Since most morality plays rose from religious drama, the tone and style of early plays is serious and introspective. As the format opened up to the secular world, playwrights included popular farce in their creations.
Like allegory prose, the morality play can be understood on more than one level, taking abstract traits, such as gluttony or pride, and assigning them a physical appearance. This personification often involves sins, especially in the early plays, or trends toward the 16th century when morality plays became more secularized.
While complex in themes and lessons, the morality plays are simple in construction, which allowed early performers the mobility to present the play at any location, whether in a theater or on the street.
All morality plays wrestle with the internal conflict of good and evil, as their original intended purpose was to educate viewers about good morals.