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The Dramatic Treatment Op False Appearances in the Major Tudor

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The Dramatic Treatment Op False Appearances in the Major Tudor THE DRAMATIC TREATMENT OP FALSE APPEARANCES IN THE MAJOR TUDOR MORALITY PLAYS by ANN ROBINSON WIERUM B.Aop Radcllffe College,, 1950 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of English We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OP BRITISH COLUMBIA November, 1966 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia,, I agree that the Library shall make it freely avail able for reference and study. I further agree that permission-for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of English The University of British Columbia Vancouver 85 Canada Date December 30, 1966 ABSTRACT The plan of this thesis Is to examine the dramatic treatment of evil ss deception or false appearance in a repre• sentative selection of fourteenth^ and f lfteenth«=century morality playso The structural core of these plays Is based on the Psychomachia,, or conflict between good and evil in man5 s soul, which forms the dominant theme of Medieval allegory0 In the morality plays9 this conflict Is most characteristically presented as a plot of deception In which Vice masquerading as Virtue tempts Mankind by sophistical argument into believing that evil is good0 Theologically, this theatrical metaphor of disguise Is rooted in the Medieval concept of Satan as th® arch= deceiver and father of lies who can take many Protean shapes in his efforts to ensnare man's soul. Psychologically, the setaphor also embodies a simple but profound description of man's efforts to Brationalizew his own wrong-doings and to dress them in a more palatable name and guise. In this contest0 the plays may also be Interpreted as allegories of self-delusion within th© soul of man,. This archetypal disguise of evil offers a supreme oppor» tunlty for a drama of Intrigue and deception based on the elemental human problem of recognizing evil in Its true nature. The central dramatic problem of the morality plays Is therefore twofold? to make the plot lively enough to hold the interest of the audience*, and at the same time to make the nature of the deception clear to them even while the victim on stage remains deluded. Such clarification is vital to the homiletic intent of the playse 11 for the (spectators must net be deceived along with the hero but must be constantly reminded of the moral lesson^ The dramatic methods arising from this problem may be summarized in three general categories to be examined in the course of this study0 First9 recognition is indirectly enforced by conventional devices reflecting the traditionally deceptive nature of evil: its theatrical mode of disguise and its "d.a~ helically" clever mode of argument„ These conventions,, which will be discussed in the first two ehapters9 would be familiar to the Tudor and the Elizabethan audience through the widespread appearance of this theme in non»dramatic as well as dramatic literature of the time. Seconds the original theological allegory becomes overlaid with apparently secular warnings against social and political fraud and pretense<> This surface move toward secularization may also reinforce the theological recognition of evil by placing it in a familiar everyday setting! and the morality plays share in a general Tudor preoccupation with fraud and hypocrisy which is rooted in Medieval conceptions of the nature of evil0 Third8 th© authors continually exploit the ironic contrast between appearance and reality within the plays9 al<= lowing the informed audience to triumph over the deluded victim without forgetting the moral behind the deception This two= dimensional relationship between actors and audience imparts a distinctive atmosphere to the morality plays9 based on the use of dramatic irony for moral endSo It will be suggested that these dramatic methods may largely account for the continued vitality and popularity of Ill the morality plays over a period of more than 150 years merging into the age of the major Elizabethan playwrights and providing them with important native examples of a drama based on intrigue. In the moralltleso these methods give rise to a lively and flexible form of theatrical presentation,} exploiting a dynamic relation• ship between the audience and the characters on stage9 and pos= sessing both artistic and psychological validity in reflecting the original allegory of evil disguised as good. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page PREFACE oo.oooooooooooooooooop 1 Footnotes (8) I* THE VICE AS "ACTOR" 10 Footnotes (50) II. THE VICE AS wREASONER* . ... ........ * . 56 Footnotes (79) IIIo THE VICE AND SOCIAL FRAUD o „ » • • . • • • • . • 84 Footnotes (119) IV. THE ACTORS AND THE AUDIENCE ............ 126 Footnotes (156) CONCLUSION oooooooooooo.ooooooe 164 SELECTED LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED . ....... 167 A NOTE ON TEXTSe QUOTATIONS, AND DATES All quotations from the moralities and related plays are taken from the editions listed under "Works Consulted,,*1 All quotations from works by Shakespeare are taken from the Globe Edition„ For greater consistency of reference;, I have standardized the spelling of play titles and characters9 names within the body of the thesis„ although I have followed the original spelling when such names appear within quoted material» When quoting from facsimile te?rts9 I have standardized the speech prefixes,. I have also normalized standard contractions and Medieval sorts9 and have silently corrected obvious typographical errors. Apart from these exceptions9 the original spelling and pimctuation has been followed „ Dates of composition, in most cases only approximate9 are taken from Alfred Harbage°s Annals of English Drama0 PREFACE The war between good and evil In man's soul, which forms the dominant theme of Medieval allegory, is in the morality plays most characteristically presented as a plot of deception. Vice masquerading as Virtue tempts Mankind by sophistical argument into believing that evil is good0 Theologically the theatrical metaphor of disguise and deception is rooted in the Medieval concept of Satan as the arch«=»deceiver and father of lies who can take many shapes In his efforts to lure men from the true faith and make them substitute an "appearance" of good for its "reality." St. Augustine, attacking neo-Platonic philosophy with its emphasis on magic and "metampsychosis," forcefully ex• presses the theological horror of false appearances which Is enacted time after time In the moralities? As to those who perform these filthy cleansings by sacrilegious rites, and see in their initiated state ... certain wonderfully lovely appearances of angels or gods, this is what the apostle refers to when he speaks of "Satan transforming himself Into an angel of light® [il Cor.xi.141. For these are the delusive ap• pearances of that spirit who longs to entangle wretched souls In the deceptive worship of many and false gods, and to turn them aside from the true worship of the true God, by whom alone they are cleansed and healed, and who as was said of Proteus, "turns himself into all shapes6' fjvirgil, Georgles, iv, klQ equally hurtful, whether he assaults us as an enemy, or assume the disguise of a friend., Besides its theological connotations, the metaphor also embodies a simple but profound psychological description of human nature. Man, endowed with free will, nonetheless seldom chooses evil with full consciousness but seeks ways to "rationalize69 his wrongdoings and to dress them in a more palatable name and guise. 2 Gregory the Great puts the matter with considerable shrewdness? And there are some vices which present an appearance of rectitude,, but which proceed from the weakness of sin. For the malice of our enemy clokes itself with such art9 as frequently to make faults appear as virtues before the eyes of the deluded mind. For cruelty is frequently exercised with punishing sins9 and it is counted Justice? and immoderate anger is believed to be the meritoriousness of righteous zeal. Frequently negligent remissness Is regarded as gentleness and forbearance. » . Lavishness Is sometimes believed to be compassion,, . When a fault then appears like a virtue,, we must needs consider that the mind abandons its fault the more slowly9 in proportion as it does not blush at what It Is doing._ This statement9 as will become evident9 foreshadows with almost uncanny exactness the most typical devices of the morality plot,, In this context9 the plays may also be interpreted as allegories of seif~delusion within the soul of man. These two pas sage ss representative of many Medieval state• ments on the same theme, indicate the background of ideas essential to this study. Turning to literary history,, a brief definition 3 of terms may give further perspective by way of introduction.' The metaphorical war within man's soul has for convenience been called the Psychomachia„ after a fourth^century allegorical poem of the same name by Prudentlus in ^hich the open conflict between Vice and Virtue receives the full epic treatment complete with boasts and challenges9 alarums and excursions. This popular and widely Imitated work is the prototype for the major form of Medie^ val dramatic and non-dramatic allegory which in the morality plays soon eclipses its subsidiaries? the Coming of Death, the Debate of the Heavenly Graces9 and the Debate of the Soul and Body. The first«named form is self-explanatory. In the second9 Mercy9 3 Peace8 Justice, and Truth debate before God whether Man°s sinful soul shall be saved or damned0 In the third, the Soul rebukes the Body for leading it astray (Shakespeare's sonnet, "Poor soul8 the centre of my sinful earth," might be cited as an outstanding Renaissance expression of this theme).
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