The Castle of Perseverance
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Castle of Perseverance'' is a c. 15th-century
morality play The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...
and the earliest known full-length (3,649 lines) vernacular play in existence. Along with ''
Mankind Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...
'' and ''
Wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...
'', ''The Castle of Perseverance'' is preserved in the
Macro Manuscript The Macro Manuscript is a collection of three 15th-century English morality plays, known as the "Macro plays" or "Macro moralities": ''Mankind'', ''The Castle of Perseverance'', and ''Wisdom''. So named for its 18th-century owner Reverend Cox Mac ...
(named after its owner
Cox Macro Cox Macro (1686 – 2 February 1767) was an Anglican priest, and antiquarian. He accumulated a lerge collection of antiquities at his home, Little Haugh Hall near Norton, Suffolk. Family background Macro was the eldest son of Thomas Macro, groc ...
) that is now housed in the
Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare material ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
''The Castle of Perseverance'' contains nearly all of the themes found in other morality plays, but it is especially important (and unusual) because a stage drawing is included, which may suggest
theatre in the round A theatre in the round, arena theatre or central staging is a space for theatre in which the audience surrounds the stage. Theatre-in-the-round was common in ancient theatre, particularly that of Greece and Rome, but was not widely explored aga ...
.


Synopsis

This morality play traces the entire life of its hero Humanum Genus (Mankind) as he wages a fluctuating battle with evil forces. As the play begins, Mankind ignores the counsel of his Good Angel and allows his Bad Angel to lead him into the service of World. World’s servants (Lust and Folly) dress the hero in expensive clothes and lead him to the scaffold of Covetousness, where Mankind accepts the Seven Deadly Sins. All is not lost, though, for Shrift and Penance convince Mankind to repent and he is placed in the Castle of Perseverance where he will be protected from sin by the Seven Moral Virtues. Mankind's enemies (World, Flesh, and the Devil) attack the castle but are repulsed by the Virtues armed with roses (emblems of Christ’s Passion). Next, Covetousness tempts Mankind with an offer of wealth, and Mankind thinks about accepting. At this point, Mankind is struck down by a dart thrown by Death, illustrating that death may strike at any moment. As he dies, Mankind prays that God will deliver his soul from Hell. The
Four Daughters of God The Four Daughters of God are a personification of the virtues of Truth, Righteousness/Justice, Mercy, and Peace in medieval Catholic religious writing. History and development of the motif The most important contributors to the development and c ...
(drawn from a medieval tradition) debate Mankind’s fate, and, in the end, God sides with Mercy and Peace (over Righteousness and Truth) and decides to pardon Mankind. The actor playing God ends the play with the admonishment, :“Thus endyth oure gamys! :To save you fro synnynge, :Evyr at the begynnynge :Thynke on youre last endynge!” In Modern English: :“Thus ends our games! :To save you from sinning, :Forever from the beginning :Think on your last ending!”


History

''The Castle of Perseverance'' manuscript in the Macro MS dates to around 1440, but certain textual errors suggest that this version was copied from an earlier manuscript. Dialectic particularities in the playtext show that it was composed in the first quarter of the 15th century, in the
East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...
, probably around
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. The play contains a reference to "crakows", the pointed ends of shoes that were popular in this time period. There are six other references to crakows in the literature of this period, dating between 1382 and 1425. Scholars therefore set 1425 as the latest possible date of composition. Stylistic differences in dialect, rhyme scheme and stanza pattern between the
banns The banns of marriage, commonly known simply as the "banns" or "bans" (from a Middle English word meaning "proclamation", rooted in Frankish and thence in Old French), are the public announcement in a Christian parish church, or in the town co ...
(an advertisement for the coming performance that begins the play) and certain sections of the play text lead to the argument that the play may have had two or even three authors. Along with ''The Castle of Perseverance'', the Reverend Cox Macro of
Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
, Suffolk acquired ''Mankind'' and ''Wisdom'' in the early 18th century. Macro bound the three manuscripts together somewhat arbitrarily, along with three other manuscripts. Early 19th-century owner Henry Gurney separated ''The Castle'', ''Wisdom'', and ''Mankind'' from the other manuscripts and bound them together as a collection in a separate volume, now known as "the
Macro Manuscript The Macro Manuscript is a collection of three 15th-century English morality plays, known as the "Macro plays" or "Macro moralities": ''Mankind'', ''The Castle of Perseverance'', and ''Wisdom''. So named for its 18th-century owner Reverend Cox Mac ...
". In August of 1936, Joseph Quincy Adams, the Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, purchased this manuscript along with ''Mankind'' and ''Wisdom'' from the antiquarian firm Bernard Quaritch Ltd for £1,125 (approximately $5,625). The manuscripts had been purchased by Quaritch earlier in 1936 at a Sotheby's auction on March 30th for £440. The manuscript has 38 extant
leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
, with two leaves missing, meaning that some 100 lines that have been lost. The full performance would have required about three and a half hours and upwards of twenty actors. The large size of the cast required suggests that the play was performed by traveling players in the speaking roles, with locals acting the mute minor roles.


Drawing

The earliest drawing of a stage and set design in England, along with the earliest known written reference to theatrical props, is preserved in the manuscript. In the centre of the drawing is the castle from the play's title. The writing above the castle explicitly says that the audience should not sit in the area. At the base of the castle is a bed on which Mankind rests. The circle around the castle is labelled as a ditch, which the audience should not cross. The five short text blocks around the circle label scaffolds for some of the characters, including
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
,
Belial Belial ( he, , ''Bəlīyyaʿal'') is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament which later became personified as the devilSee the reference to "Beliar" in ''The Ascension of Isaiah'', at EarlyChristianWritings.com', specifically at ...
, and World. The map is oriented with north towards the bottom, which suggests that it is not merely some abstract suggestion by the
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
or
scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...
, but rather a real set design that may have been implemented. Whether the drawing truly represents theatre in the round or not is debatable. Although the ditch circles the castle completely and it is stated that the audience should not cross it, nowhere does the text state that the audience should sit on all sides of the play. It is possible that they sat on only one or some of the sides.


Themes

''The Castle of Perseverance'' shows the progression of Mankind from birth to death, illustrating his temptations and the process necessary for Christian salvation. The play pictures men in this world as besieged on all sides by sin with the only comfort and salvation coming from virtues. The play is allegorical battle between good and evil over the soul of mankind. The two sides are equal, with 15 good characters balanced against 15 bad characters.Eccles, Mark


Notes


References

*Beadle, Richard and Piper, A.J. eds. "Monk Thomas Hyngham’s hand in the Macro Manuscript", ''New Science out of Old Books: Studies in Manuscripts and Early Printed Books''. Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1995, pp. 315–41. *Bevington, David, ed. ''The Macro Plays: A Facsimile Edition with Facing Transcription.'' New York: Johnson Reprint, 1972. *Coldewey, John, ed. ''Early English Drama: An Anthology.'' New York: Garland, 1993. *Davenport, William. ''Fifteenth-Century English Drama: The Early Moral Plays and Their Literary Relations.'' Boydell & Brewer, 1982. *Eccles, Mark, ed. ''The Macro Plays.'' EETS o.s. 262. London: Oxford University Press, 1969. *Furnivall, Frederick James and Pollard, Alfred William eds. ''The Macro Plays.'' For the Early English Text Society, 1904. *Gibson, Gail McMurray. ''The Theater of Devotion: East Anglian Drama and Society in the Late Middle Ages''. University of Chicago Press, 1994. *Happé, Peter, ed.'' Four Morality Plays''. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1979. Pp. 75–210. *Klausner, David N, ed. ''The Castle of Perseverance.'' Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 2008. *Schell, Edgar T., and J. D. Schuchter, eds. ''English Morality Plays and Moral Interludes''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969. Pp. 1–110. *Walker, Greg, ed. ''Medieval Drama.'' Oxford: Blackwell, 2000. *"The Castle of Perseverance: Introduction , Robbins Library Digital Projects." The Castle of Perseverance: Introduction , Robbins Library Digital Projects. Library of Rochester. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. *"Castle of Perseverance, Stage Plan (Macro Ms.)." Castle of Perseverance, Stage Plan (Macro Ms.). Web. 27 Mar. 2016.


External links



University of Toronto - Full modernized text
Online Version
edited by David N. Klausner (University of Rochester) * D. Bevington. "The Castle of Perseverance." ''Medieval Drama.'' Houghton Mifflin Company/Boston. 1975, pp. 791–900
Images of the Macro Plays
from the
Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare material ...
Digital Image Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Castle Of Perseverance, The 15th-century plays Medieval drama Christian plays