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Everyman Play

Decent Essays

In the late Medieval morality play Everyman, the unknown author reveals the dilemma each man may face, should they delay in living a life pleasing to God. The primary theme of this allegorical play covers death, which comes upon every living creature. The unfolding of the roles each character plays delivers a strong message about death’s inevitability that should awaken every man. Everyone reaches a point of understanding that death is a normal part of life that no one can escape.
There have been numerous interpretation analysis and explications written on this famous fifteenth-century morality play. The message of this play has even been put to film in “The Summoning of Everyman”, as produced by Douglas Morse in 2008. In Harry Keyishian’s …show more content…

His role is to not only deliver the message God has given him to call upon Everyman but throughout the script it appears he also aids Everyman in preparing to meet God and receive salvation by somehow delaying. Everyman proclaims several times how he is not ready or prepared to give an account of his life. Even though Everyman makes numerous request for Death to depart or to delay the pilgrimage he is called to take, the journey somehow allows Everyman to seek help from the other characters he encounters along his way. The characters Fellowship, Kindred and Cousin, and Goods do not hesitate to withdraw from Everyman once they learn of the journey’s destination. This leaves Everyman in a most depressed emotional state of mind. At first, Everyman’s interaction with Good Deeds seems to be like the others until he is introduced to Knowledge, who then is able to lead him to Confession and restore his hope. Everyman then receives promises from Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and his Five Wits to never leave him along his journey. However, these four abandon Everyman just before his dark moment of entering the grave. Only Good Deeds and Knowledge are found by his side when reaching the end of his journey. Having received assurance of salvation by following the guidance of these two characters points to the importance the author was relaying for all to follow the Christian doctrines of living to please God by bearing fruit from our good works

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