The Pride of Life

is the earliest morality play written in English. Until it was destroyed in the early twentieth century, it was preserved in a fourteenth-century account roll from Dublin. The original manuscript was incinerated by explosion and fire at the public record office in Dublin during the political disturbances of June 1922. However, the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland had published a transcription of the

Account Roll of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, 1337-1346, with the Middle English Moral Play ‘The Pride of Life'

in 1891. This was a full edition of the manuscript by James Mills. This edition also included, as a frontispiece, a photozincographic facsimile of one section of the account roll which includes the beginning of the play.

The play centres on the

1051 words

Citation: Cummings, James. "The Pride of Life". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 July 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9290, accessed 19 March 2024.]

9290 The Pride of Life 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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