Mankind - An interpretation of a medieval morality play

Contents Chapter page 1. Basic facts about Mankind 2 1.1 Characters in the Morality Plays 2 1.2 The Author of Mankind 4 1.3 Sources and Analogues 5 1.4 The Staging of Mankind 5 2. A Summary of the Plot 7 3. The Significance of Mankind 10 3.1 An Interpretation of the “Court Scene” 10 4. The genesis of Shakespeare’s theatre in Mankind 12 Works Cited 14 1. Basic facts about Mankind 1.1 Characters in the Morality Plays There are some obvious differences between the morality and the miracle plays. The latter did stress moral truths …

…play is aimed at the more educated patron who sat at the back of the courtyard, the considerations of the common people were also considered. Mankind is, then, an example of an art form in transition. It still retains the pertinent features of English morality plays, but the emphasis has been changed and oriented more towards what will bring in the best crowd for the actors rather than on the moral purposes of the play.