This thesis seeks to investigate the ways in which late medieval English drama produces and theorises emotions, in order to engage with the complex nexus of ideas about the links between sensation, emotion, and cognition in contemporary philosophical and theologial thought. It contributes to broader considerations of the cultural work that religious drama performed in fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century England in the context of the ongoing debates concerning its theological and social relevance. Drawing on recent research in the cognitive sciences and the history of emotion, this thesis conceives of dramatic performances as passionate encounters between actors and audiences – encounters which do not only re-create biblical history as a sensual reality, but in which emotion becomes attached to signs and bodies through theatrical means. It suggests that the attention paid to the processes through which audiences become emotionally invested in a play challenges assumptions about biblical drama of the English towns as a negligible contribution to philosophical and theological thinking in the vernacular. The analysis is conducted against the background of medieval and modern conceptions of emotions as ethically and morally relevant phenomena at the intersection between body and reason, which is outlined in chapter one. Each of the four main chapters presents a detailed examination of a series of pageants or plays drawn mainly from the Chester and York cycles and the Towneley and N-Town collections. These are supplemented, on occasion, with analysis of individual plays from fragmentary cycles and collections. The examinations undertaken are placed against the devotional and intellectual backdrop of late medieval England, in order to demonstrate how dramatic performances of biblical subject matter engage with some of the central issues in the wider debate about the human body, soul, and intellect. The second chapter focuses on the creation of living images on the stage, and specifically on didactically relevant stage images, in the Towneley Processus Prophetarum, the Chester Moses and the Law, and the N-Town Moses. The third chapter shifts the focus to the performance of the Passion in the N-Town second Passion play and the York Crucifixio Christi, concentrating on the potential effects of the perception of physical violence on audience response. The subject of chapter four is the emotional behaviours and expressions accorded to the Virgin Mary in the Towneley and N-Town Crucifixion scenes, and those of her precursors, the mothers of the innocents, in the Digby and Coventry plays of the Massacre of the Inncocents. In chapter five, the analysis finally turns to dramatisations of the Resurrection, examining its realisation on stage in the Chester Skinners’ play, as well as staged responses to the event by the apostles and the Marys in the N-Town The Announcement to the Three Marys; Peter and John at the Sepulchre and the Towneley Thomas of India. These four central chapters pave the way for a summary, in the conclusion, of the central problematic underpinning this thesis: how the evocation of emotion in an audience is linked to embodiment in theatrical performance, and tied to a certain awareness, on the part of playwrights, of the popular biblical drama’s potential as a locus of philosophical-theological debate.

abstract: This dissertation focuses on the connections between childbirth and spirituality in fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century England. It argues that scholastic interest in conception and procreation led to a proliferation of texts mentioning obstetrics and gynecology, and that this attention to women's medicine and birth spread from the universities to the laity. This dissertation contends that there is interdependence between spiritual and physical health in late medieval English religious culture, correlated with and perhaps caused by an increasing fascination with materialism and women's bodies in religious practices and rhetoric. The first chapter provides an analysis of birth in medical and pastoral texts. Pastoral works were heavily influenced by the ecclesiastical emphasis on baptism, as well as by scholastic medicine's simultaneous disdain for and reluctant integration of folk medicine. The second chapter examines birth descriptions in narratives of saints' miracles and collections of exempla; these representations of childbirth were used in religious rhetoric to teach, motivate, and dissuade audiences. The third chapter turns to the cycle play representations of the nativity as depicting the mysteries of human generation and divine incarnation for public consumption. The fourth chapter analyzes the abstract uses of childbirth in visionary and other religious texts, especially in descriptions of spiritual rebirth and the development of vice and virtue in individuals or institutions. By identifying their roles as analogous with the roles of midwives, visionaries authorized themselves as spiritual caretakers, vital for communal health and necessary for collective spiritual growth. These chapters outline a trajectory of increasing male access to the birthing chamber through textual descriptions and prescriptions about birth and midwifery. At the same time, religious texts acknowledged, sought to regulate, and sometimes even utilized the potential authority of mothers and midwives as physical and spiritual caretakers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. English 2014

In March of 2005 I was a cast member in Mad Cow Theatre's production of the Morality drama Everyman. This classic tale on the condition of human dying is regarding as one of the greatest dramas of the Medieval period and is one of the first plays in the English language to be put into print. This thesis is an actor's journey into the history of Medieval theatre, the challenges of producing Everyman for a contemporary audience, and the techniques of acting implemented in the creation of allegorical characters. Medieval drama, like Everyman, is still relevant in today's world because it addresses universal themes of friendship, material wealth, and reverence towards death. It is the story of the human being, the power of beliefs, and the fear of death. This thesis reflects a group of artists' desire to give an audience the gift of insight into their common selves.

Cette thèse présente l’édition critique du Mystère des trois doms (1509), d’après un manuscrit unique aujourd’hui conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France sous la cote n.a.f 18995. Ce texte dramatique en moyen français d’environ 11000 vers raconte la conversion puis le martyre des trois saints patrons de la ville de Romans, Séverin, Exupère, et Félicien ; il a été composé en vue d’une représentation, qui eut lieu trois jours durant dans cette même ville les 27, 28 et 29 mai 1509. Notre travail comporte plusieurs aspects distincts et complémentaires : une analyse philologique et historique, une présentation littéraire et une étude linguistique. Après avoir présenté les objectifs de notre travail, nous analysons la préparation de la représentation de 1509, tant du point de vue de l’écriture du mystère (analyse du manuscrit et des différentes étapes de sa composition) que du point de vue de la réalisation matérielle de l’entreprise (construction du théâtre et des décors). Nous possédons en effet également le livre des comptes du mystère, qui contient de précieuses informations sur les modalités d’organisation de sa représentation : il s’agit d’un cas unique, ce texte est donc d’une grande importance pour l’histoire du théâtre en France. Nous proposons ensuite une présentation du texte du mystère, une analyse des sources, de la mise en scène, et quelques éléments de versification et de stylistique. La langue du mystère étant d’une grande richesse, notre étude linguistique s’intéresse à plusieurs aspects : les systèmes graphiques des différents scribes, la régionalité de la langue et la représentation de l’oralité. Nous présentons enfin les principes qui ont guidé l’édition critique des trois journées du mystère. Celle-ci est suivie d’un relevé des nombreuses variantes et corrections contenues dans le manuscrit, de notes portant sur le texte, d’un glossaire et d’une bibliographie ; le volume contient enfin en annexes plusieurs planches du manuscrit. / This thesis presents a critical edition of the Mystère des Trois Doms (1509), from a single manuscript now kept in the National Library of France under the reference n.a.f 18995. This drama play in Middle French contains approximately 11,000 verses, and tells the conversion and martyrdom of the three patron saints of the town of Romans, Séverin, Exupère and Félicien; it was composed for a performance, which took place in the city during three days, on 27, 28 and 29 May 1509. Our work includes several distinct and complementary aspects: philological and historical analysis, literary presentation and linguistic study. After presenting the objectives of our work, we analyze the preparation of the 1509 performance, from a writing point of view (analysis of the manuscript and the various stages of its composition) as well as from the material realization of the representation (construction of the theater and scenery). Indeed, we also have the book of accounts of the mystery play, which contains valuable informations on organizational modalities of its representation: it is a unique case, making this text of great importance for the history of the theater in France. We then propose a presentation of the text of the mystery, an analysis of sources, staging, and some elements of versification and stylistics. The language of the mystery being very rich, our linguistic study focuses on several aspects: graphics systems of the different scribes, regionality of the language and representation of orality. Finally, we present the principles that guided our critical edition of the three days of the play, followed by an account of the various variants and corrections contained in the manuscript, some notes on the text, a glossary and a bibliography. The appendices of the volume also contain several boards of the manuscript.

Ce travail propose l’étude des différentes formes d’activités dramatiques en latin, français et breton, qui ont pris place dans le Nord-Ouest de la France du XIIIe siècle au XVIIe siècle commençant. Il aborde le drame liturgique, le théâtre des mystères, des farces et des moralités, le théâtre des entrées solennelles et le théâtre humaniste, en combinant une approche à la fois littéraire, historique et sociale. Cette étude se fonde d’abord sur une importante recherche archivistique destinée à mettre à jour les connaissances sur les attestations du théâtre. / This PhD research studies drama and the dramatic culture in Latin, French and Breton in northwestern France from the 13th century to the very beginning of the 17th century. It encompasses liturgical drama, mystery plays, farces, morality plays, civic entries and humanist drama, thanks to an interdisciplinary approach combining literary, historical and social elements.This analysis is primarily based on a thorough and comprehensive archive investigation, meant to extend our knowledge about theatrical mentions.