Joseph's Proverbs in the Coventry Plays

Abstract

TO date, the Coventry Joseph plays have caused embarrassment and lent themselves to a variety of interpretations. C. Philip Deasy' is bewildered by the two different figures of Joseph presented in the Pageants of the Weavers and the Shearmen and Taylors. The Weavers is unique in its amplification of the episode of the Purification. The Dove Episode and the treatment of Joseph in this version are interpreted as 'indecorous' by Rosemary Woolf.2 A learned critic asserts that this version 'has been expanded rather stupidly'3 and, therefore, is degenerate. On the other hand, V. A. Kolve praises the Joseph play of the Weavers as an exquisite example of significant comment on the dual role of natural man and servant of God.4 But none of these experts on medieval English drama notices Joseph's frequent use of proverbial language and they entirely disregard the importance of the ornamental and structural devices of proverbs. My recent work on the Coventry plays which deals with the Presentation of the Temple, has thrown a light on the use of proverbs. An examination of Joseph's use of proverbial language in the light of its context and its place in medieval literary tradition reveals that the Weavers presents an elaborate burlesque of Joseph as a weak husband, whereas the Shearmen and Taylors employs the traditional motif of the comic cuckolded husband. These two comic figures, however, are compatible with his final emergence as a saintly figure. Proverbs are used to achieve the fusion of the popular, secular figure of Joseph, and Joseph, the servant of God. No dramatist, either before or since the Coventry author, appears to be as successful as he is in employing a form of entertainment (word-play, or a game in the form of the proverb) to make an audience understand an underlying serious message. One of the major problems accompanying a study of the proverb is definition. The term 'proverb' has not had a specific usage. It is frequently confused or loosely associated with maxim, adage, or epigram and sometimes even covers a popular simile. There has been a tendency to call something a proverb or a proverbial saying when it is only related to a proverb, or is, in fact, a colloquial idiom. Many proverbs do not have precise, invariable and generally recognised forms. Such is particularly the case in sayings incorporated in literature. When the author adopts a proverb in his work, he does not hesitate to change the original if context, rhyme, or rhythm requires such a change, and from age to age the vitality and effectiveness of the proverb varies. In accordance with the current idea of the day, the author changes the saying which he has inherited. The proverb reflects not only the author's way of thinking but also contemporary usage. Thus, when it is incorporated in literary work, the proverb provides a clear reflection of the times. What we find in literature is not the proverb in its 'original' form but a new version, evolved by the author. That is why we