CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN THE MEDIEVAL MORALITY PLAYS

In: The journal of conflict resolution: journal of the Peace Science Society (International), Band 13, Heft 4, S. 438-453

Abstract

Drama is viewed as one of society's principal mechanisms for resolving soc & psychol'al conflicts of various types. Morality plays in England, which enjoyed great popularity from about 1400 to 1600, are examined as vehicles for the solution of both soc & intrapsychic conflicts among the uneducated or partially-educated bulk of the pop. While the plays were officially meant to inculcate reverence for Christianity, they showed some strange ambiguities & underlying currents quite opposed to the official intentions of church supervisors. These ambiguities may be interpreted (1) from a literary-dramatic point of view; (2) theologically; (3) sociol'ly, in terms of class conflict; (4) anthrop'ly, in the light of ancient ritual drama; or (5) psychol'ly. The latter approach is focused on here as the most rewarding. It is hyp'ed that medieval drama resolved conflicts via 2 basic psychol'al mechanisms: catharsis & cognitive processes. The sources utilized include the texts of plays, staging instructions, the writings of reformist clergy who disliked theater, & account books of the guilds, listing expenditures & properties for performance. The following cognitive processes are traced in the plays: (a) simplification through myth & allegory; (b) mastery of the future; (c) 'test' identification; (d) guilt induction. Of particular interest are the plays 'Everyman' & 'The Castle of Perserverance.' It is concluded that the morality play provided some catharsis of antiChristian & anti-Church sentiments, but above all helped to preserve a feeling of the basic unity of society by portraying the figure of Mankind facing the perils of death & hell which were the common property of all SC's. It also provided an outlet for the resentments of various diff classes, represented on the stage in historical & allegorical forms by traveling players who lived at the margins of society & could thus mirror the feelings of all classes or of none at all. Reasons for the decline of the morality play are briefly suggested. M. Maxfield.