ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The Second Shepherds’ Play (also known as The Second Shepherds’ Pageant) is a famous medieval mystery play which is contained in the manuscript HM1, the unique manuscript of the Wakefield Cycle. These plays are also referred to as the Towneley Plays, on account of the manuscript residing at Towneley Hall.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Second Shepherds’ Play is a celebrated medieval mystery play as a part of the Wakefield mystery play cycle. “Mystery plays, ” which were very popular during the 14th and 15th centuries, depicted stories based around the Bible.

Detailed explanation-3: -Symbolism is common in medieval drama. In The Second Shepherds’ Play the scene with Mak and his wife and their sheep/infant has its own comic meaning, but it is also meant to be symbolic of the more serious nativity scene that ends the play. Mak and Gill’s lamb/infant symbolizes the birth of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Detailed explanation-4: -anonymous Wakefield Master, and his Second Shepherds’ Play is one of the masterpieces of medieval English literature. The morality plays were allegorical dramas depicting the progress of a single character, representing the whole of humankind, from the cradle to the grave and sometimes beyond.

Detailed explanation-5: -Although nothing is known about the author, or the origins of the plays, it is agreed by several scholars that they date sometime between 1400-1450.