Source of Book: I own this
This is the second installment of plays from Chief Pre-Shakespearean Dramas, edited by Joseph Quincy Adams. Since many of the plays are in Middle English, and the entire rather long book has small print, I decided not to attempt a straight read-through. Instead, I have tackled it piecemeal. In the first installment, from about three years ago, which you can read here, I read the early Medieval liturgical plays (translated from the original Latin), the first plays in the vernacular, and the Craft Cycle plays. In the second installment, I read the “Non-Cycle” plays, often referred to as “miracle” plays.
At this point in the book, the plays are all quite a bit longer than the short ones intended to be presented in church or in groups of plays. The Castle of Perseverance is one of the “Morality” plays - stories in allegory intended to present moral lessons. Pilgrim’s Progress, centuries later, would draw on this tradition of making ideas such as virtues, vices, and humankind itself into personified characters in order to make a larger religious and moral point while telling a story.
The Castle of Perseverance features the Seven Deadly Sins as the primary antagonists, along with Backbiter, Belial, the World, and the Bad Angel. Arrayed against them in the battle for Mankind’s soul is Shrift (in its old meaning of confession and absolution by a priest), Meekness, Patience, and Charity - the keepers of the titular Castle, the Good Angel, and the Daughters of God - Mercy, Righteousness, Truth, and Peace. As with the “miracle” plays, these are performed in a circular forum, with the action moving between various platforms.
There are several skirmishes throughout the play. First, the two Angels on the shoulder try to persuade Mankind. These are first introduced in the introduction. [I am duplicating the original spellings - “u” typically has a “v” sound, in certain contexts - but otherwise say it phonetically. I am getting more fluent in Middle English, but your mileage may vary.
Whon mankynde in-to this werld born is ful bare
God hym geuyth to aungelis ful yep and ful yare,
The goode aungel and the badde, to hym for to lende.
The goode techyth hym goodness; the badde, synne and sare;
Whanne the ton hath the victory, the tother goth be-hende,
Be skyll.
The goode aungel coueytyth euermore mans saluacion,
And the badde bysytyth hem euere to hys dampnacion.
And God hathe govyn man fre arbritracion
Whether he wyl hymse saue or his soule per.
Evil wins this round, and Mankind gets to be dressed by Lust and Folly. Then, Covetousness has his way with him for a while, and calls Pride, Wrath, and Envy to join in. In this section, I was particularly struck by the speeches made by the Sins, and especially by that of Wrath.
WRATH: Be also wroth as thou were wode!
Make thee be dred be dalys derne!
Who so thee wrethe, be fen or flode,
Loke thou be a-vengyd yerne!
Be redy to spylle mans blod
Loke thou hem fere, be feldis ferne!
Alway, Man, be ful of mod!
My lothly lawys loke thou lerne,
I rede, for any thynge
A-non take veniaunce, Man, I rede;
And thanne schal no man thee ouerlede,
But of they they schul haue drede,
And bowe to thi byddynge.
The basic idea is that “Wrath” isn’t so much an emotion, but a weapon, a state of being that brings power. Be always ready to take “vengance” for any perceived slight, make people afraid of you. Then, you won’t have to bow to any man - or even show deference. You can simply cause them to dread you, and they will have to do your bidding. I am reminded a lot of two things: first, obviously, the approach of Trump and other White Nationalist bullies to the world. Be violent, encourage violence, insist that others “know their place” below you. Also, the inevitable human reaction of those who feel disrespected - particularly males in a society steeped in toxic masculinity: get a means of violence. As Phil Collins put it:
White man turns the corner, finds himself within a different world
Ghetto kid grabs his shoulder, throws him up against the wall
He says 'would you respect me if I didn't have this gun
'Cause without it, I don't get it, and that's why I carry one'
Leaving aside a few of-their-time stereotypes, Collins is right. And that is exactly what you see with these wanna-be militia sorts, waving their penis-substitutes around on the streets and threatening - or killing - protesters. Wrath is still making the same age-old appeal.
Mankind eventually comes to his (their?) senses, and are persuaded by Shrift to repent and live in the Castle of Perseverance. This doesn’t last long, alas. Backbiter, the Bad Angel, and Belial have a conference, and decide that Covetousness is their man. And he is. He persuades Mankind that the safety he has in his castle is no match for the security that wealth brings.
This section is really good - and relevant - but is way too long to quote. I was struck again by how timeless the arguments are. In effect, all of the arguments that are inseparable from American consumer culture are on display. As is the curse that “more and more and more” will be Mankind’s song. And so it is. For the most part, Mankind gets everything he wants - but he just wants more and more and more. Until, one day, death comes for him. After a rather long lament, he finally gives in and throws himself on the mercy of God.
To helle I schal bothe fare and fle,
But God me graunte of his grace.
I deye certeynly.
Now my lyfe I haue lore.
My hert brekyth. I syhe sore.
A word may I speke no more.
I putte me in Godys mercy. [dies]
Mankind’s soul then emerges, and turns to the Good Angel for advice. But the Bad Angel intervenes, and carries Mankind off, with a snide remark to the audience:
Haue good day! I goo to helle!
The four Daughters of God then take another stage, and discuss what to do. Mercy says that she heard Mankind call for her, and is certain that Christ’s blood is sufficient to cover his sins.
Righteousness and Truth are not buying it, and argue to the contrary. Peace takes Mercy’s side. After an extended conversation/argument, they decide to make their respective cases to the Godhead (the Trinity always comes in somewhere as a lesson, it seems), and see what happens. They each present their cases, passionately and logically. In the end, God rules in favor of Mercy, and Mankind is saved. I should mention one interesting line, just for the use of a word that exists only in its negative in modern English: “ruth.” We see it in “ruthless” of course, but what happened to the root word? You can find it here, however, in its old spelling. Peace is making her argument, and makes it clear that two of the sisters are being, well, ruthless.
Thou my systers, Ryth [Righteousness] and Trewthe,
Of Mankynde haue non rewthe,
Mercy and I ful sore vs mewythe
To cache hym to our cure.
The play ends with, a paean to the mercy of God, and an exhortation to show mercy to others, before the final statement of the moral:
Thus endyth oure gamys!
To saue you fro synnynge,
Evyr at the beginning
Thynke on youre last endynge!
Te, Deum, laudamus!
The Castle of Perseverance is a nice contrast to many of the earlier plays in that it has aged fairly well. (Except for the language, of course.) In so many of the earlier ones, there are bizarre anachronisms, as well as an underlying anti-semitism and islamophobia that are quite mean spirited. And occasionally all three of those in one sentence, such as where a biblical story makes the villains into Jews who worship Mohammed. Awkward.
Instead, in this (and I suspect the other Morality plays), the allegory functions as a parable, showing insight into timeless and universal human nature (along with certain theological beliefs, of course) in a way that a 21st Century reader can recognize. Rather than stereotyping and villainizing other humans, they attack the vices - and the arguments that are made by them in favor of bad behavior. I wasn’t as familiar with this one as, say, Everyman, which I read part of for World Literature back in the day. Apparently, it is the earliest preserved full-length play in the English vernacular. But it is pretty good, actually. I am enjoying my occasional reading of Middle English works, and find I am able to read faster than even a few years ago.
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