Morality Play: Everyman As A Morality Play

The English morality play “Everyman” uses allegorical characters to represent what Everyman holds onto and values during his life. Everyman has neglected his spiritual life, but as the play develops Everyman repents of his sins on time. Summoned by Death, Everyman realizes that he is not ready and does not want to die alone. Thereafter, Everyman seeks to find a companion to go with him on the journey to give account of his life to God but to no avail, Everyman soon realizes that all of those who accompanied him on earth soon abandon him.

Foreshadowing is a significant device in the play where it helps the reader understand the theme of fate in the play. An example of foreshadowing is when Oedipus speaks to his children and says, “I weep for you, though sight is mine no more, Picturing in mind the sad and dreary life which waits you in the world in years to come”. This informs the reader that Antigone will have a similar fate to her father’s, however she deals with it differently. Antigone is fully aware of her fate and therefore she accepts it. She decides to obey the laws of the gods instead of Creon’s laws by giving her brother a proper burial. Even when she faces death, she still holds on to her beliefs knowing that her fate is inevitable and this is shown when she says, “my fate prompts no tears.”. Therefore both Oedipus and Antigone discovered their fates, but one of them decided to fight against it while the other decided to obey the gods by accepting it. Even when they had similar destinies, Oedipus was seen as a leader who brought shame to Thebes, while Antigone was recognized for her heroicness and courage because she respected the gods enough to follow her

The author also uses symbolism through the name of the characters. For example, Mr. Summers; the name “Summers” suggests that he is a cheerful man and to support this, he is described as a “round-faced, jovial man” with “time and energy to devote to civic activities” ; however, the true personality lying behind the name is the total opposite. On the other hand, the name Graves is the most obvious of all, the name relates to the place where corpses are buried, a strong indication of the participation of death in the story.

In conclusion, Kingsolver uses the symbolism to show the deeper feeling or meaning of each character, or the

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

The theme of this novel is to look at the good you do in life and how it carries over after your death. The moral of the book is; "People can make changes in their lives whenever they really want to, even right up to the end."

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

Symbols are important in each story to define the theme. Close observation of the symbols within each story proves to one their

Everyman is a classic play written in the 15th century whose subject is the struggle of the soul. This is a morality play and a good example of transition play linking liturgical drama and the secular drama that came at the end of English medieval period. In the play, death is perceived as tragic and is intensely feared. The protagonist; Everyman, is a person who enjoys the pleasures of life and good company. When he is unexpectedly called by death to account to God for his actions on earth, he is thunderstruck. He is filled with sorrow and

There are more significant symbols in the novel such as The Boy. The Man and Boy fight to survive many hardships, but through the darkness there is light, The Boy. He is very mature and cares for every stray person they pass. One person he cares for is a man named Ely, an old man with nothing but the clothes on his back, until he meets The Boy and his father." 'You should thank him you know, I wouldn’t have given you anything' "(McCarthy 173). The Boy wants everyone to survive and is willing to share his supplies even if it means he won`t have all the things he needs to live.

The play Everyman begins with God commanding his messenger Death to summon “every creature and give account” of their lives. The name Everyman symbolizes mankind who has become “blotted and blind” by worldly riches and have “wend” onto the corrupt path. The author alludes to biblical allusions, “I [suffer] to be dead and “[hang] between two,” to alert people from God’s anger. This imagery evokes desolate tone because Jesus, the savior of mankind, is crucified between two thieves to save man from drowning into sins such as; “pride, covetise, wrath, and lechery.” However the mankind still overlooks Him and hence Death is send to Everyman. The Pardoner’s Tale, begins with three rioters who “daunce [drink and gamble] bothe day and night.” The author portrays this

In literature, symbolism is used to suggest an underlying meaning in a story. In the story of “Godfather Death,” a quite ironic title, the Grimm brothers used a multitude of symbols to convey the story’s moral value. The Grimm brothers used seven symbols in this story. All of them play a part in conveying the message that death cannot be defied, death is constant, and death is fair.

“Everyman” is regarded as a morality play that was written in late 15th century. According to Michael A. Babcock, author of the story of Western culture, “Morality plays can be explained in best ways because of allegories figure out efforts made between seven virtues and seven vices contained in heart of man”. The play is a picture of what Christians should do or how they should spend their lives to save their souls from being convicted by death (Yaw Adu-Gyamfi P.265). The understanding of death in “Everyman” play is influenced by how people live their lives. The play brings out an idea of how people struggle to choose between worldly things and the ultimate spiritual judgment. The conflict between riches, relationship and the spiritual enrichment, heaven and hell and God’s verdict seems to be on the rise in the play. Babcock also states, “Everyman is a struggle between good and evil, between seven virtues as well as seven vices”. (167). we see how life is a transitory, when the play documents Everyman’s journey from sinful life to sin free life and finally to a holy death.

Symbolism in literature is used to give an entirely different meaning which is more significant and much deeper to a story using objects representing other objects and giving them a sense that is different from their literal meaning. The meaning of the symbols used to depend on the reader, and there is no universal meaning for symbols used because their purpose is inherent in the symbol itself. In both stories, the authors use symbols to give different meanings to their story.

The play Everyman may have been written many years ago, but its lessons are still relevant today. Generally, the facts of death are very traumatizing and in fact unthinkable. This leads the modern day Everyman to ignore its significance, dying without acknowledging or reflecting on their lives here on earth. It is based on this fact that this paper aims to show the position of the author of the play “Everyman” regarding death.