Review of Week 7: Oct 2

Tuesday, October 2 (9:25)
by Caroline Jennings

OVERVIEW

Today we started off class by discussing the midterm. The midterm will be Thursday October 4th, and a study guide can be found on Oaks. For the midterm, make sure you are not repeatedly using the same text in your responses, and make sure to revise if need be. You will not need a bluebook, but be sure to bring paper. Professor Seaman also suggested that those who have yet to perform secretarial duties take a look at the assignment on the blog, to make sure that they are following the instructions correctly, and turning it into Oaks instead of emailing it.

We then discussed the Second Shepherd’s Play. We talked a lot about the play’s use of biblical stories, and it is important to note that the people during this time were VERY familiar with these stories, even though most of them were illiterate. It is because they knew these biblical stories so well that they were able to find it funny. We discussed the plot in four parts, and how Mak used a southern accent to con the shepherds. We also discussed how he was able to steal the sheep in the first place, and why the shepherd’s didn’t punish him severely when they discovered that the baby was actually the sheep. We went into a lot of detail about how the play parodies the nativity story, Mak, Gill, and the sheep symbolizing Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus. We also talked about the significance of the three gifts, and while they seem ordinary, actually have deeper meaning in the context of the story. We ended class by going back to the first stanza, where we analyzed the play’s sophisticated style, rhyme and form.

MIDTERM

–       Bring paper and whatever writing utensils, you do not need a blue book

–       Do not write about the same text repeatedly, make sure you demonstrate your breadth of knowledge

–       3-paragraph essay. Make sure you have a clear, main claim. Go back and revise if you need to.

–       There will be a list of all the texts. Make sure you can distinguish the time periods of these (Anglo-Norman, Anglo-Saxon, etc).

The Second Shepherds’ Play

The idea that people knew little about religion during this time is WRONG. They thought the play was funny because they knew these biblical stories so well. The play makes clear the community feel of literature in the Middle Ages. Medieval drama grew out of the church; scenes from scripture would be reenacted by different voices during readings in the church. Think of how things are today, on Christmas many churches will have a nativity scene with hay and teenagers wearing their parent’s bathrobes, acting out the story for an audience.

It is an example of a miracle play, or what we now call a mystery play. A mystery play is the earliest medieval drama that presents the scriptural stories. Mystery plays are closely associated with the guilds. There is also what is known as morality plays, which use one single person to present a single cohesive story that represents all of Christianity.

Dr. Seaman describes the plot of the play in four different sections. The first is the shepherd’s gathering together at the beginning. This can be seen as a social critique from their perspective. The shepherd’s are complaining laborers, they are complaining about everything from the weather, to their wives, to their status. They complain about their status in the way they complain about their treatment from those that are higher up, in other words, they are complaining about the social distribution of power. The second part of the play is marked by the arrival of Mak. He uses his southern accent and compliance to con the shepherds into falling asleep, although they know they should be on guard because they suspect he steals their sheep. He steals a sheep and goes home to his wife Gill, which marks the third part of the story. It is Gill, not Mak who comes up with a plan to hide their sheep by pretending it is a baby. The shepherds come to look for their sheep, but do not find it and believe Gill’s baby story. The fourth part of the story then takes place where the shepherds return to Mak’s house, feeling rude for not presenting the baby with a gift, and realize that Mak has stolen their sheep. Instead of turning Mak in to the authorities and making him responsible for what he did, they “cast him in canvas” (line 637) and toss him in a sheet. This was a visual representation of forgiveness. They are then visited by the appearance of an angel, symbolizing the angel in the nativity story.

We discussed as a class whether or not Mak is misogynistic. He continually complains about his wife, but when Gill enters the play it seems he is making her seem worse than she really is. He complains about his wife having babies, but acts as if he has no part in producing them. It is also important to note that it is Gill who comes up with the plan to hide the sheep, not Mak.

The question is asked why Mak succeeds against the shepherds. Ultimately, it is magic, but he is also able to make them feel at ease with him by his compliance. He mimics their behavior making them feel as if he is one of them. When they complain he complains, when they’re exhausted he’s exhausted, etc. His magic is an opportunistic magical skill.       Despite the shepherds every reason to be mad at Mak for tricking them, they forgive him, even though they have nothing to gain from it. It is their faith that they are acting on.

We then explored the deeper meaning of the three gifts given to the baby and their symbolism.

  • Bushel of cherries
    • Cherries show up in medieval literature even when they are out of season. Cherries during the wintertime were impossible, because they are in season during the warmer months. Thus, cherries out of season are a gift of god. Symbolically shown in stories of the annunciation
  • Bird
    • Reference to doves, which appear frequently in the Bible. They also symbolize the Holy Spirit, a part of the holy trinity.
  • Tennis ball
    • Represents an orb. Symbolizes a ball or the world. Christ gave his life for the world.

The play is also seen as a “modern” adaptation for this time period. It is important to point out the parody of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the nativity scene to the sheep, Gill and Mak.

We ended class by discussing the complex stanza style. We returned to the first stanza on page 403 and analyzed the rhyme scene and form. This can be compared to what we saw in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

NOTEWORTHY QUOTES

–       The first stanza, the first shepherd’s lines on page 403- note the stanza style and form.

–       Lines 200- around these lines Mak puts on a southern accent, notice the words he uses, and how he calls himself a yeoman.

–       Line 584, “The child it will not grieve, that little day-star.”

  • Reference to the star of Bethlehem

–       Line 636- “cast him in canvas”

  • The shepherds toss Mak in a sheet, this was a visual representation of forgiveness

KEY TERMS

Morality play- Presenting a single cohesive story about one person who represents all of Christianity, ex: important biblical stories are shown through this one person’s life from beginning to end

Mystery play, or miracle play- the earliest medieval drama. The Second Shepherd’s play is an example of this. Presenting the scriptural stories. Important connection to the guilds

 

Tuesday, October 2 (10:50)
by Aubrey Moore

OVERVIEW

Professor Seaman began the class by acknowledging that it is now week seven and our midterm is next class.

For Thursday you will need pen or a pencil if you like.

You will need paper. Not a blue book. NO BLUE BOOKS.

Any kind of paper you like.

This is really all you need. Maybe food, or drinks, or tissues.

 

The blog lists important information you will need and may want to look over. She will list the texts on the midterm itself. Make sure you know what is written in what literary form and when it was written.

So you are aware, you cannot repeat the usage of the same text in more than one essay. (in sections 2,3,4)

She said; “Make GOOD choices.”

 

We then moved on the discussion of The Second Shepherd’s Play

An example of Medieval Drama, which comes very late in the Medieval Period.

She expressed that it appears from our blog posts that as a class, people assumed that the average laypeople, or illiterate people, knew nothing of their own religion, as far as scripture and the like. This is not true. They were apparently very well informed.

This was a time of great tensions and fear of Lollardy.

What texts like The Second Shepherd’s Play are not doing is giving people new information. They encountered these stories already being familiar with their biblical/historical roots.

Literature was, in the Middle Ages, still a very public experience, less so a written tradition.

Medieval drama is not connected with the concept of the Classical drama. It is much more connected to Church drama if you will. These involved reenactments of readings, (a preformed reading of scriptures where different voices for different characters ect.)

There are two different forms of Medieval Drama. The Mystery or Miracle play or the Morality Play.

The Purpose of a Morality Play is to remind people of forgiveness and redemption. Allegory and personification of sins are often used.

A Mystery or Miracle Play, like The Second of Shepherd’s Play, tend to be a series of plays, often beginning with “the creation”, (Adam and Eve).

These plays would take place essentially on a ‘float’ like we see in parades and the audience would move down the line of separate stages watching the pieces in order. Different groups in society were assigned different scene. These performances typically happened in June.

The Second Shepherd’s Play:

The beginning of the play is a conversation between shepherds, they are complaining. They complain about the weather, the taxes, their superiors, their lack of power, their wives and the remnants of the Feudal Structure.

Then Mak, the trickster figure, shows up. He is suspected of stealing. And then he does steal. He steals a sheep from the other men after faking some kind of camaraderie with them.

The next scene is at Gill and Mak’s house. Mak and Gill are bickering. And then they make a plan to hide the sheep. It is important to note that the most successful scheme or plan in this play is by a woman. They dress the sheep up as a baby or hide it. But then when the Sheppard’s come looking and the “baby” cries they are found out.

Mak betrays the Sheppard’s. When they learn that he did steal the sheep, they toss him in a blanket. More of a mockery than a punishment. They play a game with him and tease him. It is a forgiving response to a betrayal. It is light hearted.

The second half of the play moves out of one kind of story and into another.

It turns to the failure story of the three shepherds being told of the Birth of Christ. The shepherds give gifts to Christ. They give cherries and a bird and a ball. Appropriate simple gifts. The bird is the holy spirit/dove connection. Cherries would often appear out of season and it was seen as a sign of divine intervention. The tennis ball as well as being a toy for a child represents the spiritual dominion of the baby Jesus. It shows the humility and mundaneness of the shepherds visit.

The shepherds are representing the everyday viewers. Mac and Gill and their pseudo baby represent the “holy family” of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. This monstrous birth can be seen as a connection to the supernatural birth of Jesus. Mary like Gill was not already or born supreme but rather she is praised for her willingness and lack of resistance when faced with baring the son of God.

Mak first really shows himself. He says that he is a yeoman and has a message. He is claiming to be a member of the secular authority with a message.

This play is clearly not deflating the true story of Christ as the Miller’s Tale does to the Knights Tale. People saw in the first half of the play as what was to come. They understood the themes being expressed.

After the shepherds toss him in the blanket the Angel appears. Mak does not deserve the kindness but he is given it, as Christ would have given it. This play was never intended to be instructional. It is neither historical. What is being done is an attempt to erase boundaries of time and bring the biblical stories to the present.

The Style of the play is in stanza form. Also it is easy to miss the carefully crafted rhyme. It was written with a lot of restriction. There is a metrical and a beat that happens in this play also. For every half of a line there are two stressed syllables. There is however a break with “Sorrow”, which still rhymes with the end of the next stanza, “marrow.” The form seems odd in the first half because of the basic causal nature, though it fits well with the second half. The parody brings the everyday into the transcendent religious significance.

At the end of class we revisited the midterm. Someone asked about the time periods in which everything was written.

This was what was said:

Old English is 1000 with

Beowulf

Dream of the Rood

The Wanderer

And The Wife’s Lament

Marie de France is the only Anglo Norman writer. (1066-1225/1250)

Sir Orfeo is in the Middle ages (1300’s)

Along with The Wife of Baths Tale and the rest of Chaucer.

Nothing is from the 1200s to early 1300s

The Second Shepherds’ Play is the end of the 1400s.

Malery is 1480

Notable Quotes:

Page 407 line 199,

“Mak: What! Ich be a yeoman, I tell you, of the king; The self and the some, sent from a great lording, und sich, Fie on you! Goeth hence! Out of my presence! I must have reverence. Why, who be Ich?”

Key terms:

Medieval drama

Lollardy

Yeoman

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