Anonymous, The Digby Conversion of St Paul

Claire Sponsler (University of Iowa)
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The Digby

Conversion of St Paul

falls within the genre of medieval saints' plays. Its dominant motif is conversion, which it explores through the biblical figure of Saul, who thanks to a miraculous encounter is changed from an avowed persecutor of Christians to a steadfast advocate for the faith. The play, which was composed sometime in the late fifteenth century in the East Midland dialect of Middle English, survives in a single manuscript copy that also includes the better-known Digby

Mary Magdalen

. Although the

Conversion of St Paul

at first glance appears to be a rather simple and conventional drama, it contains a number of innovative and even radical features that make it of considerable interest. These features include the introduction of a Poeta character, who remarks on and holds…

1278 words

Citation: Sponsler, Claire. "The Digby Conversion of St Paul". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1073, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1073 The Digby Conversion of St Paul 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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