ABSTRACT
The episode of 'Joseph's Doubts' in the N. Town manuscript appears to be a conflation of parts of two plays: a scene from a self-contained Mary Play dealing with the early life of the Virgin Mary up to and including the Visitation, and a traditional pageant play of 'Joseph's Doubts'. The episode of Joseph's Doubts comes from Matthew, the Annunciation and Visitation from Luke and Gospel Harmonies had to decide which came first in chronological sequence. Ultimately, the shining-face motif comes from the folk-tale world of the Apocryphal Gospels of the nativity and early life of Mary, where it has nothing to do with her pregnancy or with Joseph. The Gospel of Pseudo Matthew gives a lengthy description of the beauties and virtues of the child Mary in the Temple. The Gospel of Pseudo Matthew reserves its most striking use of supernatural light for the Nativity.
