begins to repent of his bargain as the voice of the Good Angel continues to urge him to repent. To divert Faustus, Mephistophilis and Lucifer both appear and parade the seven deadly sins before Faustus. After this, Mephistophilis takes Faustus to Rome and leads him into the pope's private chambers, where the two become invisible and play pranks on the pope and some unsuspecting friars. After this episode, Faustus and Mephistophilis go to the German emperor's court, where they conjure up Alexander the Great. At this time, Faustus also makes a pair of horns suddenly appear on one of the knights who had been skeptical about Faustus' powers. After this episode, Faustus is next seen selling his horse to a horse-courser with the advice that the man must not ride the horse into the water. Later, the horse-courser enters Faustus' study and accuses Faustus of false dealings because the horse had turned into a bundle of hay in the middle of a pond. After performing other magical tricks such as bringing forth fresh grapes in the dead of winter, Faustus returns to his study, where at the request of his fellow scholars, he conjures up the apparition of Helen of Troy. An old man appears and tries to get Faustus to hope for salvation and yet Faustus cannot. He knows it is now too late to turn away from the evil and ask for forgiveness. When the scholars leave, the clock strikes eleven and Faustus realizes that he must give up his soul within an hour. As the clock marks each passing segment of time, Faustus sinks deeper and deeper into despair. When the clock strikes twelve, devils appear amid thunder and lightning and carry Faustus off to his eternal damnation.
ballad opera
GENRE of eighteenth-century English comic play featuring songs in which new words are set to borrowed tunes.
"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" summary:
Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," presents the omniscient speaker who talks to the reader. First, he stands alone in a graveyard deep in thought. While there, he thinks about the dead people buried there. The graveyard referred to here is the graveyard of the church in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire. The speaker contemplates the end of human life throughout the poem. He remarks on the inevitability of death that every individual has to face. Besides mourning the loss of someone, the speaker in the elegy reminds the reader that all people will die one day. Death is an unavoidable and natural thing in everyone's life. When one dies today, tomorrow, a stranger will see the person's tombstone. Out of curiosity, he will ask about the person buried there to a villager. The villager will reply that he knew the man. He would add that he had seen him in various spots. Sometimes, he will also remark that he had stopped seeing the man one day, and then there was the tombstone. In the poem, Gray, the poet himself, writes the epitaph of his own. He says that his life is full of sadness and depression. However, he feels proud of his knowledge. He calls it incomparable. In addition to this, he says that 'No one is perfect in this world.' So, he asks the reader not to judge anyone in the graveyard. Each and every soul is different and takes rest for eternity in the graveyard. In conclusion, the poet, through the speaker, ends the elegy by saying that death is an inevitable event in this world. Also, he says that man's efforts and his struggles to succeed in life comes to an end in death. Thus, death conquers man regardless of his successes and/or failures in his endeavors during his life.
Paraphrase Toby's statement "I hate it as unused can"
He does not agree with Toby's statement that they are like normal, healthy people who wake up early to be productive. He's basically saying "I don't believe a word you're saying"
What does Toby mean when he says "Dost thou think that because art thou virtuous there shall be no more cakes and ale"?
He is mocking Malvolio's arrogance, stiffness, and self-conscious piety.
"Ode on the Poetical Character" summary:
He starts by quoting a story from Spenser's The Faerie Queene about women competing for Venus's girdle, which, however, only the perfectly chaste woman can wear. Similarly, the "cest" or belt of the inspiration is granted by Fancy only to the select few. The second part, or "epode" is the vision of God retiring after creating the world, placing Fancy on his throne and letting her create the "But Youth of Morn", or Apollo, who stands here for all imaginative literature. But where is the Bard who can now convey the heavenly inspiration? The third part, or antistrophe, portrays the imaginary area on the top of a wild mountain, under an oak "on which that ancient trump [meaning the trumpet of inspiration] was hung" where Milton drew his inspiration. The poet imagines himself going there, moving away "from Waller's myrtle shades" (meaning the banal love poetry of Edmund Waller) and trying to get the same sort of inspiration, but unfortunately, it's in vain, and Heaven does not grant anybody else the inspiration it gave Milton. The poem's syntax is rather complicated and I can't say it is really satisfying, when after getting through this whole thicket what you get is the admission that Collins felt he failed as a poet.
Who wrote The Beggar's Opera?
John Gay
morality play
Medieval drama designed to teach a lesson. The characters were often allegorical and represented virtues or faults.
Basic history of The York Play of the Crucifixion:
Medieval drama originated in Easter and Christmas church pageants that outgrew the nave and were moved outside the churches. Miracle plays may have gotten the name from at first being dramatizations of miracles of the saints. By the 14th and 15th centuries, though, they had become depictions of stories from the Bible, and acted by the guilds, who presented them on Corpus Christi Day in cycles. The 14th-century York cycle of 48 guild pageants includes the miracle play The Crucifixion (preserved in a 15th-century manuscript), created by the so-called York Realist, and showing typically northern linguistic and spelling features. Earlier, city leaders would assign particular plays to appropriate guilds, but craftsmen became too persistent in interjecting commercial announcements for themselves into the performances. The pin makers and painters ("pynneres and paynters") became responsible for The Crucifixion. The stanzaic structure resembles that of Gawain and the Green Knight, but with more rhyming. -Mystery Plays became a widely used and popular dramatic style in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance time period. This was a time of extreme creativity and expansion of human inquiry. Entertainment and artwork ceased to exist as people knew it. This change in literature brought a change in perspective for many people. One of the largest changes was found within the Catholic church and the way people viewed Christ. We are able to see this change in the mystery play the "York Play of the Crucifixion". It is in that literary work that the humanity of Christ is shown through the characters of the soldiers.
What us raillery?
Mockery
What genre is The York Play of the Crucifixion?
Mystery Play
Who wrote The Interesting Narrative?
Olaudah Equiano
The Interesting Narrative summary:
Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 in Eboe, in what is now Nigeria. When he was about eleven, Equiano was kidnapped and sold to slave traders headed to the West Indies. Though he spent a brief period in the state of Virginia, much of Equiano's time in slavery was spent serving the captains of slave ships and British navy vessels. One of his masters, Henry Pascal, the captain of a British trading vessel, gave Equiano the name Gustavas Vassa, which he used throughout his life, though he published his autobiography under his African name. In service to Captain Pascal and subsequent merchant masters, Equiano traveled extensively, visiting England, Holland, Scotland, Gibraltar, Nova Scotia, the Caribbean, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and South Carolina. He was purchased in 1763 by Robert King, a Quaker merchant from Philadelphia, for whom he served as a clerk. He also worked on King's trading sloops. Equiano, who was allowed to engage in his own minor trade exchanges, was able to save enough money to purchase his freedom in 1766. He settled in England in 1767, attending school and working as an assistant to scientist Dr. Charles Irving. Equiano continued to travel, making several voyages aboard trading vessels to Turkey, Portugal, Italy, Jamaica, Grenada, and North America. In 1773 he accompanied Irving on a polar expedition in search of a northeast passage from Europe to Asia. Equiano published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, in 1789 as a two-volume work. It went through one American and eight British editions during his lifetime. Following the publication of his Interesting Narrative, Equiano traveled throughout Great Britain as an abolitionist and author. He married Susanna Cullen in 1792, with whom he had two daughters. Equiano died in London in 1797. Volume I opens with a description of Equiano's native African culture, including customs associated with clothing, food, and religious practices. He likens the inhabitants of Eboe to the early Jews, and offers a theory that dark African skin is a result of exposure to the hot, tropical climates. In so doing, Equiano hints that Africans may be the indirect relatives of Christian Europeans through their Jewish ancestry and argues against slavery as an affront to all humans: "Let the polished and haughty European recollect that his ancestors were once, like the Africans, uncivilized, and even barbarous. Did Nature make them inferior to their sons? and should they too have been made slaves? Every rational mind answers, No" (p. 43). Equiano's journey begins when he is kidnapped from his village with his sister, from whom he is eventually separated. He describes a long voyage through various African regions, marked by brief tenures as a slave to "a chieftain, in a very pleasant country" and a wealthy widow who resides in "a town called Tinmah, in the most beautiful country I had yet seen in Africa" (pp. 51, 62). Ultimately, Equiano is sold back to traders who bring him "sometimes by land, sometimes by water, through different countries and various nations, till . . . [he] arrive[s] at the sea coast" (p. 69). Equiano is sold to the owner of a slave ship bound for the West Indies, and he goes on to describe the "Middle Passage"—"the journey across the Atlantic Ocean that brought enslaved Africans to North America. His descriptions of extreme hardships and desperate conditions are punctuated by his astonishment at new sights and experiences. The narration occasionally reflects the childish wonder of the young Equiano at the time of his journey, but it also highlights his culture shock at his introduction to European culture and European treatment of slaves. Though he witnesses the sale of slaves in the West Indies, Equiano himself is not purchased, and he stays with the Dutch ship, traveling from the West Indies to North America. There he is purchased and put to work on a Virginia plantation, doing light field work and household chores. He is not in Virginia long before Michael Henry Pascal, a lieutenant in the British royal navy and captain of a merchant ship, purchases him as "a present to some of his friends in England" (p. 94). During their spring 1757 voyage to England, Pascal renames the eleven-year-old Equiano Gustavus Vassa, and Equiano forges a friendship with a white American boy named Robert Baker, which lasts until Baker's death two years later. After the ship's arrival in England, Equiano is exposed to Christianity. When he asks questions about his first encounter with snow, he is told it is made by "a great man in the heavens, called God." He attends church, and receives instruction from his new friend, Robert (p. 105). Equiano describes the various battles and ship transfers that take place after his return to sea with Pascal. He also expresses his growing ease with the European culture he initially found so strange and frightening: "I ceased to feel those apprehensions and alarms which had taken such strong possession of me when I first came among the Europeans" (p. 111). As his time with Pascal progresses, Equiano professes a growing attachment to his master and a desire to "imbibe" and "imitate" the English culture in which he is immersed (p. 133). He can "now speak English tolerably well" and "embrace[s] every occasion of improvement . . . [having] long wished to be able to read and write" (p. 132-133). During stopovers in England, Captain Pascal sends Equiano to wait upon two sisters known as the Miss Guerins. They become, in a sense, patrons to Equiano, not only treating him kindly but also supporting his education and his interest in Christianity by sending him to school. The Guerins are also instrumental in persuading Pascal to allow Equiano to be baptized into the church. Equiano continues his studies and his religious development independently whenever possible, but his visits to England are always temporary, as he returns to sea with his captain whenever Pascal and the ship are ready for a new voyage. The journeys are always fraught with danger, and he describes numerous skirmishes and sieges throughout the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and West Indian Oceans. Equiano faithfully serves Pascal for several years and, believing that Pascal's kindness implies a promise to free him, he is shocked at an abrupt betrayal during a layover in England, when Pascal has him roughly seized and forced into a barge. Pascal sells Equiano to Captain James Doran, the captain of a ship bound for the West Indies. Dazed by his sudden change in fortunes, Equiano argues with Captain Doran that Pascal "could not sell me to him, nor to any one else . . . I have served him . . . many years, and he has taken all my wages and prize-money . . . I have been baptized; and by the laws of the land no man has a right to sell me" (p. 176-177). After Doran tells Equiano he talks "too much English" and threatens to subdue him, Equiano begins service under a new master, for he is "too well convinced of his power over me to doubt what he said" (177). Dejected at the situation in which he now finds himself, Equiano begins to believe his new situation is a result of God's punishment for his sins and soon resigns himself to his new life. Doran takes him back to the West Indies, and Equiano is horrified at the sight of Montserrat, because he is fearful of being sold into this "land of bondage . . . misery, stripes, and chains" (p. 190). Instead, he is purchased by Mr. Robert King, a "charitable and humane" Quaker merchant who employs him in a variety of positions, from loading boats to clerking and serving as a personal groom, in addition to occasionally hiring out Equiano"s services to other merchants (p. 192). One of King's boat captains, an Englishman named Thomas Farmer, relies heavily on Equiano and frequently hires him for voyages from the West Indies to North America. Proud of being singled out, Equiano remarks that he "became so useful to the captain on shipboard, that . . . [he would] tell my master I was better to him on board than any three white men he had" (p. 231). At this time, Equiano begins buying and selling goods and fruit and starts his own side trading enterprise during each voyage. Although he faces setbacks and insults from white buyers who refuse to pay for goods, use "bad coin," or demand fraudulent refunds, Equiano acquires a small amount of savings and is "determined to . . . obtain my freedom, and to return to Old England" (p. 268, p. 250). King encourages him in his entrepreneurial pursuits, proposing that when Equiano has saved enough money "to purchase my freedom . . . he would let me have it for forty pounds sterling money, which was only the same price he gave for me" (p. 260). After briefly recounting a violent assault while trading in Savannah, Georgia, and his subsequent recovery and return to Montserrat, Equiano closes the first volume of the Interesting Narrative somewhat abruptly, noting that "This ended my adventures in 1764; for I did not leave Montserrat again till the beginning of the following year" (p. 272). DocSouth has published a summary of the second volume of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, in which Equiano describes his life as a freeman, his adventures as a world-traveling tradesman, and his spiritual transformation.
What character from The Way of the World is the most foppish?
Petulant
Maria is Olivia's chambermaid or lady-in-waiting. What does that suggest about her class and social status?
She was a noblewoman who served as attendant to a higher ranked noble woman
What poem gave Auburn it's name?
The Deserted Village
The Interesting Narrative basic history:
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, first published in 1789 in London,[1] is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. The narrative is argued to represent a variety of styles, such as a slavery narrative, travel narrative, and spiritual narrative.[2] The book describes Equiano's time spent in enslavement, and documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual success in gaining his own freedom and in business thereafter.
The Wakefield Second Shepard's Play basic historical context:
The Second Shepherd's Play is a medieval mystery play written by an anonymous author known as the Wakefield Master that centers on a retelling of the Biblical story of the Nativity. The play is written in verse.
Everyman basic history:
The Somonyng of Everyman (The Summoning of Everyman), usually referred to simply as Everyman, is a late 15th-century morality play. Like John Bunyan's 1678 Christian novel The Pilgrim's Progress, Everyman uses allegorical characters to examine the question of Christian salvation and what Man must do to attain it.
Dr. Faustus basic history:
The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is an Elizabethan tragedy by Christopher Marlowe, based on German stories about the title character Faust. It was written sometime between 1589 and 1592, and may have been performed between 1592 and Marlowe's death in 1593. Two different versions of the play were published in the Jacobean era several years later.[2]
The Way of the World basic history:
The Way of the World is a play written by the English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in early March 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as one of the best Restoration comedies and is still occasionally performed. Initially, however, the play struck many audience members as continuing the immorality of the previous decades, and was not well received. In 1700, the world of London theatre-going had changed significantly from the days of, for example, The Country Wife. Charles II was no longer on the throne, and the jubilant court that revelled in its licentiousness and opulence had been replaced by the far more dour and utilitarian Dutch-inspired court of William of Orange. His wife, Mary II, was, long before her death, a retiring person who did not appear much in public. William himself was a military king who was reported to be hostile to drama. The political instabilities that had been beneath the surface of many Restoration comedies were still present, but with a different side seeming victorious. One of the features of a Restoration comedy is the opposition of the witty and courtly (and Cavalier) rake and the dull-witted man of business or the country bumpkin, who is understood to be not only unsophisticated but often (as, for instance, in the very popular plays of Aphra Behn in the 1670s) either Puritan or another form of dissenter. In 1685, the courtly and Cavalier side was in power, and Restoration comedies belittled the bland and foolish losers of the Restoration. However, by 1700, the other side was ascendant. Therefore, The Way of the World's recreation of the older Restoration comedy's patterns is only one of the things that made the play unusual. The 1688 revolution concerning the overthrow of James II created a new set of social codes primarily amongst the bourgeoisie. The new capitalist system meant an increasing emphasis on property and property law. Thus, the play is packed with legal jargon and financial and marital contracts. These new legal aspects allow characters like Mrs. Fainall to secure her freedom through an equitable trust and for Mirabell and Millamant's marriage to be equal through a prenuptial agreement. This shift in social perspectives is perhaps best shown in the characters of Fainall and Mirabell, who represent respectively the old form and new form of marital relations: sexual power at first and then developing into material power.
What aspect of Romanticism is exemplified in Collins's poem "Ode to the Poetical Character"
The idea of the poet as one who sees deeper truths than ordinary mortals
What was Tyburn Tree?
The location of public executions in London from as early as 1200 to the end of the eighteenth century
Who wrote The Wakefield Second Shepard's Play?
The name "Wakefield Master" is a title given by Charles Mills Gayley to an unknown author of at least five of the plays that are found in the Wakefield Mystery Plays.
What genre is "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"?
The poem is not a conventional part of the Classical genre of Theocritan elegy, because it does not mourn an individual. The use of "elegy" is related to the poem relying on the concept of lacrimae rerum, or disquiet regarding the human condition. The poem lacks many standard features of the elegy: an invocation, mourners, flowers, and shepherds. The theme does not emphasise loss as do other elegies, and its natural setting is not a primary component of its theme. Through the "Epitaph" at the end, it can be included in the tradition as a memorial poem,[23] and it contains thematic elements of the elegiac genre, especially mourning.[24] But as compared to a poem recording personal loss such as John Milton's "Lycidas", it lacks many of the ornamental aspects found in that poem. Gray's is natural, whereas Milton's is more artificially designed.[25]
"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" basic history:
The poem's origins are unknown, but it was partly inspired by Gray's thoughts following the death of the poet Richard West in 1742. Originally titled Stanzas Wrote in a Country Church-Yard, the poem was completed when Gray was living near St Giles' parish church at Stoke Poges. It was sent to his friend Horace Walpole, who popularised the poem among London literary circles. Gray was eventually forced to publish the work on 15 February 1751 in order to preempt a magazine publisher from printing an unlicensed copy of the poem. The poem is an elegy in name but not in form; it employs a style similar to that of contemporary odes, but it embodies a meditation on death, and remembrance after death. The poem argues that the remembrance can be good and bad, and the narrator finds comfort in pondering the lives of the obscure rustics buried in the churchyard. The two versions of the poem, Stanzas and Elegy, approach death differently; the first contains a stoic response to death, but the final version contains an epitaph which serves to repress the narrator's fear of dying. Claimed as "probably still today the best-known and best-loved poem in English",[2] the Elegy quickly became popular. It was printed many times and in a variety of formats, translated into many languages, and praised by critics even after Gray's other poetry had fallen out of favour. But while many have continued to commend its language and universal aspects, some have felt that the ending is unconvincing - failing to resolve the questions raised by the poem in a way helpful to the obscure rustic poor who form its central image.
The York Play of the Crucifixion Summary:
The soldiers engage in typical workman chat, oblivious to the significance or implications of their chore of crucifying Jesus. Their colloquial speech is delivered with an earnestness and bustling quality. They are nervous about getting their job accomplished, enthusiastic in a sense but not especially vindictive -- more or less psyching themselves up with pep talk. The running commentary often drifts towards kvetching. The holes have been drilled incorrectly (an ironic feature since the pinners -- makers of pegs for wood-joining -- are playing soldiers here), so they must stretch the limbs of Jesus before hammering the nails. The mortice into which the cross must be dropped turns out to be too wide and needs to be wedged. When Jesus does speak, only twice in passages whose length conveys stateliness, his language originates in the Seven Last Words of the Gospels and from the liturgy for Holy Week (Bevington 569). But how Jesus is supposed to "act" is uncertain: agonized? serene and placid? Ironic effects are rampant. The soldiers essentially "divide him up amongst themselves" in taking responsibility for various limbs. The assorted anachronisms heighten the ironies operating but also collapse time and space (not unlike many of the medieval arts) into a synchronicity. What amounts to almost an audience-participation effect is created in the hoisting of the cross. In the end, the business of crucifixion has been mercilessly drawn out, not simply for theatrical macabre humor but to make the ironic point that the phenomenon of distancing oneself from the importance of the Passion of Christ is common. "Proud of their skill and yet comically incompetent to us, the soldiers so lose themselves in their world of mechanical details that they have no sense of the large issues confronting them. As Christ compassionately observes, they know not what they do" (Bevington 569). Here a central moment in Western history has been familiarized, but even those physically involved remain obtuse. And we audience members may understand that we would not have acted differently.
Why does Antonio call Casario "that most ungrateful boy"
The twin gave a mesmerizing effect but did not care
In what way does Everyman differ from most Morality Plays (such as Mankind)?
There are no slapstick-style comic scenes in Everyman
Why does Viola say "Alas that they are so! / To die, even when they to perfection grow!"
They previously discussed how virgins are much more appealing and he's basically saying "why can't women wait until they are at the peak of their beauty to lose their virginities"
Who wrote "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"?
Thomas Gray
Twelfth Night basic history:
Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601-1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised as Cesario) falls in love with the Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man. The play expanded on the musical interludes and riotous disorder expected of the occasion,[1] with plot elements drawn from the short story "Of Apollonius and Silla" by Barnabe Rich, based on a story by Matteo Bandello. The first recorded public performance was on 2 February 1602, at Candlemas, the formal end of Christmastide in the year's calendar. The play was not published until its inclusion in the 1623 First Folio.
Twelfth Night summary:
Viola is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and she comes ashore with the help of a Captain. She has lost contact with her twin brother, Sebastian, whom she believes to be drowned, and with the aid of the Captain, she disguises herself as a young man under the name Cesario and enters the service of Duke Orsino. Duke Orsino has convinced himself that he is in love with Olivia, who is mourning the recent death of her brother. She refuses to see entertainments, be in the company of men, or accept love or marriage proposals from anyone, the Duke included, until seven years have passed. Duke Orsino then uses 'Cesario' as an intermediary to profess his passionate love before Olivia. Olivia, however, falls in love with 'Cesario', setting her at odds with her professed duty. In the meantime, Viola has fallen in love with Duke Orsino, creating a love triangle: Viola loves Duke Orsino, Duke Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Viola disguised as Cesario. Sir Toby Belch coming to the assistance of Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Arthur Boyd Houghton, c. 1854. In the comic subplot, several characters conspire to make Olivia's pompous steward, Malvolio, believe that Olivia has fallen for him. This involves Olivia's riotous uncle, Sir Toby Belch; another would-be suitor, a silly squire named Sir Andrew Aguecheek; her servants Maria and Fabian; and her witty fool, Feste. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew engage themselves in drinking and revelry, thus disturbing the peace of Olivia's household until late into the night, prompting Malvolio to chastise them. Sir Toby famously retorts, "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?" (Act II, Scene III). Malvolio and Sir Toby (from William Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night', Act II, scene iii), George Clint (c.1833) Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria plan revenge on Malvolio. They convince Malvolio that Olivia is secretly in love with him by planting a love letter, written by Maria in Olivia's handwriting. It asks Malvolio to wear yellow stockings cross-gartered—a colour and fashion that Olivia actually hates—to be rude to the rest of the servants, and to smile constantly in the presence of Olivia. Malvolio finds the letter and reacts in surprised delight. He starts acting out the contents of the letter to show Olivia his positive response. Olivia is shocked by the changes in Malvolio and agreeing that he seems mad, leaves him to be cared for by his tormentors. Pretending that Malvolio is insane, they lock him up in a dark chamber. Feste visits him to mock his insanity, both disguised as a priest and as himself. Meanwhile, Viola's twin, Sebastian, has been rescued by Antonio, a sea captain who previously fought against Orsino, yet who accompanies Sebastian to Illyria, despite the danger, because of his admiration for Sebastian. Sebastian's appearance adds the confusion of mistaken identities to the comedy. Taking Sebastian for 'Cesario', Olivia asks him to marry her, and they are secretly married in a church. Finally, when 'Cesario' and Sebastian appear in the presence of both Olivia and Orsino, there is more wonder and confusion at their physical similarity. At this point, Viola reveals her identity and is reunited with her twin brother. The play ends in a declaration of marriage between Duke Orsino and Viola, and it is learned that Sir Toby has married Maria. Malvolio swears revenge on his tormentors and stalks off, but Orsino sends Fabian to placate him.
Who wrote "Ode on the Poetical Character"?
William Collins
"Ode on the Poetical Character" basic history:
William Collins, failing to find much success, became depressed and died before he turned forty. This "Ode" is an attempt to answer the question where the poetic inspiration comes from.
Who wrote The Way of the World?
William Congreve
Who wrote The Harlot's Progress?
William Hogarth
Who wrote Twelfth Night?
William Shakespeare
What is the biggest difference between Restoration theater and the theater of previous eras
Women were allowed to perform
What genre is The Wakefield Second Shepard's Play?
a famous medieval mystery play
Dream Vision
a genre in which "the author presents the story under the guise of having dreamed it"
Morality play
a kind of drama with personified abstract qualities as the main characters and presenting a lesson about good conduct and character, popular in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
elegy
a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.
mystery play
a popular medieval play based on biblical stories or the lives of the saints.
Elegy
a sad or mournful poem
What genre is The Interesting Narrative?
autobiography/narrative
What genre is The Beggar's Opera?
ballad opera
When was Everyman written?
late 1400s
What genre is Everyman?
morality play
The Beggar's Opera basic history:
music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today. Ballad operas were satiric musical plays that used some of the conventions of opera, but without recitative. The lyrics of the airs in the piece are set to popular broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns and folk tunes of the time. The Beggar's Opera premiered at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre on 29 January 1728[2] and ran for 62 consecutive performances, the second longest run in theatre history up to that time (after 146 performances of Robert Cambert's Pomone in Paris in 1671).[3] The work became Gay's greatest success and has been played ever since; it has been called "the most popular play of the eighteenth century."[4] In 1920, The Beggar's Opera began a revival run of 1,463 performances at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London, which was one of the longest runs in history for any piece of musical theatre at that time.[5] The piece satirised Italian opera, which had become popular in London. According to The New York Times: "Gay wrote the work more as an anti-opera than an opera, one of its attractions to its 18th-century London public being its lampooning of the Italian opera style and the English public's fascination with it."[6][7] Instead of the grand music and themes of opera, the work uses familiar tunes and characters that were ordinary people. Some of the songs were by opera composers like Handel, but only the most popular of these were used. The audience could hum along with the music and identify with the characters. The story satirised politics, poverty and injustice, focusing on the theme of corruption at all levels of society. Lavinia Fenton, the first Polly Peachum, became an overnight success. Her pictures were in great demand, verses were written to her and books published about her. After appearing in several comedies, and then in numerous repetitions of The Beggars Opera, she ran away with her married lover, Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton.
What genre is The Harlot's Progress?
opera
When was The Interesting Narrative written?
published in 1789
What genre isThe Way of the World?
restoration comedy
What genre is Twelfth Night ?
romantic comedy
The Wakefield Second Shepard's Play summary:
t the beginning of the play, the 1st shepherd, Col, and the 2nd shepherd, Gib, are guarding their flocks and grumbling about the freezing weather. In his opening speech, Col complains about the fact that as poor shepherds they are forced to work out in the cold for the rich gentry, who overworks them and "rob[s] [them] of their rest" (3). Gib enters without seeing Col and begins to complain about the suffering of married men like himself. He describes "his own better half" as loud, drunk, whale-sized, and "browed like a bristle, with a sour looking cheer" (4). After overhearing Gib's rant, Col confronts Gib, and they look around for the 3rd Shepherd, a youth named Dave. Dave enters without seeing the others; he complains about the recent floods and how shepherds are forced to see "fearful sights in the night / while other men sleep" (5). When he sees the other shepherds, he tries to get away without them seeing him. Col, the head shepherd, scolds Dave for his laziness, but Gib tells Col to let the younger shepherd have some food and drink since they have already had their fill. Dave sits down to eat and begins to complain about how their masters overwork and underpay them. Gib tells Dave to stop complaining, and the shepherds decide to start singing to pass the time. As the shepherds sing, Mak the thief enters. Mak pretends to be a yeoman from a lord carrying an important message and threatens to have the shepherds flogged; the shepherds recognize him, however, and knowthat he is just trying to trick them, so he can steal from them. Mak appeals to the shepherds to take pity on him and give him some food. When they ask about his wife, he declares that she is a drunkard who eats too much and gives birth to too many children. The shepherds grow tired and decide to lie down for a nap. They persuade Mak to lie between them. Mak waits until the others are asleep and then steals a sheep from the shepherds' flock. He goes home and calls out to his wife, Gill. When she sees that he has stolen a sheep, she worries that he "may catch a rope at a hanging" (10). Mak suggests that they slaughter the sheep, so they can eat it right away; however, Gill points out that the shepherds will hear the sheep bleat and realize that it has been stolen if they kill it now. Gill then suggests that they hide the sheep in the baby's cradle; she will lie in bed moaning and pretend that she has just given birth to another child. Mak leaves the house to go resume his place between the sleeping shepherds. When the shepherds wake up, they realize Mak is missing. Gib says that he dreamed Mak stole a "fat sheep [...] but made no noise" while they were sleeping (13). They wake up Mak, and he tells them that he has dreamed that his wife has just given birth to a new baby boy. He tells them that he must go home to Gill and shows him his sleeves to prove that he hasn't stolen anything. The shepherds separate to go check if they are missing any sheep, and Mak leaves to go warn Gill that the shepherds will search their house as soon as they realize a sheep is missing. Gill swaddles the sheep in blankets and places it in the bed beside her. Back in the fields, Col tells Dave that "a fat wether" from their flocks is missing (15). Dave replies that he is certain that "either Mak or Gill, had a hand in this event" (16). The three shepherds go together to Mak's house and demand that he open the door. Mak tells them to keep quiet as Gill is still recovering from giving birth. The shepherds tell him that a sheep is missing and that they suspect that he and Gill have taken it. Mak claims ignorance about the missing sheep; he says his wife has not left her bed since giving birth and invites them to search the house. Gill tells the shepherds not to come near her and her baby and complains loudly about her sore "middle" (19). Since they cannot find the sheep, the shepherds decide it must have been slaughtered. After congratulating Mak on the birth of his son, they leave the cottage. Outside, they begin to regret not giving the baby a gift and decide to go back to the cottage to give Mak some money in the new baby's name, in order to help Mak provide for his large family. Mak tells them to go away since the baby is sleeping, but Dave picks up the "baby" anyway to kiss him. After examining the bundle, however, he exclaims, "What devil is this? He has a long snout!" (21). The shepherds realize that Mak has tricked them by disguising their sheep as a baby. Nonetheless, Col urges the others to forgive Mak for his crime so that he will not be hanged. Instead, they humiliate him by tossing him around before letting him and his wife return home. The shepherds return to their fields and go to sleep. As they sleep, the Angel appears and sings "Gloria in excelsis."He tells them of the birth of the Christ Child and tells them to go visit the infant in Bethlehem. When the shepherds awake, they resolve to follow the star to Bethlehem to see the infant and his mother, just as the Angel told them to do. They are humbled by the fact that the Angel has called upon men as poor as they are to be among the first to visit their new savior. When they enter the stable, they each address the child in turn and present him with a gift. Col gives the Christ-Child cherries, Gib offers a bird, and Dave presents a ball. Mary tells him to tell others of the Christ-Child's birth after they leave. They say farewell to the mother and child and leave singing in unison.
When was The York Play of the Crucifixion written?
the 15th century (1463-1477)
What genre is Dr. Faustus?
tragedy and perhaps a morality play; mostly written in blank verse (Iambic pentameter with no rhyme)
Who wrote The York Play of the Crucifixion?
unknown
