The Everyman Play is a morality play that became popular after the Corpus Christi Plays were banned in the 15th century. The play was written by an unknown author, but many Historians believe that the author was probably a priest or monk as they were the people who usually wrote religious and moral dramas. It is also likely that the play is a conglomeration of numerous authors due to several rewrites throughout history. The play was originally written in Middle English. The play uses allegory to look at “Everyman” who is the representation of mankind. The play looks at the idea of salvation and what must be done to obtain it. The idea in the play is that there is a ledger where a tally of one’s good and bad deeds are written.
Throughout the play Everyman tries to convince the other characters, who are also allegories, to go with him in order to improve his ledger. None of them are willing to accompany him on his trip. The allegories represented by the other characters are Fellowship, Goods and Knowledge. They also act as the villains of these play as each of them refuse to join Everyman despite claiming to be friends with him. The end lesson is that everyone dies alone and the only thing you are taking with you to any afterlife is your deeds.
In the play God sends death to teach Everyman, who represents all of mankind a lesson. God feels that Everyman needs to be taught a lesson because Everyman has become too materialistic and he must be taught humility. God is also annoyed that people are enjoying their vices and that they do not care that Jesus died for them or that they could go to hell. So under God’s instruction Death tells Everyman that he is to take a trip to see God. Everyman realizes that he is being called to give an account of his life before God so he attempts to convince Death to put the ordeal off “defer this matter till another day.” (Walker line 123). This does not work, but Death does allow him to take anyone or anything that would help him in his journey.
Soon after Everyman approaches Fellowship and he asks him to join him on his trip. At first Fellowship is all ready to go and have Everyman’s back, but when Everyman tells him that he is being called to stand in front of God. Fellowship changes his mind. Kindred and Cousin who come next also refuse to go after they realize where he is headed. The message here is that friends and family will not be willing to accompany Everyman on their journey to see God.
Next Everyman decides to see if he can get inanimate objects to join him on his journey. First he talks to Goods (material possessions). Goods offers him no comfort choosing instead to scold him for being too materialistic and not being charitable. Knowing that going to see God with Everyman will result in him being sent to hell, Goods leaves. After being abandoned by Goods Everyman runs into Good Deeds, but she is not able to help his as she is lying nearly dead weakened by all of Everyman’s sins. Despite not being able to join him on his trip Good Deeds introduces Everyman to her sister Knowledge. Knowledge tells him to seek Confession. Upon meeting Confession, Everyman asks that his faults be erased. Confession tells him that once he is repentant, his spirit will again be clean. After his punishment Good Deeds has been renewed and is willing to stand beside him when he goes to see God.
Knowledge and Good Deeds tell Everyman about calling on his Five Wits as his counsellors and “three persons of great might” (Walker, line 658). Everyman then calls on his human experience which are allegorized as Beauty, Discretion, and Strength. They are joined by Five Wits. Five Wits believes that priests have more power than the angels, saying
For priesthood exceedeth all other thing;To us Holy Scripture they do teach,And converteth man from sin heaven to reach;God hath to them more power given,Than to any angel that is in heaven (Walker and Wise, lines 732-736)
Knowledge informs him that this is wrong as even priests are not perfect and many have committed horrible acts. Knowledge does concede that the church is the best path to salvation. Everyman now knows that this is a journey that he will have to take alone. Sure enough when it comes time for Everyman to start dying Beauty, Discretion, Strength and Five Wits all abandon him. Knowledge tells him that while he will stay with him until he dies, he cannot join him in heaven. Good Deeds, however can and will take the journey with Everyman. Everyman dies and an angel announces that his soul has been taken to stand in front of God.
There are a number of themes in Everyman, which I will look at briefly:
Nothing Lasts- In the end everything a person values, their friends, family, senses, looks and pride will all abandon them. The only thing that a person can take with them is their actions. This is why it is important to live a life that is virtuous and full of good deeds. In the beginning of the play Death addresses this when he says "Man, in the beginning, / Look well, and take good heed to the ending." (Lester, lines 10-11)
Sin is Fun at a Price- Sin is fun to indulge in but eventually the beauty of sin dies and the person is left dealing with the aftermath. Death says “Ye think sin in the beginning full sweet, / Which in the end causeth thy soul to weep, / When the body lieth in clay.” (Walker, lines 13-15)
The importance of the Spirit over Material Rewards- In the play Everyman tries to get Goods (his material possessions) to go with him. He soon discovers that his wealth and possessions are something that he cannot take with him. He also learns that his need for wealth and possessions has created a barrier between him and salvation. During the beginning of the play when God is making plans to send Death to retrieve Everyman, he says the following regarding materialism:
I perceive here in my majesty, How that all the creatures be to me unkind, Living without dread in worldly prosperity: Of ghostly sight the people be so blind, Drowned in sin, they know me not for their God; In worldly riches is all their mind. (Walker and Wise, lines 22-28)
This indicates that there is a separation between the spiritual and material nature of mankind. According to the author it appears that a person is not able to have both.
The Mercy of God and One’s Judgement- Even though Everyman lives his life full of materialism, vanity, and vice. God will forgive them if they ask. The problem is most people do not bother to ask him for forgiveness. This causes them to lose their chance at salvation. God also says to Death that everyone must stand before him and give an account of their life. After which a tally will be done to see if the good deeds that a person has done in their life outweigh the sins committed. It seems that if a person fails this test they will go to hell.
The Morality Plays were performed in the language of the area. This made them very popular and allowed the common folk, who could not understand the Latin that most services were conducted in to learn the messages of the salvation. The plays were usually performed outside of churches, in the town square, on wagons or in the field. Even though the plays are meant to teach a serious message, they are instilled with a lot of comedy. This is probably so the audience would not be scared off by the strong messages of the Morality Plays. The Everyman Play would have had music when the angels sang. The play would have also used a number of sound effects and props throughout the play. Some of these props would include Everyman’s ledger book, the bags of money and gold that Goods carries and Everyman’s clothes that he wears after his punishment to symbolize that he is sorry for his previous actions.
Works Cited
Fonseka, EA. "A Crtical Analysis of the English Morality Play EVERYMAN." A Crtical Analysis of the English Morality Play EVERYMAN. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.
Lester, G. A. Three Late Medieval Morality Plays: Mankind, Everyman, Mundus Et Infans. London: & C Black, 1990. Print.
Walker, Greg. The Oxford Anthology of Tudor Drama. Oxford, England: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.
Wise, Jennifer, and Craig Stewart Walker. The Broadview Anthology of Drama: Plays from the Western Theatre. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2003. Print.
