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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 6 page report discusses the Wakefield mystery plays in the Towneley Cycle. The stories told by the 14th and 15th century plays are of the mysteries and miracles of Christianity, even to the extent that stories from the Old Testament foreshadowed the coming of Christ. One of the primary motivations of the plays was to illustrate that God and the kingdom of heaven were near to all people at all times. The point was to reawaken human beings to the meaning that is everywhere in the world and in human thought and actions. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
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6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_BWwakefd.rtf
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was about human nature, love, magic, or even humanitys desire to somehow touch the divine. But in the case of the Towneley Cycle and The Wakefield Mystery Plays, it is
not the theater of the ancients, but the Middle English pageant that presents the focus for the "instruction" of the audience. The 15th century Lancashire, England, family, named the
Towneleys were able to preserve the manuscripts of a cycle of 32 plays that were intended for the acting guilds of the town of Wakefield. The stories told by
the plays in the Towneley Cycle are of the mysteries and miracles of Christianity, even to the furthest extent that stories from the Old Testament foreshadowed the coming of Christ,
thus heralding the coming of the Christian faith and belief system. Literary scholars and historians have determined that there is little doubt that the Towneley Cycle of plays were
performed each year on Corpus Christi Day and existed purely as a result of "orthodox devotion" (Lepow 21). Corpus Christi was a new "holiday" on the medieval Church calendar and
was first celebrated in 1311 on Good Friday, when the faithful would partake at the mass the sacramental host that has an image of the body of Christ. The celebration
eventually became an annual summer feast and dramatic event. "The Towneley Cycle proclaimed in its genesis a belief in the Christian gospel and a denial of such heresies as the
revolt against the doctrine of transubstantiation . . . and the belief only in the need for grace from above, not priesthood authority on earth" (Lepow 21-22).
Each year, the actors guilds performed their plays one after another, sunrise to nightfall, to an audience of fellow townspeople. As a result, for the
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