The Towneley Cycle
Unity and Diversity
Author(s) Peter Happé
Language: English
Genre(s): Literary Studies, Medieval
Series: Religion and Culture in the Middle Ages
- May 2007 · 226 pages
- · Hardback - 9780708320488
Provides an overview of and introduction to the Towneley cycle of plays, a 32-play cycle written in c 1500, which begins with the fall of Lucifer and ends with the Last Judgement, and was performed as part of the festival of Corpus Christi in Wakefield. This volume examines the cycle's textual history, and discusses issues of language and style.
Introduction: The Problem of Unity PART ONE: THE TEXT 1. Prologue: Place and Date 1.1 The Manuscript 1.2 York and Towneley 1.3 Provenances and Authorship 1.4 The Wakefield Master PART TWO: PERFORMING THE CYCLE 2. Prologue: Some Questions of Performance 2.1 Dramaturgy 2.2 Modern Revivals 2.3 Special Features PART THREE: IDEOLOGIES AND INTERPRETATIVE STRATEGIES 3. Prologue: Interpretations 3.1 Gender 3.2 Religion and Popular Culture 3.2.1 Religion 3.2.2 Popular Culture 3.3 Social Contexts 3.4 Interrelations in the Psychology of Evil 3.5 Good Men and Women PART FOUR: NEGOTIATING THE TEXT 4 . Prologue 4.1 Development 4.2 Playing and Reception 4.3 Interpretations and Structure