<P> The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment . In their own time, these plays were known as interludes, a broader term for dramas with or without a moral . Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a Godly life over one of evil . The plays were most popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries . Having grown out of the religiously based mystery plays of the Middle Ages, they represented a shift towards a more secular base for European theatre . The earliest known morality play is Hildegard von Bingen's Ordo Virtutum (English: "Order of the Virtues") composed c. 1151 . It is the earliest morality play by more than a century, and the only Medieval musical drama to survive with an attribution for both the text and the music . </P> <P> Morality plays typically contain a protagonist who represents either humanity as a whole or a smaller social structure . Supporting characters are personifications of good and evil . This alignment of characters provides the play's audience with moral guidance . Morality plays are the result of the dominant belief of the time period, that humans had a certain amount of control over their post-death fate while they were on earth . </P>

Which attribute of the characters in morality plays reflects