Le sacrement de confession, dont l’obligation annuelle est décidée par le concile de Latran IV (1215), est une pratique religieuse qui marque profondément la civilisation du Moyen Âge finissant. Le motif remporte un succès franc dans le théâtre profane des XIIIe XVIe siècles. Les farces montrent des scènes de confessions burlesques, toujours déviantes, dans lesquelles les travers des pénitents et des confesseurs apparaissent et dont la mécanique formelle est utilisée à des fins dégradées. La moralité favorise l’exploitation des métaphores de ce sacrement ou son allégorisation divisée en de multiples personnages qui gravitent autour de ses trois grands moments : contrition, confession et satisfaction ou pénitence. La figuration imagée est mise au service du sens théologique du sacrement, la confession étant un moyen de salut, une étape capitale par rapport au devenir éternel de l’âme. Enfin, les mystères de la Passion font adopter aux saints antiques le langage du sacrement, manifestant l’identité, dans la civilisation médiévale, entre conversion et confession. Malgré des élaborations esthétiques différenciées selon le genre théâtral, les fortes convergences entre les pièces du corpus montrent des dramaturges attentifs aux mêmes aspects du sacrement : les difficultés qu’il y a à accepter cette démarche d’auto-accusation, l’effort pastoral déployé par les contemporains pour en persuader le bien-fondé et en expliquer le déroulement et enfin, quand ils se font jour au XVIe siècle, les affrontements doctrinaux avec les protestants. Le théâtre est en cela le témoin de la théologie moyenne des hommes de son temps. / Confessing sins is a yearly duty for all Christians since the council of Lateran IV (1215). The broad impact of this religious practice on late medieval civilization is patent through the French theatre of the xiiith – xvith centuries. Comic short plays (farces) show realistic scenes of confession: but, due to the confessor’s or the sinner’s attitude, none is right. The comical and critical distance allows the use of the ritual form, disconnected from the preoccupation of heaven and hell and applied to terrestrial purposes. On the contrary, the use of allegory in morality plays (moralités) aims at showing the signification of the sacrament: images emphasize the meaning of this sacrament which provides ways of salvation to the soul of the sinner. The moments of the rite, contrition, confession, and penance, are, like every other notion in connection with them, impersonated by allegorical characters who explain and perform the sacrament. Eventually, in the Passion plays (mystères), saint characters tell their conversion to the ritual forms of the sacrament, showing the equivalency, in that civilization, between conversion and confession. Despite esthetic differences depending on the theater genres, all plays show a similar interest on some aspects of the sacrament: the reluctance every man must overcome to formulate his self-accusation, the pastoral care with which the institution keeps explaining and convincing people of its use and finally, as it rises in the xvie Century, the protestant contestation of the sacrament. Theatre thus appears to be a testimony of the average late medieval theology.

It is important to remember that the categories of medieval performance were established far removed from their period in history. As a genre, the morality play includes a wide diversity of time, geography, content and performance styles. Such disparities have made it difficult to develop a comprehensive definition, without which comparisons between works cannot be consistent. As scholarship continues to explore these works in context of their performance, it becomes increasingly important to identify which performance styles best inform their production. In examining The Castle of Perseverance within the parameters of pas d’armes, new meanings can be drawn from its text. Instead of simply incorporating the conventions of tournament staging, the play exposes the faults of the secular societies they were intended to promote. Currently it is impossible to determine definitely that The Castle of Perseverance was intended to be a subversion of the pas d’armes. There is no identified author or even record of a single performance in medieval times. Yet the circumstantial evidence within the text supports the theory of subversion. Further research is still needed on the performance of The Castle of Perseverance within the appropriate historical context in order to better understand its place within the larger canon of medieval drama.

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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.