The Preaching Fox Elements of Festive Subversion in the Plays of the Wakefield Master

First published in 2005. Volumes in the Medieval History and Culture series include studies on individual works and authors of Latin and vernacular literatures, historical personalities and events, theological and philosophical issues, and new critical approaches to medieval literature and culture. Momentous changes have occurred in Medieval Studies in the past thirty years, in teaching as well as in scholarship. The Medieval History and Culture series enhances research in the held by providing an outlet for monographs by scholars in the early stages of their careers on all topics related to the broad scope of Medieval Studies, while at the same time pointing to and highlighting new directions that will shape and define scholarly discourse in the future. This volume is a collection of Wakefield Master’s festive plays. Characters threaten the audience with comic bravado, engage in mocking tomfoolery, and parody any number of sacred forms; it is behavior unexpected by modern students of the drama, especially from what we assume was a serious and religious medieval past, and it is unlike what we find in the other mystery cycles.