A Morality play is a type of dramatic allegory, performed in a theater, in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a godly life over one of evil. The protagonist him or herself is also, quite often, a personification of the entire human species, as is the case with characters such as Everyman and Mankind. The stories usually follow a path where the protagonist is tempted to sin by the antagonists and only through God does the protagonist find peace, salvation, or hope. The plays were most popular in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Having grown out of the religiously based mystery plays and miracle plays of the Middle Ages, they represented a shift towards a more secular base for European theater.Morality plays survived the disenchantment of the church and the wrath of the Reformation, maintaining their popularity to near the end of the sixteenth century, when the the public's interest turned in other directions. They are a representation of humankind's fascination with art and creativity and the desire to use those gifts to bring about positive ends.

Visualizing the Moral Life: Medieval Iconography and the Macro Morality Plays (Ams Studies in the Middle Ages)

Arts & Photography

Davidson, Clifford

Religious

Ams Pr Inc

The Drama in the Middle Ages: Comparative and Critical Essays (2ND SERIES)

Literature & Fiction

Dramas & Plays

The first essay in Professor Davidson's book of reflective analysis takes up the question, "What has the individual scholar to do with tradition?: Arguing that the Western tradition is the basis upon which our late 20th century culture ultimately rests, Davidson in this and subsequent essays examines the attitudes toward and the uses of tradition from the Middle Ages to the present. As a scholar with a major interest in drama and iconography, he shows how traditional forms appear and are distorted in the drama, literature and art of the last 700 years. Finally, he suggests that while tradition connects us to our past, "such connections...may serve to heal the wound of post-modernity and to make its skepticism seem irrelevant". The essays range in time from Late Medieval English theater, through Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, George Herbert, T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral - but Davidson's net is wider than that; his catch, the very heritage of the West.

On Tradition: Essays on the Use and Valuation of the Past (Ams Studies in the Middle Ages)

Based in records and iconography, this book surveys medieval festival playing in Britain more comprehensively than any other work to date. The study presents an inclusive view of the drama in the British Isles, from Kilkenny to Great Yarmouth, from Scotland to Cornwall. It offers detailed readings of individual plays-including the York Creed Play, Pentecost and Corpus Christi plays and the little studied Bodley plays, among others - as well as a summary of what is known of their production. Clifford Davidson here extends the usual chronological range to include work typically categorized as early modern, enabling a juxtaposition of earlier plays with later plays to yield a better understanding of both. Complementing documentary evidence with iconographic detail and citation of music, he pinpoints a number of common misconceptions about medieval drama. By organizing the study around the rituals of the liturgical seasons, he clarifies the relationship between liturgical feast and dramatic celebration.

Festivals and Plays in Late Medieval Britain

Reference

Routledge

Professor Davidson is concerned here to chart public theatrical display as a barometer of developments in the English Middle Ages and Renaissance. This book brings together twelve previously published articles on historical and religious aspects of the early English theatre as well as an original essay on Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and the Papacy. Other essays on Renaissance drama focus on Shakespeare against the background of the political and religious crosscurrents of the time. The treatment of medieval drama is dealt with under two headings, the first of which treats sacred violence in the mysteries. The second presents investigations of the cultural contexts for early English drama, from analysis of the claim that the mystery plays were informed by the spirit of Carnival to the signs of Doomsday in the pageant wagons on the streets of Coventry and Chester and in analogous representations in the visual arts.

History, Religion, and Violence: Cultural Contexts for Medieval and Renaissance English Drama (Variorum Collected Studies)

In Norwegians in Michigan, Clifford Davidson shows how Norwegians took advantage of opportunities when they began settling in Michigan in the nineteenth century. Norwegians sailed Lake Michigan, joined the lumber trade, farmed the northwest part of the state, and mined copper and iron in the Upper Peninsula. At the same time, they brought a unique culture that came to be associated with Michigan and the Midwest. The first generations of Norwegians in Michigan maintained close cultural ties with their homeland.      Some Norwegian immigrants adjusted to life in a new land more quickly than others. Among these, according to Davidson, were engineers trained in Norway who developed Michigan's bridges, tunnels, and eventually even the cars that used them.     Illustrated with photographs, maps, and documents, Norwegians in Michigan vividly chronicles a now-familiar pattern of immigrants' cultural understandings prodding and shaping the culture of an emerging region and nation.

Norwegians in Michigan (Discovering the Peoples of Michigan)

History

Americas

Michigan State University Press

The Primrose Way: A Study of Shakespeare's MacBeth

Westburg Asso Pub

This richly illustrated book surveys representations of the stage and acting from manuscript illuminations, stained glass, sculpture, woodcarving, wall paintings, and the woodcuts that appear in playbooks produced by the first English printers.

Illustrations of the Stage and Acting in England to 1580 (Early Drama, Art, and Music Monograph)

History & Criticism

Medieval Institute Publications

Illustrations of the Stage and Acting in England to 1580

The Early Art of Coventry, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, and Lesser Sites in Warwickshire: A Subject List of Extant and Lost Art Including Items ... Drama, Art, and Music Monograph Series)

Alexander, Jennifer

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Books by Davidson, Clifford