morality play
noun
1
: an allegorical play popular especially in the 15th and 16th centuries in which the characters personify abstract qualities or concepts (such as virtues, vices, or death)
2
: something (such as a court trial) which involves a direct conflict between right and wrong or good and evil and from which a moral lesson may be drawn
Examples of morality play in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Tudor drama morphs into a morality play via Sir Thomas More, beheaded by Henry in 1535 for refusing to recognize him as supreme head of the Church of England.
—
Elle Carroll, Vulture, 18 June 2024
Playground By Richard Powers Playground seems on the surface to belong in the first group—the flat-character morality plays that have come to define Powers’s later career.
—Randy Boyagoda, The Atlantic, 17 Oct. 2024
The most celebrated Spanish novelists and directors of the Franco era offered accounts of people’s lives that avoided simple morality plays and partisan games.
—Victor Pérez-Díaz, Foreign Affairs, 6 Dec. 2013
Since then, all sorts of filmmakers have splashed drama and morality plays on the wide-open canvas of the Western, with varying degrees of success.
—and Kevin Jacobsen, EW.com, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for morality play 
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Elle Carroll, Vulture, 18 June 2024
Playground By Richard Powers Playground seems on the surface to belong in the first group—the flat-character morality plays that have come to define Powers’s later career.
—Randy Boyagoda, The Atlantic, 17 Oct. 2024
The most celebrated Spanish novelists and directors of the Franco era offered accounts of people’s lives that avoided simple morality plays and partisan games.
—Victor Pérez-Díaz, Foreign Affairs, 6 Dec. 2013
Since then, all sorts of filmmakers have splashed drama and morality plays on the wide-open canvas of the Western, with varying degrees of success.
—and Kevin Jacobsen, EW.com, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for morality play
Dictionary Entries Near morality play
Cite this Entry
“Morality play.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morality%20play. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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