Everyman Journey

It depicts death as a man who has the ability to make conscious decisions, as a human would. Death is not a person, but giving it human qualities creates an air of mystery and curiosity as to why death would simply walk away or why it would stay and take a life. There is no rhyme nor reason for why death comes at a specific time or to claim a specific person.

God then commands Death to show Everyman who is outside of the law of God what must come to him without escape or delay, the day of reckoning for all. Death encounters Everyman and has questioned him about why he has neglected God, “Everyman, stand still! Whither art thou going thus gaily? Hast thou thy Maker forget?” (Anonymous). Death dispenses the bad news that his day of reckoning for his sins has come and he must give account to God. Upon hearing that his time has come to an end he begins to fear his journey to go before God and give an answer to how he lived his life on earth. Everyman bribes Death to give him another day. Everyman’s argument is that Death did not give him a warning and now he wants to find a companion to accompany him on this journey of reckoning. As time nears Everyman struggles with his ignorance and therefore begins to seek and call upon his earthly friends such as Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, and Goods. Everyman discovers that one by one his acquaintances and possessions, whom he held dear to his heart and promised to be with him till the end, all abandon him in his time of need.

Biblical allusion is another familiar theme throughout this play. Angels are celestial beings watching over mankind and his tragedy. Secondly, death could be interpreted as an end to suffering if seen from the viewpoint of beings from Heaven who live, which relates to the conqueror worm being labeled a hero. Finally, humans are portrayed as actors and entertainment for higher forces. Esteemed by heavenly forces, death provides the most significant transition in our lives. As the Conqueror Worm emerged, the flurry of activity in the show increased connecting motivation to do more in life through the inevitable crawl towards death.

have forgotten their duties to the less fortunate. This prompts God's call for a "reckoning," which Death readily carries out.

Everyman is a Christian morality play written during the 1400s. No one yet knows who wrote this play. It is said that Everyman is the English translation of similar Dutch morality play of the same period called Elckerlijc. Everyman is generally represented as the best and most original example of the English morality play. “Like other morality plays from the late medieval period, it is meant to communicate a simple moral lesson to both educated and illiterate audiences” (Gyamfi & Schmidt, 2011). “Everyman” is about a man who is content with his life when Death calls and tells him about his end. The author has used metaphorical names for characters to show up the moral of the play.

The author of the play Everyman views death from the Catholic point of view. The moral message to live each day with the goal of eternal life in Heaven in mind sets the tone of the play. Everyman illustrates that every man’s soul needs to be saved before death or he will not have eternal life with God. The author views death as the foundation of man’s spiritual journey with God in Heaven or as the initiation of the soul’s damnation. The author portrays death as God’s messenger. The play underscores a message that the treatment of death is similar for every man, as he is held accountable for his actions and deeds in life upon facing death. Additionally, the only way to avoid death is to strive towards achieving ever-lasting life with God in

“He had a bad chi or personal god, and evil fortune followed him to the grave , or rather to his death for he had no grave.”

He was running at my side, out of breath, at the end of his strength, at wit's end. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his only support." (64).

The loss of his humanity, faith, and identity seemed to be his greatest loss. Because Death is not just physical, but figurative in Night,

Abstract The author’s perception and treatment of Everyman are that each individual need to prepare for it by repenting, following God, and doing good works. The author’s perception is that at the end of the day one cannot take anything or anyone with them when they die. The only entity someone can take is their actions and how they use the resources that are given to them. Those who put God before everything and perform good works will enjoy eternity with Him, but those who enjoy only the pleasures of life and forget God, will not. The author’s main message throughout the play is to not fearful of death but know that one day everyone will die, so do as much good as one can, repent of one’s sins, and to put God first. Keywords: author, perception, treatment, death The Author’s Perception and Treatment of Death in Everyman In the late fifteenth century, an unknown author wrote a morality play called Everyman. According to Pearson, a morality play during the Medieval period would communicate a moral lesson and make it so simple that both illiterate and well-educated audiences could both understand the lesson (Adu-Gyamfi, 2016). One may believe that the author of Everyman want to communicate to the audience that everyone will receive judgment the actions they commit on Earth. The author’s perception of death is that God is the only one who has the power to control when each individual die, so if one has a relationship with Him one should not be fearful death. The author

Cousin says: ‘No, by our Lady! I have the cramp in my toe’. (Frohnman 19). In the moment of death, a person may bank on relatives for consolation, but Kindred’s and Cousin’s reaction is a testament that not even relatives can save anyone from the stark reality of death. Good’s reaction to Everyman’s summon by death further lend credence to the premise that death is perceived as a tragedy and is feared. Everyman informs Good’s of his imminent journey to heaven and requests him to accompany him on the journey to heaven. Everyman thinks he can bribe God. He says: “For it is said ever among,

When Everyman learns of his pending death and judgment, he makes an effort to change his lifestyle. Since he does not have a

Even though people have been dying since the start of life, we can never get use to the idea of leaving our loved ones behind. Therefore humans choose to disregard death and get pleasure from life, and consequently we tend to stray away from righteousness. Two works; Everyman by an unknown author, and The Pardoner’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer have been written to preach humans toward Christianity-the right way of living. These authors utilize plot to reveal the role of death in understanding life. This is achieve by drawing on the foolishness of mankind, their response to the inevitable death and the effect of death on protagonists which altogether helps the readers understand worldly treasures are temporary.

The play Everyman is a perfect representation of public literature from the Renaissance period. The anonymous author reveals through the morality play that 'everyman' should be prepared for judgment at any time because, "Suddenly, [Death] come[s]." (Scene 1, Line 81) This, as with all allegorical works of that period, was constructed under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church to strike fear in to the hearts of men and, in doing so, have power over them. The church succeeded by censoring all works and designing them to fit their purpose.

Like many other morality- allegorical plays, Everyman, fits in as the finest representative of this category. This morality play reflects on the reaction of mankind when faced with the dilemma of eternity. In the play, God sends Death to summon Everyman- a representation all mankind. It is