Wisdom (play)
| Wisdom, or Mind, Will, and Understanding | |
|---|---|
A drawing and text from the Macro Manuscript version of Wisdom
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| Written by | Anonymous |
| Characters |
Wisdom (dressed as Christ) |
| Date premiered | ca. 1460-1470 |
| Original language | Middle English |
| Genre | morality play |
Wisdom (dressed as Christ)
Lucifer
Anima, the Soul
Mind
Will
Understanding
Wisdom (also known as Mind, Will, and Understanding) is one of the earliest surviving medieval morality plays. Together with Mankind and The Castle of Perseverance, it forms a collection of early English moralities called "The Macro Plays". Wisdom enacts the struggle between good and evil; as an allegory, it depicts Christ (personified in the character of Wisdom) and Lucifer battling over the Soul of Man, with Christ and goodness ultimately victorious. Dating between 1460-1463, the play is preserved in its complete form in the Macro Manuscript, currently a part of the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library (MS V.a. 354). A manuscript fragment of the first 754 lines also belongs to the Bodleian Library (MS Digby 133). Although the author of Wisdom remains anonymous, the manuscript was transcribed and signed by a monk named Thomas Hyngman. Some scholars have suggested that Hyngman also authored the play.
Unlike other early morality plays, the character signifying man is split into nine different characters: Anima (the soul of man), the three faculties of the soul (Mind, Will and Understanding), and her five senses (known as ‘’the Wits”). Despite boasting a large cast list, the only six speaking roles in the play are Anima, Wisdom, Lucifer, Mind, Will and Understanding. Although the manuscript does not contain scene demarcations, the play can be divided into four sections, based upon a theological schematic of transgression and redemption: innocence, temptation, sinful life, and repentance. In the first part (Lines 1-324), Anima declares her love for Wisdom, the allegorical figure for Christ. The stage directions note that Anima is dressed in white, a symbol of her purity and position as the bride of Christ. The five Wits enter (dressed as virgins), and dance. Wisdom advises Anima and her three faculties (Will, Mind, Understanding) about how to live virtuously. In the second part (325-550), Lucifer tempts each of the three faculties – Will with lechery, Mind with pride, and Understanding with Perjury. In the third part (551-837), each faculty (having exchanged monkish, acetic robes for more fashionable and luxurious ones) devotes himself to sin and dances wildly with six followers. In the final part (838-1108), Wisdom returns to chastise the three faculties for falling into temptation. Anima, Will, Mind and Understanding repent, and the devils are chased from the stage. Recognizing that redemption requires more than her remorse, Anima asks for God’s mercy and grace. Wisdom grants both, before turning to the audience and ending the play with a sermon on avoiding sin and seeking grace.
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