Abstract:
Until the last thirty years, modern criticism's interest in medieval drama has been primarily historical, concerned with sources, dates, dialects, etc. Even more recent criticism often centers on important but external or fragmentary features--the mechanics of staging, elements of social satire, the development of humor, etc. An issue that is often ignored or forgotten, however, is that of determining why medieval audiences enjoyed this drama enough to cause it to remain popular for two centuries. To do so requires some understanding of medieval perspectives toward art. The drama shared with the mainstream of medieval art and literature close ties with religion and strong didactic tendencies. Recognizing these characteristics requires to some degree recognizing that medieval and modern perspectives toward the universe and, hence, toward art as an expression of man's place in that universe are different, indeed, often opposed. ,Fully to understand the art of the Middle Ages, then, demands of modern readers the willingness to alter their own perspective in order to approach the drama in something of a medieval spirit. Specifically, modern readers must expect an art consistent with a hierarchical view of the created universe, the primary significance of which lay in its teleological expression of divine order. Such a view led in the Middle Ages to utilitarian aesthetics--an appreciation of art as a functional element of life. Medieval drama, in particular, functioned as an occasion for festive, communal celebration and as an important adjunct to religious worship. It established its effectiveness through conscious appeals to its audience's aesthetic expectations in order to make its message--the Christian story of man's degeneracy and God's love--intelligible and to create an experience e that would make that message personally relevant to each member of the audience. The drama accomplished this purpose by employing three primary modes of expression that were dominant in the later Middle Ages: personification, symbolism, and naturalism. Through these techniques, the drama subtly but consciously involved the audience as participant within the play world itself and produced a dramatic experience with intense personal significance for the audience in general and each individual in particular.
