Liberality and Prodigality

Liberality and Prodigality (A Pleasant Comedie, shewing the contention betweene Liberalitie and Prodigalitie, also known as Contention between Liberality and Prodigality) is a morality play by an unknown author from c.1567.

The play is a farcical allegorization of the relationship between the ethical concepts of Liberality and Prodigality, the qualities of which are derived from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.

It is notable for being one of the earliest attempts to present an Aristotelian dramatization of these qualities in early modern drama.

There is some internal evidence, from the allusion to the 43rd year of Queen Elizabeth, that the production was performed before her Majesty in 1600; and it seems likely that it was a revival of a more ancient piece.

Edward Phillips, author of the Theatrum Poetarum, assigned it to Robert Greene, but this attribution is dubious.