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The Second Shepherds’ Play
1. Mystery Play and Morality Play
The "mystery" in mystery plays refers to "the spiritual mystery of Christ's redemption of humankind." Mystery plays were typically written in "cycles" (a series) that would begin with the Creation, chronicle the major events of the Old Testament through the New Testament and the Last Judgment. The mystery plays "endeavored to make the Christian religion more real to the unlearned by dramatizing significant events in biblical history and by showing what these events meant in terms of human experience." They are thought to have evolved from the liturgies and plays that were conducted in Latin. Mystery plays produced in the vernacular (common language rather than Latin) in the streets of towns were a way of reaching a wide audience that included educated lay people and clerics as well as the unlearned folk. The authors of these plays usually broadened their appeal by giving the characters of the plays the appearance and characters of contemporary men and women. The Wakefield Master, "probably a highly educated cleric stationed in the vicinity of Wakefield," did this in his play The Second Shepherds' Play. As the play opens, the shepherds complain about the cold, the taxes, and the high-handed treatment they get from the gentry—evils closer to shepherds on the Yorkshire moors than to those keeping their flocks near Bethlehem. With this anachronism, this convention would help lay people identify with the characters and make the religious message, that Christian charity doesn't go unrewarded, seem more personal.
While the mystery play was "sometimes boisterous comedy," the morality play opted for a more austere, overtly didactic approach. Everyman is a strong example of this. While the name might imply an attempt at personalizing the lesson, the lesson itself keeps the audience at a distance with its direct sermonizing. Where The Second Shepherds' Play opened with Coll complaining about the weather and social injustices, Everyman opens with a messenger preaching the moral of the story. The names of the characters such as Kindred, Death, Fellowship, and Good Deeds, reinforce the moral lesson through allegory, with every character behaving "entirely within the limits" as "defined by his name." Where The Second Shepherds' Play might seem like entertainment that happens to have a subtle message, Everyman appears to be a message or lesson that happens to subtly seem like entertainment. Most morality plays, including
Mankind , do seem to "share with the mysteries a good deal of rough humor." The fact that Everyman's friends and relations abandon him so quickly in his hour of need might be construed as rough humor, but that humor is over-shadowed with the directness of the message of the play which is stated at the beginning and reinforced in the summary at the end of the play.
2. The Second Shepherds’ Play in the Wakefield Cycle.
There are four English mystery cycles (linked with the cities of Chester, Coventry, Wakefield, and York). The plays are performed during the Corpus Christi festivities by different guilds, often with a direct link between their scene and their craft. The Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for "Body of Christ") is a Catholic liturgical solemnity celebrating the real presence of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the A Corpus Christi procession in St. Peter's Square led by Pius IX Son of God, in the elements of the Eucharist—known as transubstantiation. The tailors are usually entrusted with Adam and Eve—who sew fig leaves to make themselves aprons. The purpose of this project is to historically reconstruct the performance of The Second Shepherds’ Play as a part of The Wakefield Cycle as it would have appeared in medieval times. Thus, by way of background, we shall begin with a discussion of The Wakefield Cycle, and its most accomplished author, then an examination of The Second Shepherds’ Play , followed by a look at the mode of production including pageant wagons, and costumes. The culmination of this project will be the application of these principles to in a narrative describing the events on Corpus Christi in Wakefield, England in medieval times.
The Wakefield Cycle
In a town in northern England an interesting episode in a long series of events assisted in the reemergence of the theatre after the dark ages. This episode is known as the Wakefield Cycle. It is, by no means, the single most important event of this period of theatre history, but it is typical of cycle plays of the time. Wakefield was not the only town to employ the use of cycle plays, there are several other well-known and equally celebrated cycles. Along with Wakefield, the cycles at York and Chester are the principle
example, one of the cycles included the following plays; listed with them are their respective sponsors.
The Shipwrights- Noah's Ark The Bakers- The Last Supper The Vintners- The Miracle at Cana The Goldsmiths- The Scene of the Magi The Plumbers- The woman taken in Adultery The Carpenters- The Resurrection The Butchers- The Crucifixion The Cardmakers- The Creation of Adam and Eve
As has been indicated, the Wakefield Cycle was performed during the feast of Corpus Christi beginning early in the morning, about 4:30 or 5:00 A.M. They were performed on what is called pageant wagons pulled by horse, oxen, etc. There were two main methods of production, stationary and processional. In the stationary method a meadow with a fence, ditch or wall enclosure provided a perimeter by which the wagons would align themselves creating a type of theatre in the round. In the processional, the more usual one, the townsmen assembled themselves along a main route through the town at different stations. The plays were then brought to them in succession. Below is the order of presentation for the Wakefield Cycle:
The Order of Presentation Play 1 The Creation Play 2 The Killing of Abel Play 3 Noah and the Ark Play 4 Abraham Play 5 Isaac Play 6 Jacob Play 7 The Prophets Play 8 Pharaoh Play 9 Caesar Augustus Play 10 The Annunciation Play 11 The Salutation of Elizabeth Play 12 The First Shepherds' Play Play 13 The Second Shepherds' Play Play 14 The Offering of the Magi Play 15 The Flight Into Egypt Play 16 Herod the Great Play 17 The Purification of Mary Play 18 The Play of the Doctors
Play 19 John the Baptist Play 20 The Conspiracy Play 21 The Buffeting Play 22 The Scourging Play 23 The Crucifixion Play 24 The Talents Play 25 The Deliverance of Souls Play 26 The Resurrection of the Lord Play 27 The Pilgrims Play 28 Thomas of India Play 29 The Lord's Ascension Play 30 The Judgment Play 31 Lazarus Play 32 The Hanging of Judas
A medieval spectator at Wakefield, beginning at 4:30 A.M., would view The Creation, and by nightfall would wrap-up with The Hanging of Judas. Thus obtaining an overview of the major biblical stories from creation day to judgment day, all from sunrise to sunset. Some of the stations in this cycle include: Robert Harpham door, at the gates of St. Peter's minister, end of Coney Street opposite Castle gate, and on the pavement. It can then be assumed that the stations at Wakefield would have been similar in type to that of York.
3. The Wakefield Master.
Five or six of the plays in the Wakefield Cycle are attributed to a hypothetical single author known simply as the Wakefield Master, his identity being unknown. The technical contributions of the Wakefield author are: plot, characterization, humor, and realism. There is some dispute among scholars as to the number of plays attributed to the Wakefield Master. They range from four, to all of , or parts of ten plays. However, it can be said with certainty that Mactacio Abel(The Killing of Abel), Processus Noe(Noah and the Ark), Prima Pastorum(The First Shepherds' Play), Secunda Pastorum(The Second Shepherds' Play), and Magnus Herodes(Herod the Great), are under the authorship of the Wakefield Master.
4. Pageant Wagons.
The configuration of pageant wagons was about as variant as the towns producing cycle plays. They ranged from simple carts to elaborate two-story structures complete with dressing rooms and complicated scene effects. John Westley Harris offers the following invaluable description of a pageant of the Nativity presented in Brussels.
5. Costume
Like the scenery, there was an effort towards realism in costuming. In a cycle play which required the devil to appear, he did so complete with black leather, horns, hoofs, tail, and wooden fork. God on the other hand, wore white leather, had white hair and beard. In keeping with the religious nature of the society, Adam and Eve were only visible from behind a curtain from the shoulders up. Otherwise they wore white leather to symbolize nudity. It can then be assumed from these references that in the Wakefield Cycle, and more specifically, The Second Shepherds’ Play , every attempt was made at realistic costumes. However, due to the fact that the medieval society had no concept of historical period, one can also assume Mak, and the other shepherds would be dressed in clothing appropriate to shepherds in the medieval period.
6. The style of the play
The Second Shepherds' Play was written in stanzaic form consisting of thirteeners. What is the form of thirteeners? It is a 13-line stanza with the rhyme scheme ABAB CDDDC ABAB in which the first "C" rhyme line is frequently shorter than the other lines. Note: as the Norton Anthology points out, "thirteeners" can also be printed as a nine-line stanza by combining each subsequent pair of "A" and "B" rhyme lines into a single longer line; this nine-line stanza consists of a quatrain of long lines with both interior rhyme (the "A" in thirteeners) and rhyme at the end of each line (the "B" in thirteeners), followed by the same CDDDC stanza found in "thirteeneers." But in our text,
stanzas are rendered as "thirteeners." In the beginning of the play the first Shepherd complains about the bad weathers as follows:
1st Shepherd: Lord, but these weathers are cold, and I am ill-wrapped! (a) Nearly numb of hand, so long have I napped;(b) My legs, they fold; my fingers are chapped. (a) It is not as I would, for I am all lapped (b) In sorrow. (c) In storms and tempest, (d) Now in the east, now in the west, (d) Woe is him has never rest, (d) Mid-day or morrow! (c)
But we poor shepherds that walk on the moor, (a) In faith, we are near-hands out of the door. (b) No wonder, as it stands, if we be poor, (a) For the tilth of our lands lies as fallow as a floor, (b)
7. Characters
Coll: The First Shepherd Gib: The Second Shepherd Daw: The Third Shepherd Mak Mak’s wif: Gill An Angel The Virgin Mary The Infant Christ
8. The plot summary of The Second Shepherds’ Play
At the start of the play, Coll, the first shepherd ("primus pastor") arrives in a field, invoking God in anachronistic terms (referring, as the shepherds will do throughout the play, to the life and death of Christ even though at this point of the play Christ has not yet been born) complaining about the (typically English) cold weather and about his poverty and the arrogance of local gentry. He begins by saying, "Lord, what these weders are cold! And I am ill happyed" which translates as "God, the weather is cold and I am ill wrapped/clothed." Gib, the second shepherd, arrives without seeing Coll and complains first about the weather and then about the plight of married men, himself included, with bawdy speculation about the lives of men with more than one wife and advice to "young men of wooing" to "Be well war of weding" (wary of marriage). He paints a portrait of his wife as a loud, heavy-drinking, alternately abusive and sentimentally pious, whale-sized woman.
When they have left Mak's cottage, the biblical story proper begins
- the Angel appears and tells them to go to "Bedlam" (Bethlehem) to see the Christ child. They wonder at the event, chastising each other for their collective delay, and then go to the manger where Mary (Mother of Jesus) welcomes them and receives their praise for her mildness. They each address the Child in turn, beginning by praising His authority and His creation of all things in tones of reverence and awe, but each comically shifting mid- speech to cooing, gushing baby talk, since they are addressing an adorable baby, who Coll, Gib, and Daw respectively give "a bob of cherries," a bird, and a ball ("Have and play thee withal, and go to the tennis!") The shepherds rejoice at their salvation, all thoughts of hardship and complaint vanished, and leave singing in unison.
8. Vocabulary of The Second Shepherds' Play
Scene I. l.13 fallow=plowed but not seeded l.14. ken=know l.16. blamed=crushed l.19. harry=disturbed l.20. tarry=delay l.36. poe=peacock l.37. wain=farm wagon l.54. benedicite<benecite=bless you l.55. fares=gets along l.57. een=eyes l.67. rock=swing l.68. cluck=cry l.99. thistle=weedy plants / briar=small tree l.100 bristle=stiff hair l.101 whistle=bitterness, throat rancor l.102 Pater-Noster=Lord’s Prayer l.145 fain=willingly l.147 rave=shout l.149 pate=head l.210 thwang=loud sound, being paranoid l.215 turd=thong, flea, nothing
l.248 proffer=offer l.249 coffer=case l.265 Manus tuas commendo, Pontio Bilato(Pontio Pilate, into your hands I commend myself)< Pater, In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum= (Father, into your hands I commend my spirit)/ a misquotation l.288 nip=get l.293 fleece=fur
Scene II. l.4 alight=on fire, lively l.5 fare=get along l.6 ween=think, believe l.17 swink=toil, work hard l.20 blot=stain, a mark of reproach, moral flaw
Scene III. l.1 Resurrex a mortruis =resurrection of the dead / cf. Christus resurrexit a mortuis (Christ is risen from the dead) babbling Latin words, a misquotation l. 2 Judas carnas dominus! < Judas body of God!, another misquotation l.6 ween=think, believe l.16 ere=before l.21 gin=trick l.35 flayed=troubled, beaten, whipped, given l.37 methought=I think / croak=bleat, cry l.42 banes= causes of trouble, roots of pain l.48 aught=anything
Scene IV. l.7 snout=nose l.8 lout=fool l.23 Pardie!=pardi=truly l.35 Harrow=Distress l.37 anon=soon, immediately l.39 Lullay<Lullaby=a song used to help a child fall asleep / on fast=quickly
Scene V. l.9 ewe=female sheep l.24 plight= pledge or solemnly promise
Scene VI.
this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. / 4. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. / 5. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: / 6. " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" (Micah 5:2) / 7. Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. / 8. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." / 9. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. / 10. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. / 11. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
Behold, a virgin shall conceive. (Isaiah 7:14)
- What is the interrelationship of the play's comic and serious nativity stories? To what extent does the account of Mak and Gill's "little lamb" foreshadow the other birth in the play, that of the "Lamb of God"? What gifts do the shepherds give each baby? (Know which shepherd gives which gift!) What might these gifts symbolize? Traditionally, three wise men (not shepherds) bring the Christ child gifts. What is the effect of this switch? How might it be related to the Wakefield Master's intention in writing this second "Shepherds' Play"?
Foreshadowing: complaints and unhappy life lead to salvation / cherries, a bird, a tennis ball (England’s sports, natural products, local products) anachronistic elements in order to attract English people in the 15th^ century.
- Note the structure of 2ShP : introduction of three shepherds, arrival of Mak, alternation of scenes with shepherds and scenes with Mak and Gill, return to the moor, arrival of angel and events of the Nativity of Christ. How does structure contribute to the unity of the play? Contrast the initial scene with the three shepherds to their short scene before the arrival of the angel. Has their situation changed? What is similar or different? Note the use of song in the play. How many songs are there, who sings them, and when do they occur? Is there a connection between the songs and the events depicted? Is there a progression in the moods/messages communicated in the series of songs?
3 unities: place, time, action. Harsh life but their warm heart deserves the good news of the nativity from the angel Scene 7: angel’s song (Gloria in Excelsis Deo) and shepherds’ song (hym). Leaving the stable singing.
What does each shepherd complain about in his opening speeches? What about Mak and Gill? How realistic would their concerns be to a late-medieval audience? Why might the author include these complaints? How is the home life of Mak and Gill depicted? Why might these scenes be included? Note the use of proverbs , oaths , and colloquial patterns of speech. Why might the author choose to use this sort of language in his play?
Characterize Mak and Gill. Are they well suited to one another? How is their marriage depicted? What seems to be the author's attitude toward women? What role does Mary play? Contrast the depiction of women with that in other works we have read. Which other works and authors have similar viewpoints? Where do the differences lie? Does genre (Mystery play) affect the depiction of women?
What does the use of anachronism, psychologically realistic (and medieval-seeming) characters , etc. tell us about the Wakefield Master's intentions? Are these devices effective ways of achieving his goals?
What is the purpose of the scenes with Mak and Gill? (There may be more than one.) Are they there only for comic relief? What serious purposes can comedy serve? What is the connection between their scenes and the serious intent of the play as a whole? (How does their ruse prefigure the end of the play? How about the shepherd's visit to them?) Is the comedy here mean-spirited? Are we meant to feel indignation at Mak and Gill's dishonesty? Or at Mak's disparaging comments about his wife? How does Mak justify his theft? What is the shepherd's initial attitude toward Mak and Gill? How do the shepherds treat the guilty couple when they learn of their crime? Is this the only example of Christian charity (a.k.a. caritas , or Divine Love) in the play?
