The Second Shepherds' Play: Analysis of Setting
"The Second Shepherds' Play" serves as a medieval mystery play that interweaves the lives of contemporary shepherds with the biblical narrative surrounding the birth of Jesus. Set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors, it highlights the struggles of the rural poor in the fifteenth century, portraying shepherds who face harsh winters, hunger, and the weight of oppressive land ownership. This portrayal not only reflects their hardship but also emphasizes their role as the meek and downtrodden, linking their plight to the message of hope and social justice that Jesus represents.
A notable setting within the play is the hovel of Mak and Gill, where they comically hide a stolen sheep, referencing the nativity story through their parody of Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus. This scene underscores the themes of deception and survival among the poor while simultaneously evoking the innocence associated with the Christ Child. The final scene transitions to Bethlehem, where the shepherds bring gifts to the newborn Jesus, effectively blending contemporary struggles with ancient narratives and reinforcing the universal significance of Jesus’ birth. Overall, the settings in "The Second Shepherds' Play" serve to highlight both the socioeconomic conditions of the time and the enduring message of hope found in the Christmas story.
The Second Shepherds' Play: Analysis of Setting
First transcribed:Secunda Pastorum, fifteenth century
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Mystery and miracle play
Time of work: c. 4 b.c.e.
Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Places Discussed
*Yorkshire
*Yorkshire. Northern England moors on which shepherds are watching over their flocks by night. In contrast with biblical shepherds, however, these shepherds complain about typical problems of the fifteenth century rural poor. The shepherds are dispossessed tenant farmers who suffer from the bone-chilling Yorkshire winter, from hunger, and from oppressive landowners. They represent the poor, meek, and downtrodden for whom Jesus is a symbol of hope and social justice, even across the centuries.
Mak and Gill’s home
Mak and Gill’s home. Hovel in which Mak and Gill hide the sheep that Mak steals from the shepherds. Gill, pretending she has given birth once again, wraps the sheep in swaddling clothes and lays it in a cradle. The three are a comic if not blasphemous version of Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus. The setting again connects the contemporary poor to Jesus, the lamb of God, who was born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.
*Bethlehem
*Bethlehem. The play’s final brief scene is set in the stable in Bethlehem in which Jesus was born. Returning to biblical text, this scene shows the shepherds bringing gifts to the Christ Child, thereby merging ancient and contemporary time and clinching the universal relevance of Jesus’ message.
Bibliography
Carpenter, Nan Cooke. “Music in the Secunda Pastorum.” In Medieval English Drama: Essays Critical and Contextual, edited by Jerome Taylor and Alan H. Nelson. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1972. Asserts that music is an important element in the play’s structure and a means of underscoring thematic statements.
Kinghorn, A. M. Mediaeval Drama. London: Evans Brothers, 1968. Devotes several pages to analysis of the play, noting its humor, freshness, and realism.
Nelson, Alan H. “Some Configurations of Staging in Medieval English Drama.” In Medieval English Drama: Essays Critical and Contextual, edited by Jerome Taylor and Alan H. Nelson. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1972. Examines scholarly understanding of the use of pageant wagons for the staging of mystery plays and discusses the unlikelihood of the plays’ being staged in processions. Includes early illustrations.
Robinson, J. W. Studies in Fifteenth-Century Stagecraft. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 1991. One chapter contrasts the work of the Wakefield Master with that of the York realist. Examines The Second Shepherds’ Play in detail, looking at structure, characterization, humor, and number imagery, among other topics.
Ross, Lawrence J. “Symbol and Structure in the Secunda Pastorum.” In Medieval English Drama: Essays Critical and Contextual, edited by Jerome Taylor and Alan H. Nelson. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1972. Argues for a unity that goes beyond the structural parallels of the two parts to examine parallels in their language and the symbolic implications of the shepherds’ gifts.