Show how ‘The Second Shepherds’ play
reflects medieval life.
Theatre during the Middle Ages
was confined to the guidelines and the rules of the church. Even when theatre
was able to go literally outside, the church the rules were still upheld. Some
of these rules were rules that dictated when, where, and how you could perform
a theatrical piece, keeping in mind that most church services were spoken in
Latin. Most people didn’t speak Latin except for the church officials and some
of the upper class. Theatre was used as a tool to entertain and also to educate.
“The feast of Corpus Christi was
also motivated in part by the desire to make the church more relevant to the
ordinary people and their lives.”(pg 80, Brockett, Hildy) The festival of
Corpus Christi came around 1350 at the beginning of the peak of medieval theatre.
The Second Shepherd’s play was part of the Wakefield Cycle which consisted of
32 mystery plays. This play among many others were performed at the Feast of
Corpus Christi.
What the Second Shepherd’s play
basically comes down to in terms of story is the Birth of Christ told from the
point of view of the shepherds. What makes it different than simply some bible
story is the entire first half of the entire play. There are five characters
Coll, Gib, Daw, Mak and Gill (Mak’s wife). Coll, Gib, Daw and Mak are all
shepherds that are tending to their flock late at night in the cold. The play
is divided down into three parts “lament of the shepherds(190lines), theft of
the sheep(440 lines), announcement and revlation of the Christ Child (125
lines).’(pg 78, Maynard) During the lament while they complain about
everything, Mak appears and starts to complain about his wife and all of the
misfortunes of his life to the men. Mak then steals a baby sheep and takes it
to his wife. The wife pretends to make the sheep appear as a baby. The three
shepherds then realize that a sheep is missing and go to Mak’s house to find
the sheep. Once they get there and look in the crib, they see what appears to
be a baby. During this time they get info that Mary gave birth from and Angel
and they leave to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus.
