The Seven Deadly Sins in medieval and selected early modern English moralities

This study examines the representation of the Seven Deadly Sins (Pride, Wrath, Envy, Avarice, Sloth, Gluttony, and Lechery) in a series of English morality plays from the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, ranging from the putative Pater Noster Play of York (14th C.) to Marlowe's Tragical History of Dr. Faustus (ca. 1592). The plays are considered on a case-by-case basis, and the depiction of the Sins (whether as freestanding characters or modes of conduct) is discussed in each.;The study then addresses the question of the plays' potential for moral subversion, with a particular eye toward Bakhtin's theories of the grotesque and carnivalesque. However, it is revealed that the Sins, although energetic and physical, are ultimately incapable of carrying the day. Ultimately, this study contends that the Sins in these plays exist as things to be defeated, and that the plays serve an essentially conservative role.