Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. 215 pages; 23 cm

Summary

1. "The author begins by defining what constitutes sinful or transgressive language in the later medieval period, and establishes its moral significance. She then illustrates how the moral significance of language is used in drama to define the spiritual and social status of characters, and introduces the concept of sinful language as a sign of spiritual change. In later chapters Transgressive Language in Medieval English Drama explores the use of 'bad' language in mystery and morality plays, focusing specifically on Skelton's Magnyfycence, Heywood's The Play of the Weather, and Bale's King Johan."
2. "The study shows the extent to which the moral significance of language in drama shifted during the sixteenth century under pressure from cultural and political change, paving the way for less morally rigorous and more socially sensitive definitions of 'bad' language."--Jacket.

Subject

1. To 1500
2. English drama > To 1500 > History and criticism
3. English language > Middle English, 1100-1500 > Discourse analysis
4. Literature and society > England > History > To 1500
5. Language and culture > England > History > To 1500
6. Discourse analysis, Literary
7. Invective in literature
8. literary criticism
9. English drama
10. Language and culture
11. Literature and society
12. Middelengels
13. Toneelstukken
14. Scheldwoorden
15. Vloeken
16. England

Genre/Form

1. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
2. History.

Contents

1. Language law and drama -- Transgressive language and characterization -- Social comment, religious dissent, and audience response in the biblical plays -- Transgressive language in three fifteenth-century morality plays -- Magnyfycence: signs of change in the sixteenth century -- The Play of the Weather: entertainment and religious anxiety -- King Johan: the language of virtue and reformation.

Owning institution

1. Princeton University Library

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (p. [197]-209) and index.