GROUP RESEARCH PAPER
Liberty University
BUSI-409-D10
Dec 15, 2017
APA Style
Thesis Statement and Outline
Thesis
The Everyman play shows that all men will ultimately surrender to death but choices that are
made while they are alive can have a detrimental effect on their future when they are being held
accountable by God.
Outline
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I Morality
A. The concept of Right and Wrong
II Who is represented in the “Everyman”
A. The Allegorical characters
1. Symbolic Names
B. God, Death, Angel and the Doctor
1. Symbolic Names
III Why do they use the name “Everyman”
A. Meaning of this name
IV The authors thoughts about Death
A. Perception of Death.
B. Treatment of
Death V Conclusion and
Fate
The Play Everyman is known as a morality play that was composed in the late
fifteenth century by an unknown author. The word morality directs the reader towards
the genre’s main concern. In this play’s case it is an intensely simple story where the
events that are happening emphasize and clearly display Christian principles and
teachings. Morality has also been defined as simply the matters of good versus evil or
right versus wrong. It is often the central focus item in the constant battle between
good and evil. Now this play shows that all man will ultimately surrender to death but
moral choices that are made while they are alive can have a detrimental effect on their
future when they are being held accountable by God.
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The characters in this play are symbolic, meaning they serve as a symbol
of something. In the case of this play they represent the moral value that they portray.
These characters have an allegorical feel, which means they are an illustration of an
abstract or spiritual meaning which is displayed through material form. “In
Everyman, each character is an allegory, and the journey Everyman takes represents
the journey we all make from birth to death” (Downs, 2016). The character names in
“Everyman” show both good qualities and negative values. Each one can clearly be
defined by their name alone. The main character is Everyman, he is displayed in the
play as someone who has sin, he does not followed God’s path and has chosen to
disregard his spiritual existence. This is a choice he will regret and ultimately have to
absolve himself from if he wants to make it to heaven. The next major character in
the play is Death, he is exactly who his name depicts. In the beginning of the play,
God calls to him as “Where art thou, Death, thou mighty messenger?” (Adu-Gyamfi
and Schmidt, 2011, p267). This shows he is working directly for God and doing his
will. During the play, characters such as Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Goods, Good –
Deeds, Beauty, Strength, Discretion, Five-Wits, Angel, and finally Doctor are
introduced. They each play a key role with Everyman, but in the end, each and every
one of them leaves him in his greatest time of need. There are two additional
characters that play a very important role in the play, one of them is Confession. This
is who Everyman chooses to confess his sins to and eventually appeals for
forgiveness for his sins. The final big character they is introduced is Knowledge.
Knowledge ends up telling “Everyman, I will go with thee, and be thy guide, In thy
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most need to go by thy side. (p.277). The character known as Knowledge, will show
Everyman how he can achieve salvation.
Everyman was given his name because it is plain and can be fitted to every person
on earth. This is a term that still fits people today “The illusion that most Americans
belong to the middle class reflects our national mythology of the ‘Everyman,” an idea
that is central to our national identity” (Samuel, 2016). The author uses this central
figure as an emblematic character. God sends Death to Everyman because he knows
he is “Drowned in sin” and that he “know me not for their God” (p. 266). Part of
God’s plan is to put all the characters in Everyman’s path so he can see how many
people have lost your way from God.
Death is tasked with enlightening Everyman that he has to account for everything
he has done wrong in his life and this explanation must be offered to God. Everyman
desperately did not want to hear this and implored with Death for additional time. At
one point he even tried to bribe his way out of it by saying “Yet of my good will I
give thee, if ye will be kind, Yea, a thousand pound shalt thou have, And defer this
matter till another day” (p. 268). When this does not work, he responds back at Death
and says “Death giveth no warning!” (p. 269). Meaning he was not given adequate
time to prepare for this task and that in itself is wrong in Everyman’s mind. Once it
has sunk in that he is unable to get out of this, he starts to connect with the other
characters in the play. He hopes he can count on their help to get him out of this
predicament. But in the end, almost all of them abandon him. After feeling defeated
and alone, Everyman calls on Knowledge to assist him in this journey. Knowledge is
able to clearly define what Everyman needs to do to be forgiven for all the terrible
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things he has done. This is when Confession comes into the story. Confession tells
him to confess all of his sins that he has done. But in the end, Good Deeds is the only
character who is with Everyman when he goes to the other side. The actions by each
of the characters in this play clearly represent the character’s name and attributes.
The author’s perception is that death is caused by sin and sin is the primary
reason that God is upset. It is the reason God originally sends Death down to
Everyman in the beginning of this play. The bible defines sin as “Whoever commits
sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4, NKJV). This play’s
“purpose is to dramatize spiritual peril and the means of salvation, but its method in
doing so reflects earthly concerns that are both concrete and particular” (Harper &
Mize, 2006). The author illustrates that the people of earth are too fixed on material
items and not on living the spiritual life. God has fallen to the way side and is no
longer the central figure in their lives. He deserves to be first in everyone life and
nothing should be put before Him. The author uses Death to act as the guide to show
people that they have sin and must seek forgiveness from God. Everyman represents
all men and is chosen to demonstrate the journey one must take to get back in the
good graces of God. The author allows Everyman to seek a friend to assist in this
journey and to help him explain his actions. Death is the ultimate command, no one is
exempt and everyone must answer to it sooner or later. Everyone must answer for
what they have done in life and confess the sins that they have committed.
The author treats Death as a messenger for God. This allows God to use death to
teach a lesson to all those who are committing sin. But Everyman does not take this
as serious as he should, he tries to get more time and even tries to bribe his way out of
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it. Only when the author surrounds him with all those he thought were his friends
does Everyman realizes that he cannot get out of this journey. Death is shown by the
author as someone who is very frightening and not someone who we ever want to
meet. Death has been described as “an evil creature wearing a black hood and
carrying a scythe” (Hopier, 2017). The author shows that through death is the only
path to achieve eternal life with God. That through confession and asking for
forgiveness Everyman will be blessed and live in the kingdom of heaven. Through
the use of the character, Good Deeds, the author shows us that “Only good deeds and
God’s grace can provide salvation” (Bradford, 2015). Finally when Everyman has
given into Death he understands that the physical form is just the beginning of our life
with Christ. The Bible says “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are
at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight.
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be
present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).
In conclusion, this play shows us that death is inescapable and that everyone must
answer to God for their sins. This play shows that no one can take their money,
clothes, cars or even their family and friends with them to the grave. The only things
that are allowed in with you are your Christian morals and values. But in the end
before anyone enters the pearly gates, they must ask for forgiveness. Everyone’s
actions today will follow you into your spiritual life and the hereafter. Man needs to
be ready to face God when the time comes because no one knows when Death will
come a calling. In the end, Everyman’s soul is surrendered to an Angel and placed in
a heavenly sphere to be given to God. The lesson that should be taken away from this
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story is that “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and
forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
References
Adu-Gyamfi, Y., & Schmidt, M. R. (2011). Literature and Spirituality (pp. 265-287).
N.p.: Longman.
Bradford, Wade (2015, October 28) Everyman - A Medieval Morality Play by Anonymous
Retrieved from https:// www.thoughtco.com/everyman-a-medieval-morality-play-
2713422
Downs, William Missouri; Wright, Lou Anne; Ramsey, Erik, (2016) The Art of Theatre,
(p. 296), Cengage Learning.
Harper, E., & Mize, B. (2006). Material economy, spiritual economy, and social critique
in everyman. Comparative Drama, 40(3), 263-311. Retrieved from
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http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?
url= http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/211714227?
accountid=12085
Hopier, Whitney (2017, February 6) Who is the Angel of Death? Retrieved from
https:// www.thoughtco.com/who-is-the-angel-of-death-123855
Samuel, Lawrence R. (2016, October 4), Who is the American “Everyman”, Retrieved
from https:// www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2016/10/04/who-is-the-
american-everyman/?utm_term=.e9fbe01877d0
New King James Version (NKJV)
