it is a baby. Almost every Cycle Drama has a similar structure, and the dramas that came after the Cycle Dramas continue to use this structure. We can see the double plot/sub plot structure becoming more and more significant and taking on more importance in plays such as Gorboduc, The Spanish Tragedy, most of Shakespeare's works, and ultimately in King Lear. .
As the Medieval era ends and the Renaissance emerges we also see a shift in the attitude towards "evil." Through the texts of the English Passion Plays we can see that the attitude is playful and comic when the subject matter is the Devil or something equally as wicked. The possibility of questioning religion, faith, and humanity has not yet entered the picture. As soon as the possibility emerges, the safe and secure world of absolutes is violently thrashed. We see the possibilities emerge in Everyman when Death comes before Everyman has a chance to redeem himself. We see it again with more force in Gorboduc when the King cannot restore his kingdom from his sons. Another great example is in Marlowe's The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus where Faustus has the opportunity to redeem himself, but does not, and "evil" conquers all. We see the culmination of the destroyed safety of the Medieval world in Shakespeare's plays including Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III, and King Lear. Sha!.
kespeare especially dominates this subject matter because of historic events in his lifetime. Because of political strife between the Catholics and Protestants, and to avoid conflict, Queen Elizabeth forbid the subject matter of religion to enter into any play, and thus Shakespeare very craftily described worlds in his plays that related to religion, but had none as specific as Christianity. With these circumstances he was able to open the door to a type of thought not used since the Greek age. In his play, King Lear, Shakespeare describes a world in which "the gods are just, and of our pleasant vice make instruments to plague us.