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    The Second Shepherds' Play, translated into Modern English
    The Second Shepherds' Play, translated into Modern English
    The Second Shepherds' Play, translated into Modern English
    Ebook28 pages24 minutes

    The Second Shepherds' Play, translated into Modern English

    By Natasha Luepke

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    About this ebook

    A modern translation of a medieval classic. Sneaky Mak and clever Gyll steal a sheep from the local shepherds. Upon retrieving their sheep, the shepherds Gib, Coll, and Daw are visited by an angel who announces the birth of Jesus. The play concludes with the shepherds' visit to Bethlehem. What had been a slice-of-life tale transforms into a nativity play, comparing and contrasting the poor peasants and their sheep with Mary and Jesus. Written in the fifteenth century by the Wakefield Master, The Second Shepherds' play uses uses comedy and pathos to explore the lives of medieval English peasants.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNatasha Luepke
    Release dateAug 29, 2015
    ISBN9781310833847
    The Second Shepherds' Play, translated into Modern English
    Author

    Natasha Luepke

    Natasha Luepke received a BA in English and Medieval & Renaissance Studies from the University of Nebraska and an MA in Literature and Culture from Oregon State University. While working on her Master's Thesis about Geoffrey Chaucer, she studied Middle English as a foreign language. She currently lives in Portland, OR with her husband and three cats. For more information, please visit Natasha's website, Medievalist at Midnight: http://natashaluepke.weebly.com/index.html

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      Book preview

      The Second Shepherds' Play, translated into Modern English - Natasha Luepke

      Introduction

      The popularity of media such as The Tudors, The Borgias, Camelot, A Game of Thrones, The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Pillars of the Earth shows that Americans are attracted to the past and its pageantry. Shakespeare is still an important cultural presence. Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf became a best-seller. Even the popular computer game series The Sims has released a medieval version.

      Middle English can be a barrier between the modern reader and entertaining stories from the past. Medieval English plays revel in spectacle and epic storytelling. However, it is very difficult to find complete Modern English translations of many Old and Middle English texts. For that reason, a new edition of these plays, in Modern English, is needed. A modern prose version of The Wakefield Second Shepherds’ Play is a natural introduction to medieval plays.

      The plot itself is easy to understand yet complex in language and characterization. The story centers on Mak, a peasant. After Mak steals a sheep from local shepherds Coll, Gib, and Daw, he brings it home to his wife, Gill. Gill disguises the sheep as a baby. When the shepherds arrive, they are nearly taken in by the deception. As they leave, the shepherds realize they have been tricked, and forcefully retrieve their sheep. Afterwards, they are visited by an angel who announces the birth of Jesus. The play ends with the shepherds visiting Jesus and Mary in Bethlehem. What appeared to be a comedy to a modern audience is actually a nativity play.

      The events of the play, while very much tied to the medieval world, are still relevant to a modern audience. The Shepherds complain about having to work hard for little pay. Coll wonders about the weather, Gibb bemoans the state of being married, and Daw ponders the marvels of the world. Mak is a trickster, but that is not his only defining characteristic: he is also a poor man, and concerned

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