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The sheep Mak steals from the three shepherds—Coll, Gyb, and Daw—symbolizes Christ, the Lamb of God. Wrapped in swaddling clothes and visited by three shepherds bearing gifts, the sheep represents the Christ child in the classic nativity story. The stolen sheep—and the shepherds’ decision to bring it gifts when they think it is a baby—also foreshadows the shepherds’ journey to Bethlehem to bring gifts for Christ. Serving as a link between the comic and religious plotlines, the sheep reveals a deeper purpose to the farcical first part of the play and infuses the entire play with a sense of cohesiveness and religious meaning.
Sheep Quotes in The Second Shepherd’s Play
The The Second Shepherd’s Play quotes below all refer to the symbol of Sheep. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Scene 1
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Manus tuas commendo / Pontio Pilato.
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Scene 2
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I am worthy of my meat, / For in a trice I can get / More than they who strive and sweat / All the day long.
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Scene 4
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Were a worse plight, I’d find a way still.
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Scene 6
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Oh, my belly! I die! / I vow to God so mild / If ever I you beguiled / Then I will eat this child / That doth in cradle lie!
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Sirs, for this deed, take my advice instead / For this trespass. / We will neither curse not fight / Nor dispute our right / We’ll tie him up tight / And toss him in canvas.
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Get the entire The Second Shepherd’s Play LitChart as a printable PDF.
Sheep Symbol Timeline in The Second Shepherd’s Play
The timeline below shows where the symbol Sheep appears in The Second Shepherd’s Play. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 1
...into their exhaustion and lie down to rest. Nervous about Mak stealing one of their sheep while they sleep, they force Mak to spend the night between them so that they...
(full context)
Scene 2
...“Always pestered,” but she lets her husband in anyway. When Mak proudly brandishes the stolen sheep, Gill sternly reminds Mak that theft is punishable by hanging. Mak waves off her comments,...
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Mak wants to eat the sheep immediately, but Gill stops him, reminding him that Coll, Gyb, and Daw will certainly suspect...
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Scene 3
...during the night, where Mak dressed in a wolf skin and stole one of their sheep.
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...As Mak departs, Daw tells Coll and Gyb that they should go check on their sheep just in case.
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Scene 4
...tells Gill that the shepherds will immediately suspect him when they realize one of their sheep is missing. Gill is unruffled, confident that their plan to disguise the sheep as a...
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...for the shepherds’ imminent arrival, Gill tells Mak to sing a lullaby to the swaddled sheep while she groans in fake postpartum pain.
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Scene 5
Back in the fields, the shepherds discover one of their sheep is missing and immediately suspect Mak and Gill. Angrily, the shepherds claim that they will...
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Scene 6
...actually came true. The shepherds ignore his comment and tell him that one of their sheep has gone missing. Brazenly, Mak declares that had he witnessed the theft, he would have...
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...and must leave at once. She says if she and Mak are lying about the sheep, then she “will eat this child / That doth in cradle lie.”
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The shepherds fail to find their sheep, dead or alive, in Mak’s shack, let alone any food whatsoever. Trying to ease the...
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...a kiss. He pulls the cloth back and reveals—to his surprise and Mak’s horror—the stolen sheep. Coll and Gyb finally catch up to Daw and see the sheep lying exposed in...
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...night, the shepherds return to the fields more exhausted than before, having carried their 140-pound sheep back with them. The shepherds collapse onto the grass to sleep when suddenly the skies...
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