Shakespeare A to Z | Medievalism

Shakespeare and other Elizabethan writers were influenced not only by classical* sources but also by the dramatic practices of the Middle Ages. The morality plays* of this period produced a set of recognizable characters, plots, and themes that Shakespeare and his contemporaries adapted in accordance with the theatrical conventions* of their own day.

* classical: in the tradition of ancient Greece and Rome

*morality play: religious dramatic work that teaches a moral lesson through the use of symbolic characters

*convention: established practice


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