Definition

Noun: A type of allegorical drama that was especially popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. In a morality play, abstract qualities, such as virtues (e.g., Good Deeds, Charity) and vices (e.g., Greed, Vice), are personified as characters. The central plot typically involves a struggle for the human soul, representing a moral or religious lesson for the audience.

Examples of Usage

Advanced Usage

• The term is sometimes used metaphorically in modern contexts to describe a situation, story, or conflict that is seen as a simple battle between clear-cut good and evil.
  • The political campaign was framed by the media as a simplistic morality play, ignoring the complex policy issues.

Variants and Related Words

• Morality (n): Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior. (This is the abstract concept from which the play genre derives its name).
• Interlude (n): A short play or performance, some of which were moral in nature, emerging around the same period.
• Mystery play (n): A different genre of medieval drama based on biblical stories, often contrasted with the morality play.
• Allegory (n): A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. (This describes the narrative form of a morality play).

Synonyms

• Allegorical drama
• Ethical play
• Moral interlude (historical context)

Related Idioms and Phrases

• A modern-day morality play: A phrase used to describe a contemporary event or narrative that resembles the stark, personified conflict of good versus evil found in the historical plays.
  • The courtroom drama was described by critics as a modern-day morality play about corporate greed.

Noun

1. an allegorical play popular in the 15th and 16th centuries; characters personified virtues and vices