The Traditions of the Rise of the Prodigal Play in the English Renaissance

Abstract

Prodigal plays originated in the intellectual environment of the early European Renaissance and penetrated the whole stage of the English Renaissance. It takes the Prodigal fable in the Gospels as a carrier, integrates the content of the new Roman comedy, especially Terence’s works, inherits some traditions of neoclassicism, at the same time, it focuses on the conflict between virtue and evil in the experience of the prodigal son, and inherits the tradition of the native morality play in a general sense. On the basis of inheriting the tradition, the prodigal drama highlights its own distinctive characteristics and shows great vitality by incorporating the elements of the times into the open prodigal fable.