The Parnassus Plays comprise three satirical comedies from around 1598-1602, performed by Cambridge students. Attributed to an unknown author, these plays follow two students, allegorically depicting their education and subsequent struggles, with the final play broaching censorship.
The Parnassus Plays are three satiric academic comedies from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, performed by Cambridge University students. The plays, possibly by an unknown author, follow two students and allegorically represent their academic journey and later struggles, with the third play addressing censorship.
| Front | The Parnassus Plays |
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| Back | The Parnassus plays are three satiric comedies, or full-length academic dramas each divided into five acts. They date from between 1598 and 1602. They were performed in London by students for an audience of students as part of the Christmas festivities of St John's College at Cambridge University. It is not known who wrote them. Title page of The Return from Parnassus: Or the Scourge of Simony (1606) The titles of the three plays are The Pilgrimage to Parnassus The Return from Parnassus The Return from Parnassus: Or the Scourge of Simony The second and third plays are sometimes referred to as Part One and Part Two of The Return from Parnassus. For the most part, the plays follow the experiences of two students, Philomusus and Studioso. The first play tells the story of two pilgrims on a journey to Parnassus. The plot is an allegory understood to represent the story of two students progressing through the traditional course of education known as the trivium. The accomplishment of their education is represented by Mount Parnassus. The second play drops the allegory and describes the two graduates' unsuccessful attempts to make a living, as does the third play, which is the only one that was contemporaneously published. New in the third play is the serious treatment of issues regarding censorship. It has been said that this trilogy of plays "in originality and breadth of execution, and in complex relationship to the academic, literary, theatrical and social life of the period, ranks supreme among the extant memorials of the university stage", and that they are "among the most inexplicably neglected key documents of Shakespeare's age". |
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