The Ordo Virtutum was primarily written for an audience of nuns, and would have largely—though not exclusively—been performed in Hildegard’s own Rupertsberg Convent. This does not mean, of course, that the play would only have been seen by women, as visiting men would also have been common audience members.

St. Hildegard

For Hildegard, virtues represent both divine powers and human attitudes. The theme of combining divine power with human effort appears throughout Hildegard’s work. Ordo Virtutum presents the forces of virtue as human allegories, singing the visions of divine order.

The songs from the Symphonia are set to Hildegard’s own text and range from antiphons, hymns, and sequences, to responsories. Her music is described as monophonic, that is, consisting of exactly one melodic line.

Morality play, also called morality, an allegorical drama popular in Europe especially during the 15th and 16th centuries, in which the characters personify moral qualities (such as charity or vice) or abstractions (as death or youth) and in which moral lessons are taught.

In the extant plays, three major plots were employed: the Conflict of Vices and Virtues, the Summons of Death, and the Debate of the Four Daughters.

The emphasis put on morality, the seemingly vast difference between good and evil, and the strong presence of God makes Everyman one of the most concrete examples of a morality play. At the same time, most morality plays focus more on evil, while Everyman focuses more on good, highlighting sin in contrast.

Category: Modern Morality Plays & Interludes

• Lily: A Morality Play (Cassie Rocks) By Clare Wright | 19 June 2014.
• The Morality Play of Care-less Worker (Oliver Haslam)
• 家族 and Sin(x): A Morality Play (Erika Vicencio)*
• Home or Away: A Modern Interlude (Claire Coutts)
• The Enemy of the World: A Morality Play (Jack Knoll)

Like other morality plays of its time, Doctor Faustus is the story of how a mortal yields to temptation and ultimately suffers the wrath of God for his sinful deeds. The play involves characters such as Good and Evil Angels, The Seven Deadly Sins, God and the Devil, typical of morality plays.

Morality plays probably originated in England, the earliest known text being The Castell of Perseverance (c. 1405–25). However, one of the best of the genre, Everyman, began in the Netherlands, and moralities were frequently performed in France.

The themes in Othello are linked with individual characters ranging from hatred to love, jealousy to revenge, service to betrayal, and innocence to guilty. Major themes In Othello are love, jealousy, racial prejudice, appearance versus reality, expectations versus outcome and intrigue.

Iago refers to jealousy as the “green-eyed monster.” As this metaphor suggests, jealousy is closely associated with the theme of appearance and reality. For instance, at one point Othello demands that Iago provide “ocular proof” of Desdemona’s infidelity—he demands to see reality.

JEALOUSY TELLS US ABOUT OUR DESIRES. We know that fear alerts us to what we really have to do for our self-development. So the good thing about jealousy is that it teaches us what we want out of life. The jealousy is informing you about what your desires are. It is merely an indication of what you need to be doing.

Emilia says that jealousy is a beast that creates itself and feeds on the negative emotions and cynicism it evokes. The implication is that the more one doubts, the more insecure one becomes.

Emilia is a comparatively minor character for much of the play; however, she serves to provide a strong contrast to the romantic and obedient Desdemona, demonstrating that she is both intelligent and distinctly cynical, especially on matters relating to men and marriage – her speech to Desdemona listing the faults and …