The Roll of the Dice and the Whims of Fate in Sixteenth-Century Morality Drama

Abstract

Young characters play dice games in the early Tudor morality plays Nice Wanton (c. 1547–1553), Impatient Poverty (c. 1554–1558), and Misogonus (c. 1564–1577). These staged games are best understood in the context of the mid-sixteenth century’s theological upheavals, particularly in response to Calvinism, and the concurrent rise of an increasingly capitalist economy that rewarded economic risk-taking, a behavior that is mirrored in gambling. In looking at the role (and roll) of dice in these three plays, this essay traces the way staged dice play contributes to increasingly complex debates on the religious and economic implications of risk-taking.