The Passion by Arnoul Greban (Paris, ca. 1450; 35,000 lines; four days) is probably
the best-known French Passion play, often considered the masterpiece of the genre. Its
style is more lyrical than that of most others and its structure the result of careful
planning; Greban eschews the extremes of popular and vulgar elements and achieves a
greater uniformity of tone. It is arguable, however, whether this makes Greban’s play the
best Passion play or merely an exceptional one. It is also unusual in that it has survived in
three complete and virtually identical manuscripts and a number of fragments—it is
extremely rare to find more than one copy of any mystery play. The fame of Greban’s
work was established early. Abbeville borrowed it in 1452, Jean Michel adapted it in
1486, and a revised version was performed several times in Troyes ca. 1490. Greban’s
play is held by some critics to be influenced by the Passion d’Arras; textual
resemblances are few, but the four-day pattern, the Procès de paradis setting, and the
selection and ordering of episodes are common to both. Greban, however, starts with a
brief dramatized prologue, showing the Creation and the falls of Lucifer and of Adam;
Day 1 proper begins with the Procès de paradis, leading into the Annunciation, the
Nativity, and, the childhood of Christ. Day 2 includes the sermons of John the Baptist,
Jesus’s public life, his entry into Jerusalem, and his arrest. Day 3 shows the Crucifixion
up to the setting of the guards at the tomb. Day 4 deals with the Resurrection and
Ascension.
Jean Michel’s Passion (Angers, 1486; 30,000 lines; four days) is a revision and
expansion of Greban’s Days 2 and 3, and most of Greban’s text of these two days is
preserved intact or with superficial change. Despite the impression of derivativeness,
Maurice Accarie has shown what a thorough reworking Michel has carried out. His
expansions, additions, new sermons, and especially his prologues reflect major
innovations. The main difference is that Michel seeks to replace Greban’s continuing
emphasis on the visual (his first line reads, Ouvrez voz yeulx et regardez! “Open your
eyes and behold!”) with his own stress on explanation, commentary, and moral and
spiritual didacticism. The principal vehicle he uses to this end is the character of Mary
Magdalene, the repentant sinner, whose sins (her mondanité) and repentance (the
anointings) are especially elaborated. She and several other normally secondary
characters, like Judas and Lazarus, are given detailed “biographies” that underline
Michel’s moral message. Michel’s Passion play was influential not only because its
approach reflected better the spirit of its age but be cause it was the first to be printed; no
manuscript survives. The number of copies available enabled it to become known far
beyond its province of origin. It was used, in conjunction with Greban’s Days 1 and 4, as
the basis of a text performed in Mons in 1501; and later in the 16th century it was
plundered in such distant places as Valenciennes and the Savoy.
The Passion d’Auvergne (Clermont-Ferrand, 1477; seven days of about 1, 500–2, 000
lines each) bears no relation to the Marcadé-Greban-Michel group. Originating in a
southern province where many working-class people still did not speak French, it has a
structure and an approach to the Passion material that are original. Although only three of
the seven days have survived, the manuscripts and archival evidence enable us to
reconstruct a detailed picture of the complete play, which was performed in 1477 on six
successive Sundays preceding Whitsun and on Whit Monday. Each day’s performance
was short compared with the Greban-Michel journée, probably between 1,500 and 2,000
lines, and would have taken hardly more than three hours. Day 1 depicts John the Baptist
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