‘Et dat alapam vita’: A Stage Direction in the Chester 'Noah’s Flood'

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12745/et.24.1.4502

Keywords:

Chester mystery cycle, Noah's Flood, typology, stage direction

Abstract

This note considers the role of one of the stage directions in the Chester cycle. The direction ‘et dat alapam vita’, found only in British Library MS Harley 2124, records the blow struck by Noah’s wife after her sons force her aboard the ark, and is typically discussed in the context of the misogynistic ‘humour’ found in other dramatic and non-dramatic texts of the period. In this note, I provide an alternative, typological reading of the stage direction.

Author Biography

Peter Whiteford, Victoria University of Wellington

Peter Whiteford (peter.whiteford@vuw.ac.nz) is a professor of English at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

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Published

2021-06-30

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Note

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