The Second Shepherds’ Play (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Wakefield Master
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Mystery and miracle play
- Time of Work: The Nativity
- Setting: Bethlehem and surrounding country
- Principal Characters: First Shepherd, Second Shepherd, Third Shepherd, Mak, Gill, An Angel, Mary
- Genres: Drama, Mystery play
- Subjects: Christianity, Theft, Bible, biblical imagery, or biblical symbolism, Biblical times, Jesus Christ, Middle East, Christmas, Shepherds
- Locales: Yorkshire, England, Bethlehem
The Story:
On the night of Christ’s birth, a cold and lonely shepherd stood in the countryside near Bethlehem watching his flocks and bemoaning his lot in life. He was joined by another shepherd, who added his lamentations to those of the first and pointed out that his lot was worse because he was married. The second shepherd complained that his wife, a fat, shrewish person, had once been a sweet and charming girl, but that marriage had changed her.
While they grumbled, a third shepherd joined them. His chief complaint was the weather, for he thought that never, since...
[The entire page is 2035 words long]
Navigate
- The Second Shepherds’ Play (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
- The Second Shepherds’ Play (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
- The Second Shepherds’ Play (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
- Add The Second Shepherds’ Play to your favorites