Essay Questions

Why was it appropriate for the Fishermen's Guild and the Mariners' Guild to present the story of Noah and the Ark?

Both fishermen and mariners know what it is like to venture out into the ocean and also what it is like to be at the mercy of the elements having little control over the way in which their trip was going to go. The fact that it was their Guilds who were presenting the story of Noah and his wife and the trials and tribulations that they went through gives a realism to the play that was not present in some of the other stories. Like Noah, fishermen at the time of the plays' presentation would have to be largely responsible for their own vessels and they would also have to have an enormous amount of faith relying on God's protection to enable them to return home safely.

Why were the plays known as "mystery plays"?

In actual fact, there was no real mystery about the plays that were going to be performed. These were not traditional murder mysteries or whodunnits; there was no central plot, no bringing together of characters and evidence tied neatly in solution at the end. The mystery that the name of the plays refers to is the mystery of God and His son Jesus Christ, and the lessons that we learn from the teachings of the Bible.

The plays should more accurately be called the Passion Plays, or the Christianity Plays, because they tell the complete story of the relationship between God and man from the Creation to the Passion of the Christ. However, by using the word "mystery" in the title the plays' author, who is anonymous, managed to convey the fact that what is written in the Bible and also what is taught in the plays is to be a matter of faith; the mystery in the title also refers to the identity of the author, as we do not know who this is, and their identity is also a mystery that has never been solved.