Morality play

Morality plays are a type of theatrical allegory in which the protagonist is met by personification of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a godly life over one of evil. The plays were most popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th century. Having grown out of the religiously based mystery play of the Middle Ages, they represented a shift towards a more secular base for European theatre. At the dawn of the 15th century morality plays were common throughout medieval Europe as didactic plays intended to teach good morals to their audience. Plays like Condemnation des banquets by Nicolas de Chesnaye, The Castle of Perseverance,An Inspector Calls,Everyman are all surviving plays that were written and performed with this intention. However, by the 16th century these plays started to deal with secular topics as medieval theatre started to make the changes that would eventually develop it into Renaissance theatre. As time moved on morality plays more frequently... full article at wikipedia