The emergence of drama as a literary art - Mindy Ploeckelmann

TED-Ed

5 Jun 201303:47

Summary

TLDRThis script explores the evolution of drama from the 11th to 15th centuries, starting with the clergy's use of mystery and miracle plays to educate the illiterate about the Bible. As these plays evolved into morality plays with allegorical characters, they became crude and comic, leading to the church's ban. This transformation laid the groundwork for Renaissance drama, with Shakespeare's The Globe theater emerging from this tradition, highlighting the birth of drama as a literary art form.

Takeaways

📜 In the 11th and 12th centuries, English commoners were largely illiterate, leading to the invention of mystery and miracle plays by the clergy to convey Bible stories and saints' tales.
🎭 Mystery plays were designed to reveal the 'mystery of God's word' to those unable to read the Bible, while miracle plays focused on stories of the church's saints.
🏰 Initially, clergy performed these plays on cathedral steps, but due to popularity, they moved to public spaces like town squares and used pageants, or movable carts, for performances.
🚂 The pageants were large, two-story carts with a stage on top and a curtained area below for costumes and props, allowing for a cycle of stories from Genesis to Revelation.
🤹‍♂️ By the 13th century, the demand for actors grew, leading to guilds taking responsibility for performing different parts of the biblical cycle, often related to their professions.
🔍 The carpenter's guild might perform Noah's Ark, and the baker's guild The Last Supper, suggesting a potential humorous or inappropriate portrayal by the butcher's guild in The Crucifixion of Christ.
🎭 Over time, the plays began to deviate from their original biblical narratives, evolving into a new form of drama by the 14th century known as morality plays.
🤝 Morality plays featured personified virtues like Faith, Truth, and Charity, alongside vices like Falsehood and Covetousness, battling for the soul's control in allegorical stories.
🍎 Audience interaction became common, with spectators engaging with actors, throwing food, and even physical altercations, reflecting the plays' popularity and crude humor.
😈 The character of the devil would interact with the audience, pulling people into a dragon's mouth representing hell, adding a theatrical and sometimes frightening element to the performances.
🏛 By the mid-15th century, the church began to ban these performances, requiring theaters to be built outside city walls, leading to the construction of structures that influenced later designs, including The Globe.
🎭 The evolution of medieval morality plays laid the groundwork for Renaissance playwrights, inspiring works that explored the inner struggles and conscience of humans, marking the emergence of drama as a literary art form.

Q & A

What was the primary reason for the creation of mystery plays in the 11th and 12th centuries?
-Mystery plays were created because most English commoners were illiterate and had no way to learn the Bible. The clergy used these plays to reveal the mystery of God's word to those who couldn't read.
What were miracle plays and how did they relate to the church?
-Miracle plays were plays about the saints of the church, developed by the clergy around the same time as mystery plays, to educate the illiterate about the lives and deeds of the saints.
How did the initial performances of Bible stories by the clergy take place?
-The clergy members initially acted out Bible stories on the steps outside the cathedral, which eventually moved to the streets and town square due to the audience's positive reaction.
What is the term for the movable carts used to perform cycles of stories in the town square?
-The movable carts were called pageants, which were huge boxes on wheels with a stage for performance on the top platform and space for costumes and props on the bottom.
How did the pageants facilitate the performance of a complete cycle of stories?
-Pageants were lined up one after the other to create a cycle of stories that would take viewers from Genesis to Revelation, moving around the town until the entire series was seen.
Why were different guilds asked to participate in the plays by the 13th century?
-Different guilds were asked to participate because the plays required more actors than the clergy could supply, and the assignments were meant to reflect the guilds' professions.
Can you provide an example of how a guild's profession influenced the story they performed?
-For instance, the carpenter's guild might perform the story of Noah's Ark, while the baker's guild might perform The Last Supper, reflecting their respective trades.
What changes occurred to the plays as they transitioned from being performed by the clergy to guilds?
-The plays started changing from their true Bible stories, as guilds added their own interpretations and elements, which sometimes deviated from the original religious narratives.
What is a morality play and how did it evolve from the earlier plays?
-A morality play is a new form of drama that evolved by the end of the 14th century, where virtues like faith and truth, and vices like falsehood and covetousness, were personified as characters battling for the control of the soul.
How did the audiences' reactions to morality plays differ from the original intentions of the clergy?
-Audiences loved the immoral characters, and the plays encouraged audience interaction, including throwing rotten food and engaging in scuffles, which was contrary to the clergy's intention to teach against immorality.
What measures did the church take by the mid-15th century to regulate theater performances?
-The church started to outlaw performances and required that any theater be built outside the city wall, leading to the construction of the first theaters with gallery seating around a central stage.
How did the medieval morality play influence the development of drama and playwrights like William Shakespeare?
-The medieval morality play led to the emergence of Renaissance playwrights who were inspired by the inner struggles and conscience of man, with Shakespeare developing his craft at a theater that became known as The Globe.

Outlines

00:00

🎭 Emergence of Mystery and Miracle Plays

In the 11th and 12th centuries, the majority of English commoners were illiterate, lacking access to the Bible. To address this, the clergy devised a creative solution: the creation of 'mystery plays' that dramatized Bible stories, revealing divine mysteries to the unlettered. Concurrently, 'miracle plays' were developed to honor the church's saints. Initially, clergy performed these plays on cathedral steps, but their popularity necessitated a move to public spaces. The introduction of 'pageants'—movable carts serving as stages—allowed for a series of interconnected stories, from Genesis to Revelation, to be presented in a cycle around the town square. This format required extensive preparation, including costumes and props stored in the carts' lower levels, with the upper levels serving as performance platforms.

🏛 Transition to Guild-Sponsored Drama

As the demand for actors grew beyond the clergy's capacity, guilds were enlisted in the 13th century to perform different segments of the biblical cycle, with assignments often reflecting their professions. For instance, the carpenters might stage Noah's Ark, while the bakers could perform The Last Supper. However, without the clergy's oversight, the plays began to deviate from their original biblical narratives, leading to the evolution of a new dramatic form by the 14th century.

🤡 The Rise of Morality Plays

The 14th century saw the emergence of 'morality plays,' which personified virtues like faith, truth, and charity, as well as vices such as falsehood and covetousness. These plays were allegorical, depicting the struggle for the soul's control between these characters. Despite the church's intent to promote virtue, the audiences found the vices more entertaining, leading to unruly behavior such as throwing rotten food and engaging in scuffles. The devil character would interact with the crowd, pulling people into a dragon's mouth representing hell, turning the virtuous stories into crude and comedic spectacles.

🚫 Church's Rejection of Morality Plays

By the mid-15th century, the church began to ban these performances, requiring any theater to be constructed beyond the city walls. This led to the creation of a new type of theater, reminiscent of the pageant structure, with tiered seating surrounding a central grassy area in front of the stage. It was in such a theater that William Shakespeare honed his craft, and the medieval morality plays laid the groundwork for Renaissance playwrights, inspiring them to explore the inner conflicts and conscience of humanity. This transition marked the emergence of drama as a recognized literary art form.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Mystery Plays

Mystery plays were a form of medieval drama that presented narratives from the Bible. They were called 'mystery' because they revealed the mysteries of God's word to the illiterate masses. In the script, these plays are mentioned as an inventive solution by the clergy to educate commoners about the Bible through visual storytelling, which eventually evolved into a popular form of entertainment.

💡Miracle Plays

Miracle plays were another type of medieval drama that focused on the lives and acts of Christian saints. They were developed concurrently with mystery plays and served a similar purpose of religious education. In the context of the script, these plays contributed to the development of drama as a means to convey religious narratives to the public.

💡Pageants

Pageants, in the script, refer to movable carts used as stages for the performance of plays. They were two stories tall, with the bottom used for costumes and dressing, and the top serving as the actual stage. Pageants were a key innovation that allowed for the expansion of drama performances beyond the confines of the church, making them accessible to a wider audience.

💡Guilds

Guilds were associations of craftsmen or merchants who played a significant role in the evolution of medieval drama. By the 13th century, they were responsible for acting out different parts of the biblical cycle, with the choice of story often reflecting the guild's profession. The script illustrates this with examples such as the carpenter's guild performing the story of Noah's Ark.

💡Morality Plays

Morality plays emerged by the end of the 14th century as a new form of drama that personified abstract moral concepts such as Faith, Truth, and Charity. These plays were allegorical, depicting the struggle between virtues and vices for the control of the soul. The script describes how these plays became popular and interactive, with audiences engaging directly with the performances.

💡Virtues and Vices

In the context of morality plays, virtues refer to positive moral qualities like faith and charity, while vices are negative traits such as falsehood and covetousness. The script highlights the ironic twist that these plays, intended to teach against immorality, ended up making vices more popular than virtues due to the audience's fascination with the immoral characters.

💡Theatre

The term 'theatre' in the script refers to the physical structures built for the purpose of drama performances. By the mid-15th century, the church began to regulate these spaces, requiring them to be outside city walls. The script mentions the construction of one of the first theatres, which had a layout similar to the later Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare would develop his craft.

💡Renaissance

The Renaissance was a period of cultural rebirth in Europe, which had a profound impact on the arts, including drama. The script notes that the medieval morality plays influenced Renaissance playwrights, inspiring them to explore the inner struggles and conscience of man, thus contributing to the evolution of drama as a literary art form.

💡William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is mentioned in the script as a playwright who honed his skills in the theatres that emerged from the medieval tradition of drama. His work is a testament to the lasting impact of these early forms of drama on the development of literature and theatre.

💡Literary Art Form

The script concludes by describing drama as a literary art form that emerged from the evolution of medieval plays. This term refers to the creative expression of ideas, emotions, and narratives through written works intended for performance, which in the case of drama, involves actors bringing the text to life on stage.

Highlights

In the 11th and 12th centuries, most English commoners were illiterate and unable to read the Bible.

The clergy created 'mystery plays' to reveal the mystery of God's word to the illiterate through enactments of Bible stories.

Simultaneously, 'miracle plays' were developed to depict the lives of church saints.

Initially, clergy members performed Bible stories on the cathedral steps, which later moved to the streets due to audience enthusiasm.

Movable carts called 'pageants' were introduced to facilitate the enactment of a cycle of stories from Genesis to Revelation.

Pageants were two-story structures with a curtained bottom for costumes and props and an upper platform for performances.

The pageant would move around the town to allow villagers to view the entire series of plays.

By the 13th century, different guilds were tasked with acting out different parts of the cycle, reflecting their professions.

For example, the carpenter's guild might perform the story of Noah's Ark, while the baker's guild could perform The Last Supper.

The butcher's guild performing The Crucifixion of Christ could lead to humorous or inappropriate adaptations of the story.

By the end of the 14th century, 'morality plays' evolved, featuring characters representing virtues and vices battling for the soul's control.

Morality plays were allegorical, with audiences favoring the immoral characters and interacting with the actors.

Spectators would throw rotten food and engage in scuffles, while the devil character would pull people into a hell depicted as a dragon's mouth.

The virtuous Biblical stories transformed into crude and comic narratives, contrary to the clergy's intent to teach against immorality.

By the mid-15th century, the church began to outlaw these performances, requiring theaters to be built outside city walls.

One of the first theaters resembled a larger pageant with gallery seating around a grassy area, where William Shakespeare later honed his craft.

The medieval morality play influenced Renaissance playwrights, inspiring the exploration of inner struggles and human conscience.

This evolution marked the emergence of drama as a literary art form.