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Corpus Christi is
a religious holiday--instigated in 1311--to celebrate the doctrine
of Transubstantiation, that is, the symbolism in the Mass of the
Host which is taken in communion as the body of Christ--'corpus
Christi'. The Corpus
Christi Feast celebrates the possibility of salvation through the
sacrifice of Christ at the Crucifixion made available to all
through communion in the Christian Mass. |
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Time:
The Feast is held on the
Thursday after Trinity Sunday and can thus fall on any
date between 23 May and 24 June, the period of early summer in
England--long hours of daylight and the festive mood. This period
was already strongly associated with folk celebration and
festivals culminating in the pagan Midsummer
Festivals on June 23rd and 24th. The
Church was thus able to exploit the positive holiday mood of the
season and to apply it to a religious celebration, expressing the
uplifting, joyous possibility of Salvation after the darker mood
of the Easter celebrations. As dramatic representations had often
been associated with the folk festivals, expectations of some kind
of drama were already associated with the period. |
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The
cycle consisted of a series of plays
on Christian history, beginning with the Creation
of the World, moving through episodes from the Old Testament
prefiguring Christ to the Birth, Ministry and Passion of Christ,
the Resurrection, Harrowing of Hell and Day of Judgment. |
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The
pageant wagons were wooden
flat-topped carts, usually with four wheels, that were most
probably pushed and pulled from station to station by men rather
than horses. Guild records often refer to payments for beer for
the wagon bearers. The
playing area consisted of the floor of the wagon, the ground
in front of it and often an upper story constructed on the wagon
itself which was used to represent Heaven and to provide a playing
space for God and Angels. (backdrop and inner space) The wagon is
used to represent the ark in the Towneley-Wakefield Noah Play. |
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Scenery on the wagons was probably minimal and the playing space was
purely representational. Characters refer to the space as a stable
or a throne room to identify it rather than relying on the scenery
and props to produce a realistic image of such places (except when
the scenery/props were essential to the stated action of the play:
the Cross, sword, the cradle…) |
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Costumes: elaborate; guild records reveal that money was spent to
replace or repair them. (gloves, hose…). Costumes were
contemporary and distinctions of rank, class or profession were
demonstrated. |
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The
actors were mostly members of the
guild which produced the particular play. A statute of 1476
declares that no actors is allowed to perform in more than two
plays on Corpus Christi Day and a very heavy fine awaited anyone
who was found to have done so. Women did not perform in the plays although they were admitted to
the guilds. Their contributions remained the typically domestic
ones of washing the costumes and providing food, women's parts in
the plays being taken by men or youths. |
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The
audience for the Corpus Christi
plays was involved in the plays in ways which
have perhaps never been matched in dramatic performances since.
The purpose of the plays was directed entirely towards the
audience and the theme of the drama was intended to affect their
lives and behavior. Though
the plays functioned very well as books for the unlettered they
were also watched enthusiastically by the rich, powerful and
educated. |
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The
Mystery Cycles had three basic threads of motivation and function: |
1.
They were didactic drama intended
to express a moral message that would ultimately save the souls of
audience and actors.
2.
They were occasions for popular
entertainment to provide a pleasant means of passing a day free from
work.
3.
They were occasions for the expression
of civic display, craft honor and local unity.
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Typology
was a means of comprehending the unity and purpose of Christian
history and of showing that all events formed part of God's plan
for the universe. Though many of the events of the Old Testament
could be seen to have a cause and logic in their own historical
circumstances, nonetheless they also contained a relevance to the
life of Christ and the establishment of the Christian religion
which only becomes apparent long after the events themselves |
On the typological level, "Cain and Abel" gains its place in
the cycle as it had already gained its place in exegesis, sermon and
the visual arts because Abel can be seen as a type of Christ. Like
Christ, Abel is an innocent victim who is killed by the fallen world,
here represented by Cain, as at the Crucifixion the unbelieving Jews
represent the fallen world. Abel is also killed by his brother and
Christ, who had chosen to appear in the world in the form of a man,
born of a woman, is also brother to those who kill Him. The
typological analogy can be taken further in that Abel is the son of
Eve, the woman responsible for the Fall, and Christ was the son of
Mary, the woman responsible for the Salvation of the world. The
Eve-Mary parallel was a favorite contrast in medieval theology which
saw Scriptural approval for the balance in the words of the salutation
of Mary at the Annunciation when Gabriel addressed her 'Ave Maria, gratia
plena' (Hail Mary, full of grace). 'Ave' is 'Eva' backwards and
thus Mary was considered to be, even on linguistic grounds, the
inversion of Eve, she who would save the world rather than she who had
lost the world. [Abel-Noah-Isaac
as a type of Christ]
During
the medieval period typological interpretation of the Bible was a
conventional organizing principle and was apparent in many spheres of
religious life, not merely at an abstract level of intellectual
sophistry. Sermons frequently presented such interpretations and
stained glass and sculpture in churches grouped such figures or events
together
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Narration
of performance, or deictic
comment, is a frequent technique of medieval drama and in
addition recalls the folk drama. The champions and challengers of
the Hero Combat play of the Mummers' Play tradition almost always
describe their actions in the fight. Action and words are fused to
give a more profound and incontrovertible meaning to the events.
Medieval plays do not pretend to offer a slice of life or to allow
the audience a privileged and unacknowledged witnessing of
supposedly real events. |
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