morality play

noun

1. an allegorical form of the drama current from the 14th to 16th centuries and employing such personified abstractions as Virtue, Vice, Greed, Gluttony, etc.

morality play

noun

1. a type of drama written between the 14th and 16th centuries concerned with the conflict between personified virtues and vices

Word History and Origins

Origin of morality play¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Maybe it’s for the better — but you’ve been missing out on an unlikely morality play about who makes it and who doesn’t in the eternal heartbreak that is Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

Possessing signifiers of a morality play, “The Lehman Trilogy” is, curiously enough, missing a moral center.

From Seattle Times

He was mindful that it not turn preachy — it’s not “a cautionary tale, a morality play, nothing like that,” he said.

From New York Times

Utah’s uniquely fierce commitment to anti-federal sentiment keeps this morality play running endlessly.

From Los Angeles Times

Robert Redford replaced him with another writer on “The Horse Whisperer,” and Spielberg brought in playwright Tony Kushner to work on Roth’s script for “Munich,” a morality play about Israeli assassins targeting Palestinian militants.

From Los Angeles Times