Anonymous, The Digby Play of the Mary Magdalene

Claire Sponsler (University of Iowa)

Ed. by Hugh Magennis, Queen's University Belfast
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1460 - c. 1520

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Masque
Morality

Resources

The Digby Mary Magdalene is preserved in Bodleian MS Digby 133, which contains other plays – including the Digby Conversion of Saint Paul – as well as various scientific and astrological texts. Like the Conversion of St Paul, Mary Magdalene fits within the genre of medieval saints' plays. Its dominant theme is conversion, which it examines through the biblical and legendary figure of Mary Magdalene, whose story of temptation, fall into sin, and ultimate sainthood, makes her a powerful figure of redemption. The play was composed sometime in the late fifteenth century in the East Midland dialect of Middle English. The scribe-compiler of the manuscript is unknown, but in the mid-sixteenth century it was owned by M…

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1322 words

Citation: Sponsler, Claire. "The Digby Play of the Mary Magdalene". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 December 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1064, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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