The Idea of a Person in Medieval Morality Plays

Authors

Natalie Crohn Schmitt, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

In 1914, W. Roy Mackenzie explained that "A Morality is a play, allegorical in structure, which has for its main object the teaching of some lesson for the guidance of life, and in which the principal characters are personified abstractions or highly universalized types."¹ By the large critics of medieval morality plays have continued to work within the limitations of Mackenzie's description, refining our understanding of the object of the lesson, and of the concepts "allegory," "personified abstraction," and "universalized type." There has been no substantial change in our understanding of these plays.

Recommended Citation

Schmitt, Natalie Crohn (1978) "The Idea of a Person in Medieval Morality Plays," Comparative Drama: Vol. 12: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol12/iss1/2