please some one help me on an English question?

Question

The most famous morality play is probably?

Answer 1

That depends on your point of view and what you happen to think of as a morality play.

I would say it's probably either Goethe's "Faust" or Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus", though.

I know, I know... very similar titles. Like I said, it depends on how you define a morality play. Most of Shakespeare's plays are meant to teach moral lessons, so in that regard you could pick anything he did... but the two I've listed above never billed themselves as anything other than a morality play.

Edit:

It could also be "Everyman" as other posters have noted (I won't take credit for thinking of that one). I had forgotten about that one since it wasn't regarded as being as significant as the other two by my English professors.

This honestly looks like a question from a book, though. Go back through the book and look for a passage that reads just like that, and then has the name of a play at the end of it. Most study questions out of books aren't very inventive with their phrasing.

Answer 2

The oldest medieval morality play is in fact the play of _Mankind_, as G.A. Lester of the University of Sheffield in England notes: "_Mankind_ survives in a manuscript of the second half of the fifteenth century. ... Altogether, 1464-71 is as precise a date as one can safely assume.

"The other two plays (_Everyman_ and _Mundus et Infans_) are first found in print. The earliest of the _Everyman_ editions is the fragment C, printed by Richard Pynson between c. 1510 and 1525. ... A date of c. 1520 for the English play seems likely, though a late fifteenth-century date is often suggested." And the advent of _Mundus et Infans_ ("_The World and the Child_" in English) is estimated at a few years earlier or later than _Everyman_.

So, as far as the question of the most famous play, I would go with the play of _Mankind_, since it is the earliest play and also widely considered the most humorous, lively, and appealing to the audience of the three best-known late medieval morality plays.

Answer 3

Everyman's probably the right answer. From a genre standpoint, I don't think most folks would consider the Faustus plays as morality plays because they aren't strictly allegorical. Usually the term applies to medieval texts.

The other candidates for the prize would likely be Mankind and The Castle of Perseverance.

Answer 4

Everyman

Answer 5

I think the answer you are looking for is "Everyman." It is the oldest morality play that has been written in English.

Answer 6

"Everyman" came to mind before reading the other answers. That's just an automatic response after remembering back to Humanities in high school.

Answer 7

Definately "Everyman"

Answer 8

Every man