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The Mediaeval Stage
“The best book on the early drama ever written in English.” — Modern Language Notes.
This comprehensive, groundbreaking work — the first to examine the history of medieval theater from an English viewpoint — considers the many different conditions that existed in the institution by the sixteenth century, just prior to the establishment of the great Shakespearean stage.
Thoroughly researched and meticulously documented, this monumental reference brims with a vast amount of material recording the history of theater in the Middle Ages — from the demise of ancient Roman theater in the fourth century A.D. to the appearance in the late 1500s of a new class of professional players, the likes of whom had not been seen since the days of the Roman conquest.
Noted Shakespearean scholar and critic E. K. Chambers provides enormously learned yet highly readable accounts of early theater in which scenes from the Christian liturgy were played out, the appearance of the ludi — performances at village feasts and festivals; miracle and morality plays, puppet shows, dramatic pageants, mimes, mummers, and gaudily dressed minstrels; reenactments of St. George slaying the dragon and the adventures of “Robyn Hod”; the introduction of disguises and masks in the early 1500s, and much more.
Originally published in two volumes — bound here as one — The Mediaeval Stage “is an important and valuable treatise … a work combining patient and profound learning, good common sense, and extraordinary amenity.” — Modern Language Notes. It will be an indispensable reference for historians, students of English theater, and anyone interested in medieval life.
This comprehensive, groundbreaking work — the first to examine the history of medieval theater from an English viewpoint — considers the many different conditions that existed in the institution by the sixteenth century, just prior to the establishment of the great Shakespearean stage.
Thoroughly researched and meticulously documented, this monumental reference brims with a vast amount of material recording the history of theater in the Middle Ages — from the demise of ancient Roman theater in the fourth century A.D. to the appearance in the late 1500s of a new class of professional players, the likes of whom had not been seen since the days of the Roman conquest.
Noted Shakespearean scholar and critic E. K. Chambers provides enormously learned yet highly readable accounts of early theater in which scenes from the Christian liturgy were played out, the appearance of the ludi — performances at village feasts and festivals; miracle and morality plays, puppet shows, dramatic pageants, mimes, mummers, and gaudily dressed minstrels; reenactments of St. George slaying the dragon and the adventures of “Robyn Hod”; the introduction of disguises and masks in the early 1500s, and much more.
Originally published in two volumes — bound here as one — The Mediaeval Stage “is an important and valuable treatise … a work combining patient and profound learning, good common sense, and extraordinary amenity.” — Modern Language Notes. It will be an indispensable reference for historians, students of English theater, and anyone interested in medieval life.
960 pages, Paperback
First published August 14, 1996
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About the author
E.K. Chambers
146 books3 followersSir Edmund Kerchever Chambers, KBE, CB, FBA, usually cited as E. K. Chambers, was an English literary critic and Shakespearean scholar.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 16, 2012
I bought this book for the notes and appendix, especially because I believed it included text from the Mummer's Play and other Mystery Plays.
The book gave a fascinating general history of the stage, theater, mummery and more. It also gives one the chance to practice reading in the Latin Vulgate plus several romance languages, thanks to the copious notes, many of them untranslated excerpts of texts from ancient plays, letters, essays and poems.
Written in the heady days just after Frazer's seminal book The Golden Bough, it seems to me that this book borrows a leaf from the Golden Bough and makes connections between ancient plays and ancient religions and superstitions, drawing sweeping conclusions from scant evidence. Likely E.K. Chambers got a bit carried away with his own grand vision, and drew some conclusions without ample evidence to support his theories. Nevertheless, reading this book gives one a great feeling for the history of the theater and makes the arrival of Shakespeare seem less of a miracle and more the culmination of years of pagents, mystery plays, minstrels and more.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone who loves literature and history.
The book gave a fascinating general history of the stage, theater, mummery and more. It also gives one the chance to practice reading in the Latin Vulgate plus several romance languages, thanks to the copious notes, many of them untranslated excerpts of texts from ancient plays, letters, essays and poems.
Written in the heady days just after Frazer's seminal book The Golden Bough, it seems to me that this book borrows a leaf from the Golden Bough and makes connections between ancient plays and ancient religions and superstitions, drawing sweeping conclusions from scant evidence. Likely E.K. Chambers got a bit carried away with his own grand vision, and drew some conclusions without ample evidence to support his theories. Nevertheless, reading this book gives one a great feeling for the history of the theater and makes the arrival of Shakespeare seem less of a miracle and more the culmination of years of pagents, mystery plays, minstrels and more.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone who loves literature and history.
December 31, 2017
Chambers's work remains the standard on medieval English theater. Thorough and careful, it mines the evidence to support its theses about pre-Elizabeathan history of drama.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews