Submission Date

4-27-2025

Document Type

Paper

Department

English

Adviser

Kara McShane

Committee Member

Katie Henson

Committee Member

Domenick Scudera

Department Chair

Kara McShane

Project Description

In early Middle England, Jews faced an onslaught of antisemitic violence as they were falsely accused of blood libels and the murdering of young children. This culminated in their expulsion from England in 1290, but although they had no legal standing in the country, antisemitism ran rampant in their absence. In this project, I will examine instances of antisemitism in medieval culture, specifically through its drama. The Croxton ‘Play of the Sacrament’ and The York Corpus Christi Play are two plays that display the antisemitism that permeated England throughout the Middle Ages by perpetuating stereotypes that Jews are violent and dangerous. Croxton and York both adapt a Passion narrative that works to uplift Christianity while painting Judaism as a sin, while simultaneously creating the implication that Jews are the murderers of Jesus Christ and therefore dangerous to Christ and Christianity as a whole. Each Jewish character in Croxton is led by their disbelief in Catholic doctrine to reenact the Passion of Christ, while the Jewish characters in York command for Jesus’ Crucifixion, causing both plays to affirm that Judaism itself holds a threat to Christianity. As Croxton and York portray the antisemitism prevalent in the Middle Ages, they simultaneously reflect stereotypes that we see in the present day. Both plays reaffirm antisemitic stereotypes that original audiences would have been familiar with, while encouraging them to maintain their line of thinking well into the future.

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Available for download on Monday, April 27, 2026

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