From Medieval to Early Modern Choric Threnody in Biblical Plays

This article traces the dramatic development of lamentation scenes in Biblical plays, from medieval mystery plays to early modern drama. It examines different patterns of chorality and their relation to antiphonal forms, including the laments of the three Marys in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century mystery plays. An analysis of early modern texts dramatizing Biblical stories, such as George Peele’s David and Bethsabe, is set against the backdrop of classical choric threnodies, from Senecan drama (e.g. Troas) to early modern native plays in the classical tradition (e.g Locrine) and Shakespeare’s early experimentation in this field (e.g. Romeo and Juliet and Richard III).