faustus
. • The psychomachia, the battle for the soul, was a common medieval theme and bound up with the whole idea of medieval allegory, and it found its way into medieval drama--and even into some Renaissance drama, as Dr . Faustus indicates . • A character known as the Vice often played the role of the tempter in a fashion both sinister and comic . Certain themes found a home in the morality plays: • The theme of the Seven Deadly Sins, which was a commonplace of medieval art and literature; • The theme of Mercy and Peace pleading before God for man's soul against Truth and Righteousness . Originally, because of their roots in religious drama and their didactic purpose, moralities were serious in tone and style, but the increasing secularization of the plays led to the incorporation of elements derived from popular farce, a process encouraged by the presentation of the Devil and his servant the Vice as boisterous mischief-makers . These characters soon became figures of amusement rather than of moral edification . Characterization was also crude and naïve, and there was little attempt to portray psychological depth . But over time, the moralities began to show signs of increasingly sophisticated analysis of characters .From about the mid-sixteenth century, under increasing pressure from religious authorities, the popularity of the moralities began to wane, but they continued to be a major influence on mainstream drama .