Morality Play is a detective story by Barry Unsworth, a Man Booker Prize-winning author for his book Sacred Hunger For the theatrical allegory, see morality play. ... Barry Unsworth (born 1930) is a British novelist who is known for novels with historical themes. ... The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known in short as the Booker Prize, is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of either the Commonwealth of Nations or the Republic of Ireland. ... Sacred Hunger is a historical novel by Barry Unsworth first published in 1992. ...

Published in 1996 by the W. W. Norton & Company, the book was critically acclaimed and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Time: Medieval times. The end of the 14th century. Total duration of the book is almost a year. It starts and ends in the winter.
Place: The north of England, on the countryside. Village on the county of Lord de Guise, that lays north of the Humber.

Characters

Nicolas Barber

The main character, a monk who fled in fear of the husband of a woman he plagued adultery on. After he fled he became a player.

Robert Sandville

The lord to whom the player's belonged. At the time of the book, he was fighting in France for the King.

Martin Bell

the leader of the players. He used to be in service of a lord, but because of circumstances he got a license to play parts and started a player's group.

Tobias

A thrifty and wise man, who've been part of the player's group for a long while. He owns a scruffy dog.

Stephen

He used to be an archer for the Sandville family, but when he lost his right thumb he could never practice out that profession again. Therefore he joined the players. He had great respect for aristocracy and acted with dignity.

Springer

the youngest of the group, around fifteen even though he was not sure himself. He did the women's parts because of his boyish face.

Straw

The most lively in the group, with strange mood swings. He always wants to entertain everyone and can do many different kind of parts. he just as easily plays a child as an old woman.

Margaret

The wife of Stephen. She was originally a whore. She is not really part of the players, she only does small jobs involving the play. None of the players really like her (except Stephen of course) but she is indulged.

Brendan

He was one of the players. He died in the beginning of the book of an unknown disease. Because of his dead Nicolas got accepted into the group of players, and also because of his dead they stopped in the small village where the murder of Thomas Wells had taken place.

Thomas Wells

he was a young boy, whose parents were simple villagers. Because of money problems he was sent home with money they got from selling their cow. He got killed on the way there. It was his murder that the payers decided to act out. To do that they investigated his murder.

Jack Flint

In search of more information about the murder of Thomas Wells, Margaret found Flint. He was the one who buried Thomas Wells, and his information helped to solve a lot about the murder. Margaret was very much attracted to him, and in the end of the book she even planned to go life with him and leave the player's company.

Jane

A single woman living with her father. She was accused of the murder and trown in prison. Martin sought her up and fell in love with her.

John Lambert

A simple weaver with strong moral idea's. He was the father of Jane and convinced that Jane's arrest was meant to silence him.

Lord de Guise

... de Guise

'the son'

the knight

A very impressive man, who came to the village to compete in a tournament organised by Lord de Guise. Nicolas originally though he was coming to get his soul.

Simon Damian

The monk bound to the Order of the Benedictines but who works for the Lord. He lived in a monastery but travelled around. He tried to but the blame of the murder of the weaver, but got hanged himself instead.

The Justice

The Justice is a man at service of the King. He has the legal autority of a court. He had come to the unnamed village to judge Lord de Guise and his practices.

Thomas

he is justice's helper and has the same fine manners as the justice.

Plot

This story takes place in medieval times. It's about and a rogue monk who had to flee his monastery and join a group of players. They perform plays in various towns, until they arrive upon a town in which the murder of a young boy has recently occurred. The principal actor, Martin, suggests that they do a play on the subject of the unsettling death of the boy, Thomas Wells. The players go out and try to gather further information about the murder. As the story continues, more things begin to unravel. The idea of acting this murder is especially difficult for the rogue monk, Nicholas. Although he ran from his duties as a monk, he still holds onto the concept of church and God which tend to give meanings to plays that are often shown. When they show the play for the first time, the mother of the child is watching and denies that the story is true. The players, after they are done, resolve to make a new play, The true story of Thomas Wells. This doesn't work out to well. Because of their meddling they are brought to Lord de Guise, who wants them to play out The true story of Thomas Wells for him. The players are held prison at his castle, but Nicolas Barber finds a way to escape and seeks the help of the Justice. Together they solve the murder and free the players. At that point Nicolas realises that he doesn't want to become a monk again but stay a player the rest of his life.

External links

• Publisher's site
• Man Booker Prize site - shortlisted