Drama and Religion
Drama and Religion
This chapter explores the history of the theatre and drama and its varying relationships with religious belief. It begins in the ancient world where the term ‘liturgy’ had its origins and where one such liturgical act was the staging of drama. It traces the revival of religious drama after its initial suppression by Christianity, not only in medieval mystery plays but also in now largely forgotten Reformation and Counter-Reformation drama. It then turns to baroque poetry and explores how disputes about ritual often reflected wider cultural change that is indebted to notions of theatre. Finally, it draws attention to the ways in which a relationship with religion continues, especially in the various theories that have been proposed about the value and purpose of drama.
Keywords: theatre, religious belief, liturgy, religious drama, Christianity, Reformation drama, Counter-Reformation drama, medieval mystery plays, baroque poetry
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
