Whether or not Carnival is a politically subversive act or restorative of the status quo is subjective to each individual. To argue whether or not it is a subversive act and challenges society or, is entirely reinforcing the status quo: I will engage with the ideas of Mikhail Bakhtin’s Rabelais and His World, Michael Bristol’s Carnival and Theatre (2014) and Sibylle Baumbach’s Introduction to the study of Plays and Drama (2019) as well as referring to ideas presented by Dr Catherine Rosario in her lecture ‘Carnival, Carnivalesque and Medieval Morality Plays’ (2019) to analyse the plays Mankind (1407) and Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (1601) in the context of the question.

In Aristotle’s Poetics (330BC) Tragedy acts as a moral lesson in which fear and sympathy caused by the plight of the tragic hero serve to warn the spectator not to offend providence similarly. In a similar effect, Baumbach states that Morality Plays aimed at improving their audience, providing guidance on how to differentiate between evil and virtue; who were both fighting for the soul of man. Morality plays were performed during Carnival-like (carnivalesque) celebrations such as Eucharist. Carnival itself follows a topsy-turvy principle that governs the acts, according to Bristol’s Carnival and Theatre tools are used not for building but for breaking and killing. The inversion of rank is a critical part of the celebration, for example, a fool would be elevated to the status of a king for one day, and a king would be treated like a fool, making Carnival a special opportunity for all community members.