A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 06

In Short

This volume gathers five rare works that highlight a distinct developmental phase in English theater. By blending morality play conventions—where characters like Conscience or Hypocrisy personify internal states—with the emerging interest in historical narrative and social satire, these dramas document the birth of more complex stagecraft. They have lasted as essential academic artifacts, offering scholars and readers a window into how early playwrights used allegory to debate the shifting religious, political, and social pressures of the sixteenth century, all while struggling to satisfy an increasingly diverse public audience.

The Story

The collection opens with The Conflict of Conscience, a somber drama detailing the spiritual disintegration of Philologus, a man who abandons his religious convictions out of a desperate, worldly fear for his life and property. Urged by figures like Hypocrisy and Tyranny—who disguise themselves to manipulate him—Philologus eventually rejects his faith for material security. His trajectory is one of profound psychological torment; he falls into a state of "doleful desperation," eventually concluding that his soul is beyond redemption. Unlike a typical tragedy of the era, the play focuses less on political reversal and more on the internal, theological death of a man who believes he has sinned against the light.

In contrast, A Knack to know a Knave and the plays featuring the "Three Ladies of London" shift toward public morality and civic critique. In these works, the stage becomes a laboratory for observing the decay of traditional social bonds. A recurring thread involves the decline of hospitality, as avaricious characters—often disguised as "Careful Provision"—persuade landowners to abandon their generous, traditional duties in favor of cold, profit-driven management. The plots frequently involve the "Ladies" of London—Lucre, Love, and Conscience—who are courted by different forces. While Lucre easily aligns with Usury and Fraud, Conscience is frequently left neglected or abused. The moral arc is one of public alarm: as these allegorical figures interact with the common people and the nobility, they demonstrate how a society obsessed with wealth loses the ability to discern virtue from vice.

The historical dramas in the collection, such as the play concerning King Edgar, ground these moral conflicts in the actions of monarchs and their courts. The narrative follows King Edgar’s pursuit of the beautiful Alfrida, a story that mirrors the themes of the earlier plays by setting the king’s unchecked desires against the counsel of his advisors. Edgar’s eventual realization of his own folly, prompted by the consequences of adultery and deception, serves as a resolution that reinforces the necessity of moral restraint for those in power. Throughout these stories, the narrative movement is from innocence or tradition toward a complex, often cynical, worldly entanglement, eventually arriving at either a moment of divine repentance or a stern, cautionary warning about the fragility of the social order.

How It Unfolds

The allegorical struggle begins with the introduction of characters who represent psychological states, such as Conscience and Hypocrisy, who actively war for the soul of the protagonist. These early scenes establish the tension between divine truth and the seductive, material temptations of the world.

The shift toward social critique occurs as the plays begin to incorporate more earthly archetypes, such as the "farmer" or the "knave," who lecture the audience on the virtues of greed. This transition forces the reader to confront the reality of urban life, where traditional hospitality is replaced by calculated self-interest.

The intervention of the supernatural frequently punctuates the mundane action, as devils or celestial figures arrive to comment on the unfolding moral failures. These beats serve as a barometer for the characters' spiritual health, signaling to the audience exactly when a protagonist has tipped from error into true malice.

The historical reconciliation concludes the narrative arcs, particularly in the royal dramas. Here, the impulsive desires of kings are checked by the wisdom of their counselors or the dire results of their own uncontrolled lusts, leading to a temporary restoration of order.

The People

Philologus is the most tragic figure, a man defined by his internal paralysis; he wants the comforts of the world but is destroyed by the awareness of his own spiritual betrayal. He is contrasted by the abstract villains Hypocrisy and Tyranny, who act as catalysts for his downfall, representing the ease with which a human life can be manipulated by disguised malice.

Lady Lucre acts as a personification of the rising mercantile spirit, constantly seeking to expand her influence by entertaining figures like Usury and Simony. Her desire for status and wealth stands in direct opposition to Conscience, who is often portrayed as weak, weary, and seeking refuge from a world that no longer values her.

King Edgar occupies the center of the historical plays, embodying the conflict between royal authority and personal appetite. He is impulsive and initially indifferent to the moral cost of his actions, but he eventually evolves—or at least learns—through the stern, persistent warnings of his advisors like Dunstan. Meanwhile, commoners like Simplicity provide a necessary, often humorous, foil to these high-stakes conflicts; they are the "plain-dealing" observers who see the corruption of the age with a clarity that the nobility and the learned often lack, though they are ultimately powerless to stop it.

In Its Own Voice

The prologue to The Conflict of Conscience offers a stark warning about the nature of spiritual decay and the necessity of constant moral vigilance.

"If long unworn you leave a cloak or gown, Moths will it mar, unless you thereto look: Again, if that upon a shelf you place or set a book, And suffer it there still to stand, the worms will soon it eat."

In the same play, the tempters reveal their strategy for ensnaring the protagonist, highlighting their reliance on deception.

"Zeal shall your name be: how like you by that? And therefore in office you must deal zealously."

When reflecting on the loss of traditional values, a knight laments the shift in how hospitality is viewed by his contemporaries.

"My father in his lifetime gave hospitality to all strangers, and distressed travellers; his table was never empty of bread, beef, and beer."

What It's Really About

At its core, this collection investigates the tension between the soul’s salvation and the world’s rewards. The plays repeatedly ask whether it is possible to live in a modern, mercantile society without forfeiting one’s moral character. They explore the idea that "plain dealing" and genuine hospitality are being systematically dismantled by a new, profit-centered ethos. The writers are obsessed with the mechanisms of disguise—how easily vice can be rebranded as "Zeal" or "Careful Provision"—suggesting that the greatest danger to the individual and the state is the loss of the ability to call a thing by its true name.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the intellectual puzzle of history will find these plays fascinating. You are not reading polished, definitive masterpieces; you are reading the messy, vital labor of writers who were trying to map a changing world. The language is an early modern mixture of rhythmic, formal verse and earthy, direct prose, which can be challenging but rewarding for those who enjoy the cadence of the period.

You will likely be struck by how modern the concerns feel—the anxiety over the "decay of hospitality," the suspicion of foreign influence, and the struggle to maintain one’s integrity in an increasingly transactional society. The plays are marked by a refreshing lack of subtlety; they do not hide their intent, and there is a certain charm in their blunt, allegorical moralizing. While the archaic dialect and the specific religious anxieties of the 1500s require patience, the glimpses of the "common man" and the sharp, satirical barbs directed at the wealthy remain remarkably sharp. It is a demanding read, best suited for those who want to understand the origins of the English stage and the deeply human fear that we might be losing our souls to the very wealth we work so hard to acquire.