A. C. Cawley (1913–1993)
Author of Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays
About the Author
Works by A. C. Cawley
Associated Works
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight / Pearl / Cleanness / Patience (1300) — Editor, some editions; Editor, some editions — 579 copies, 4 reviews
Medieval literature and civilization : studies in memory of G. N. Garmonsway (1969) — Editor — 4 copies
Research Opportunities in Renaissance Drama XIII / XIV (1970-71) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Cawley, A. C.
- Legal name
- Cawley, Arthur Clare
- Birthdate
- 1913-11-21
- Date of death
- 1993-01-07
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Medway, Kent, England, UK
- Place of death
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Places of residence
- Iasi, Romania
Egypt
Benghazi, Libya
Reykjavík, Iceland
London, England, UK
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (show all 9)
Yugoslavia
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK
Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK - Education
- University College London (BA|1934|MA|1938)
University of London (Ph.D|1952)
Harvard University
University of Hull - Occupations
- Professor of English Language and Medieval Literature
Darnell Professor of English - Relationships
- Cawley, Winifred (wife)
- Organizations
- University of Leeds
University of Queensland
British Council - Awards and honors
- Commonwealth Fellowship
Members
Reviews
Lists
Tom's Bookstore (1)
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 6
- Also by
- 8
- Members
- 1,082
- Popularity
- #23,755
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 4
- ISBNs
- 15
Anyhow, there are a range of plays from a range of cycles in this book, each taking on a Christian story in rhyming verse with a small number of actors. There’s a little bit of historical context, and some glossing for the more difficult medieval and/or Northern English words, but beyond that, all you really get is the plays themselves. The verse styles they’re written in are pretty varied, which each playwright clearly having his own voice. The guy whose meter and rhyme were all over the place so that the play basically read as free verse was my favourite, I think.
And the playwrights could tell a good story. A lot of the speeches read as kind of didactic and heavy-handed today (‘twas the genre and the era, after all) but they’re still pretty engaging and I can easily picture amateur over-actors speaking the lines. It suits that style very well. And, because this is the Middle Ages, there’s also a fair bit of broad humour and slices of medieval life thrown in, like the shepherd who steals a sheep and hides it in a crib, then gets thrashed by his colleagues when discovered. It definitely makes the stories a bit different and more amusing, and being able to read the plays today provides a nice window into medieval worldviews and tastes.
The only thing I really wish had been better was some of the commentary. I’d have liked a bit more annotation beyond the glosses and more information on each play and its players than the few paragraphs we get. (Mostly I think this is an artifact of reading an older version of this collection; we’ve learned a lot in the last 70 years and I think a newer edition would have different info.)
Really, that’s about all I can say. I enjoyed the read and, as I’ve said, found it pretty interesting from a socio-historical perspective. If you’re interested in the topic, I’d certainly recommend!
8/10
Contains: A lot of Christian content, and an equally large amount of Middle English. If you don’t like your Bible stories mixed with broad comedy, this may not be for you. The rhythms of the poetry might get stuck in your head.… (more)