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The Unity of the Wakefield ‘Mactacio Abel’
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 July 2016
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Despite the renewal of interest in the Catholic vernacular drama of medieval England, critics generally have failed to understand the framework upon which the unity of the Wakefield Mactacio Abel (The Killing of Abel) rests. If, as I believe, the central issue in the play is the response of mankind to God's grace against the background of the whole of history, then those who would admire the play solely for its realism or for its farce are not properly responding to the drama. There are many who perhaps do find the theology implicit in medieval drama to be rather dull fare, but in no way can the religious doctrine be split away from other aspects of this play.
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References
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