Product Description

Humour, pathos and suffering, and the culminating drama of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, give these plays a wonderful immediacy. Their action was conceived on a cosmic scale and all the enthusiasm and vitality of their writing is retained to this day. The energies of whole communities, notably at Chester, York and Wakefield, were devoted to their production and they were to influence later dramatists significantly. The grand design of the mystery plays was to celebrate the Christian story from 'The Fall of Lucifer' to the 'Judgement Day', and this volume contains thirty-eight plays, forming in itself a composite cycle and including almost all the incidents common to the extant cycles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60174 in Books
• Published on: 1975-11-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 720 pages

Customer Reviews

A good place to start
Penguin's selection of mystery plays should carry a broad appeal to both scholars and casual readers. The text benefits from a straightforward, authorative introduction by editor Peter Happe that gives background to the cycles, differentiates between them and contextualises them. Covering some twenty-six pages, it gives you plenty of depth without too much academic-speak.

The book demonstrates the diversity and individuality of the cycles from Chester, York and Towneley. In one case, readers will be able to compare and contrast what are differing presentations of the same story: both the Towneley and Chester version of 'Noah' are presented back-to-back.

Although essentially a conglomerate cycle, this edition does have an organic feel with its common sense approach to the sequencing (OT first, then NT, etc). As such, it's easy to read the book from cover to cover and appreciate the variety of plays on offer at a typical cycle. Typifying the attention to detail, the text proper begins with a 'Bann', basically the formal introduction given at all mystery plays giving an account of what's in store to the audience.

The plays themselves are fascinating, funny and nuanced. Even though they are all familiar religious narratives, the plays are revitalised by the playwrights. They are shot through with the the writers' contemporary concerns that give you a good idea of medieval culture and attitudes to the body, culture and class in a forgotten society. It's difficult to stress just how removed from religion in a traditional sense these plays are, how devoid of stuffiness. Like in Chaucer's work, the general feeling is of carnival and good humour.

The texts are presented in middle english in a clear and contemporary typeface, with no translated pane. However, penguin have gone out of their way to provide as much footnoted and endnoted assistance as possible, listing unusual words at the base of the page and unfamiliar phrases at the end of the book. As such, the text retains a broad appeal and casual readers should not be put off. Each play is also given a short explantory introduction.

I feel as though I've only listed what's in the book as opposed to how good it is, but I do recommend this edition as an excellent starting point to a fascinating area of British literary culture. The notes, introduction and sequencing are absolutely spot on.

Excellent service for a used copy
I purchased a used copy from mark.beecher@ntlworld.com via Amazon, and I must say what a pleasure it was. The same day I received an email to inform me that the book would be posted 1st class by the next working day. True to his word, I received my book on the Tuesday (the Monday being the first working day). I needed this book for an assignment, but did not want to pay £12.99 for a copy. The used book is in excellent condition and cost me half the price. I am sure too, that it arrived in half the time!