A Crtical Analysis of the English Morality Play

EVERYMAN
E.A. Gamini Fonseka

A Detailed Synopsis of EVERYMAN

The Christian morality play Everyman opens with a Messenger from Heaven explaining the gracious
intention of the theatrical endeavour aimed at the spiritual refinement of Everyman in preparation for the
summoning he receives at the end of his worldly life. According to the Messenger, the play reveals how
transitory our lives are, and the truth conveyed in the play is wondrous and precious.
The character of Everyman is a universal representation of the human race. Accordingly, Everyman,
carried away by his physical and mental potentials that support a flamboyant existence during youth,
does not consider that there is an end to his life. To him, sin is sweet although it causes regret at the
moment of death. But, in his death bed, he does not have the assistance of the Fellowship, Jollity,
Strength, Pleasure, and Beauty that surround him during his youth. They will fade from thee as flowers
in May. Thus the play provides an experience of how one faces death all by oneself as a true follower of
the Christian morality.

God realises Everymans moral deterioration

After the messengers exit, God appears and relates his feelings about the sinful behaviour of all humans
on earth resulted in by worldly prosperity. They are blind to the sight of God; they are not aware of the
presence of God; they are not cautious of the punishment they would receive from God for their crimes;
and they antagonise God by ignoring the sacrifice he has made for their sake. The suffering that God
claims to have undergone reminds of Christs sacrifice of himself on the cross. God expresses his
depression about the materialistic values Everyman maintains, accepting the seven deadly sins taught
in Christianity as practical; professing pride, covetise, wrath, and lechery; shunning the association of
angels from Heaven; and indulging himself in worldly pleasures.
He finds the moral deterioration that Everyman undergoes appalling and being aggravated year by year.
He notices the transience of every living being, and decides to investigate Everymans conduct before it
becomes worse than that of an animal. Currently, God notices that the humans forget all virtues and kill
each other by envy. God expects Everyman being a Good Christian to reserve his noble place in Heaven
by following his teachings, but, at the moment, thankless for the gift of life and the mercy he has received
from God, he lives like a traitor. Therefore he decides to summon Everyman to him, in order to establish
justice in the society he built. Then he beckons Death and orders him to remind Everyman about his
preparation for the end of his life on earth. God prescribes that Everyman should make a pilgrimage in
his name and have a track record ready with him to be presented at his judgement.

Death visits Everyman

Death promises to God to go to the world; to study all humans big and small critically; and to meet
Everyman who foolishly leads a beastly life, disregarding the laws set by Heaven. He is determined to
blind the one who is greedy for wealth, and to leave alone the one who lives by alms. He recognises from
a distance Everyman unfit to meet the King of Heaven, and realises his ignorance of the invariable
visitation of Death and his self-indulgence in sex and wealth. Then Death calls Everyman, reminding him
of his obligation to his Maker.
Shocked to have been accosted by a stranger, Everyman asks Death about the purpose of his visit. First
Death introduces himself as a messenger from God. Everyman gets confused by this. Then Death
explains that though Everyman has given up thinking about God, it is noteworthy that God thinks about
Everyman. Further confused and dazed, Everyman wants to know what is desired of him by God. In
response, Death presents to him the case that God needs immediately an account of Everyman. Conscious
that he is not morally strong and sound, Everyman reveals his unpreparedness for such a requirement
imposed by God.
Death does not leave Everyman in a predicament but helps him by intimating him with the procedure of
organising his track record. According to Christian teachings, Everyman has a book of good and bad
deeds, and he has to open it and read out from it at the encounter with God. From this interview only,
God learns the way in which he has led his life and there he cannot defend himself with the help of an
advocate, like in a lawsuit in the human world.
Everyman again reveals his unpreparedness for such an interview with God. In response, Death discloses
his true identity and warns him to be obedient. Scared of the horror Death can inflict upon him, he tries
to bribe Death to get the process delayed by one day. But Death rejects his offer flatly. I set not by gold,
silver nor, riches, ne by pope, emperor, king, duke, ne princes. As wealth and position are immaterial for
him, Death remains neutral in the presence of gifts, and warns him about the compulsion of preparing his
record instantaneously.
From Deaths warning, Everyman realises regretfully the impossibility of delaying the process of
judgement upon him and laments his carelessness so long. He regrets that, if he had known this
requirement twelve years before, he would have gone on a pilgrimage and so that he would have been
able to prepare his track record clearly. Death illuminates that it is no time to cry, weep, and pray but
he should hurry up in the journey and identify his true friends in life, as it is natural for each living
creature to die because of the sin committed by Adam.
Having made up his mind to take up the journey, Everyman verifies from Death that he will not return to
the world after he has made the pilgrimage and has fulfilled the requirement of presenting his track
record to the King of Heaven. Lacking in self-confidence, he begs God of his permission to have the
company of his friends on his journey. On behalf of God, Death tells him ironically that he can do so if
there are so strong friends they can accompany him; establishes seriously that he is going to present his
track record to God; and questions him sarcastically whether his own life is not enough for him as a gift
from Heaven. Thus Death points out to Everyman the futility of clinging on to worldly treasures.
According to Death, all worldly treasures are lent to Everyman for his existence during his life time in the
world, and nothing belongs to him permanently. Everyman realises the illusive nature of all worldly
enterprises and looks for a way out. In his struggle he asks Death for the grace of just one day, but Death
refuses to give him any respite. He relates the cruel way in which he takes life, to the heart suddenly I
shall smite. Then he warns that Everyman should prepare on the moment itself to face the judgement on
him and that he should find no escape from this process.
After Death has vanished, Everyman, helpless and insecure, regrets that he is utterly unprepared for the
journey, neither equipped with a well-written track record nor accompanied by any friends, and looks for
an excuse for his failure. He wishes he would not have been born. He meets quite an anticlimax. Before
the imminent test, he experiences a real catharsis. He feels in both body and mind the fear of pain;
understands the futility of tears; realises his ignorance of the spiritual needs of life; and decides to take
advice from Fellowship. In the expectation of enjoying his assistance in this dire need, Everyman
reminisces how he has had dealings with Fellowship in both work and fun and meets the latter.

Everyman meets Fellowship

From the facial expression of Everyman, Fellowship learns that he is troubled and offers at once to help
him. Everyman tells him without hesitation that he is in danger. Fellowship promises Everyman not to
leave him till the end of his life and Everyman is highly encouraged by his words. Fellowship wants to
know precisely what Everyman ails from and offers to die on behalf of him if that is the requirement.
Everyman thanks Fellowship heartily but Fellowship is utterly dissatisfied with his delay to explain his
trouble. In return Everyman tells him that if he reveals the real reason for his sorrow, Fellowship would
feel helpless, and that will aggravate his present grief ten times. Fellowship is still curious to know what
it is, promising not to forsake him.
Satisfied with Fellowships expression of concern, Everyman praises his genuine commitment.
Fellowship offers to join him even to go to Hell. Everyman is overjoyed by Fellowships cooperation and
praises him. Fellowship coaxes Everyman to come out with the problem he has, ascertaining that what he
means by word is pure action. Encouraged by Fellowship, Everyman reveals the order he has received
from God to appear before him with his track record and begs Fellowship to accompany him on his
journey to Heaven.
Fellowship gets frightened and shocked by this request made by Everyman. He also learns that there is
no return from this journey till the day of doom. He declares that it is a grave situation to handle and
admits his inability to cope with it. For the sake of preserving his connection with Everyman, he suggests
that they should seek advice from an expert. Everyman exposes the unreliability of Fellowships promise
not to forsake him even in a journey to Hell. Fellowship removes his mask at this point. It becomes
obvious that he is more worried about his own well-being than that of the others. When he learns that
Everyman has received the order through Death he gets even more frightened and flatly refuses to join
him. Everyman gets disillusioned with the extent of the commitment Fellowship maintains towards him.
It becomes vivid that Fellowship is available only on the occasions of eating, drinking, merrymaking, and
sexual pleasure.
Agonised by his shallowness and cowardice, Everyman warns Fellowship that he will be in the same
plight very soon and would be seeking assistance as he does presently. Fellowship still refuses to join him
and offers to join him only in violent projects such as murder and killing. Utterly helpless, Everyman
reminds him of the good time they had together and begs him of his assistance further. Fellowship
swears by the Guardian Saint of England Saint John that he cannot help him. Finally, Everyman requests
Fellowship at least to cooperate with him in charity and give him moral support until he passes the tricky
moments. Fellowship declines his request, claiming that even if he receives a new gown from Everyman,
he will not join him in such a journey. He simply palms off his responsibility to God, and leaves
Everyman alone. Everyman feels badly let down by Fellowship and takes leave of him in heart-felt
agony, Adieu for ever, I shall see thee no more. Fellowship proves his ineffectiveness in such spiritual
challenges and leaves Everyman, cutting a poor figure of himself. For you I will remember that parting
is mourning.
Everyman realises the paradox of the connection with Fellowship. He prays Our Lady Virgin Mary for
help, pointing at Fellowship running away from him, and relating how he took part in all types of fun
organised by him and how insensitive he is in this dire need. It is said, in prosperity men friends may
find, which in adversity be fully unkind. As there is no point in worrying about Fellowship any more, he
decides to apply to Kindred for help, and goes in search of Kindred in the belief, kind will creep where it
may not go.
Everyman meets Kindred and Cousin
As soon as Kindred sees Everyman, he expresses his willingness to help him, and requests him to tell his
problem. Cousin also joins Kindred assuring that he is ready to live and die together with Everyman.
Kindred talks about his respect for the tradition of shouldering any crisis on behalf of Everyman in
honour of kinship. Encouraged by their well-articulated words, Everyman complains about the order he
has received from the King of Heaven through his messenger Death to go on a pilgrimage and present
him a straight forward personal track record and the fear he has about failing at fulfilling this test.
Kindred wants a clarification of the account he is supposed to present. Everyman relates that it should
cover all his activities, his conduct all his life, the sins he has committed, the tricks he has played, and the
virtues he has ignored, and pleads with them to help him in formulating a proper track record to defend
himself in the presence of God.
On hearing this, Cousin refuses to join him and suggests Everyman simply lives on bread and water
during the period of the journey without seeking his company. Everyman feels funny about his
proposition that without Cousin he should not be happy. Then Kindred laughs at Everyman, and,
swearing by St Anne, tells him to go alone without grumbling about anything. When Everyman
requests him again, he makes a false excuse that he has a cramp in his toe, and cheekily reveals that he is
liable to deceive Everyman in this kind of affair. Kindred again tries to save his skin by introducing his
maid as a companion on his journey. Everyman loses his temper over it and demands a definite word
about his company. Kindred, not sure what to say, glides away from him. Everyman feels disappointed
for the second time. He realises he has been deceived all the time by Kindred. Cousin also takes leave of
him on the excuse that his account is not ready yet. He simply delivers Everyman to God and vanishes
into thin air.
Everyman laments his helplessness. He realises the emptiness of the sweet promises Kindred and
Fellowship have made and regrets the waste of time he has made awaiting their support. He remembers
the riches he amassed all his life and calls upon Goods in search of support.

Everyman meets Goods

At the call of Everyman, Goods depicts how inanimate he is in corners, trussed and piled so high, in
chest locked so fast, sacked in bags, and in packs. Unable to move from his place, he asks
Everyman for the reason to call him. Everyman seeks his advice in his urgent need. Knowing his limits,
Goods tells him of his capability of fixing the worldly matters. Everyman states that his problem does not
belong to this world and relates the command he has received from God to appear before him with his
track record. Following the common trend that money maketh all right that is wrong, he appeals to
Goods to help him to clean and purify his judgement.
Goods deliberately abandons him at this point, refusing to cooperate with him and warning him that his
company at this juncture would blur his prospects. Being Everymans favourite, Goods has already
blotted and blinded his judgement, and as a result, the account is supposed to have many faults.
Everyman is upset to hear it and yet pleads with him to join him in the journey. Goods rejects his appeal
at once. Everyman laments that his love of wealth has no bearing on his salvation. Goods points out
Everymans selfishness in his love of wealth which is contrary to love everlasting. His suggestion is
that if he shared his wealth with the poor there is no reason to worry now. Everyman wonders whether
he has been all the time deceived as the total blame on him is aimed at the way in which he has spent his
time. Goods expresses surprise over Everymans belief that Goods belongs to Everyman and reveals his
true position.
Wealth is lent to Everyman in general during the times of prosperity. Wealth causes death to a thousand
people while saving one person. So wealth does not follow anybody beyond this world. Everyman
realises his folly. Goods clarifies his position further. He introduces himself as a thief to Everymans soul,
divulging that he deceives one person after another until they leave the world. His intention is to prevent
Gods forgiveness on humans. Everyman is disillusioned with Goods who has trapped him all his life and
muddled Gods expectation of Everyman. But Goods expresses satisfaction over his dealing with
Everyman as he helped Everyman to manage his worldly affairs. Everyman again pleads with him,
claiming his love of Goods. Goods takes leave of Everyman, feeling urged by God to go to deceive
another person.
Everyman laments his helplessness without a person to accompany him on his journey to Heaven. He
recalls how Fellowship promised to join him with very pleasant and gay words but left him alone
afterwards. Then he remembers how he spoke to Kindred and Cousin and was let down by them. He
finds the meeting with Goods the most depressing because of the sarcastic revelation the latter made
about deceiving people and leading them to Hell one after another. All these meetings lead Everyman to
a self-disillusionment. He feels ashamed of himself for having faith in these associates of his. Wondering
whom to consult, he decides to meet Good-Deeds. He imagines that Good-Deeds is a weak person unable
to walk or speak, yet he goes in search of her.

Everyman meets Good-Deeds

Good-Deeds makes a poor show of herself, complaining that Everymans sins have made her sick.
Everyman directly begs of her advice regarding his journey. Good-Deeds is already in the picture that he
has been summoned by the King of Heaven and tells Everyman that if he follows her advice and works
for his betterment the result will be the successful completion of that journey. In her words Jerusalem
King is Jesus Christ and the Messiahs are the Saviours expected from Heaven. Jubilant about the
assurance she has given, Everyman requests her to join him. Good-Deeds expresses her willingness and
at the same time complains about her lack of strength to stand on her own. To Everymans enquiry her
response is that her health and happiness depend on the successful formulation of his book of account.
In symbolic terms Good-Deeds points at the books of ... works and deeds just lying under his feet but
Everyman does not see them. For one letter here I can not see. Good-Deeds explains how the
judgement becomes blind owing to the nature of the bad moral atmosphere. In fact Good-Deeds
represents Charity in the Christian context.
Knowing the gravity of his situation Everyman makes an honest prayer to Good-Deeds to help him to
face the Eternal King who is the redeemer of all beings. Good-Deeds genuinely regrets Everymans
helplessness and pledges support wherever she can. Everyman is satisfied only with her advice. Good-
Deeds offers him moral support and, to fill the void that she cannot fill physically, she appoints her sister
Knowledge and advises him to follow the counsel of Knowledge in organising his account.

Everyman is supported by Knowledge

Courageous and brave, Knowledge offers to accompany Everyman in this journey as his guide. Fortified
by this valuable offer from Knowledge, Everyman takes a breath of delight and thanks his creator God.
Good-Deeds advises Everyman that, when Death has taken him to Heaven where he is to clear himself of
all moral scars, he should proceed in his judgement and acts of charity together to achieve spiritual
happiness in front of the Holy Trinity, the union of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God. Everyman
thanks Good-Deeds heartily.

Everyman meets Confession through Knowledge

Knowledge proposes Everyman to visit Confession whom she introduces as a cleansing river. Because
of the ungrudging assistance extended by Knowledge, Everyman weeps with joy. He wishes Knowledge
to accompany him and asks for the direction to the dwelling of the holy man Confession. Knowledge
does not leave him alone but accompanies him to the House of Salvation where Confession resides. On
their arrival, Knowledge gets Everyman to kneel before Confession in salutation, and to beg him for
mercy as Confession is well-respected by God.
Everyman prays Confession to clear him of all sins, explaining that he has come with Knowledge to get
himself redeemed of all faults his character used to suffer from. He states the order he has received from
God to appear before him in Heaven with his track record and the assistance he requires from Confession
in highlighting his good deeds at his declaration there. With his holy sagacity, Confession offers to help
Everyman. He understands the sorrow Everyman is presently suffering from; appreciates that he has
come with Knowledge; gives him a precious jewel called penance (holy sacrament) which prevents
Everyman from hardship; and clarifies how penance helps to control the physical body with discipline
and determination dedicated to the service of God.
Confession also warns about the suffering Everyman undergoes with penance during the painful
pilgrimage prescribed in the name of his Saviour Jesus Christ who patiently suffered severe
punishments on behalf of every human being. Then he requests Knowledge to keep company with
Everyman and predicts the visit of Good-Deeds at the correct time. As Everymans time is short and there
is a terrible need to save his soul, with a clear assurance of mercy, Confession leads Everyman to beg
for the Kindness of God. As he prescribes, when Everyman suffers, plagued by penance for the sake of
his own salvation, forgiveness from God will cure him as a heavenly ointment.

Everyman works on his purification

Coming to his senses, Everyman thanks God for the wisdom that has already dawned on him. He is now
ready to start his purification process, expecting to face all the challenges that ensue from it.
Knowledge empowers Everyman in fulfilling his penance and in overcoming the physical and mental
pains he suffers in the process. She also promises to give all spiritual advice in furnishing his track record
clearly. Everyman enters directly into the communion of God. He addresses God with all possible
epithets of holiness and mentions the error committed by Adam forfeiting the redemption of Everyman
that God had planned to carry out. Then he begs of Gods forgiveness for all the sins he has committed
during his life. Again and again, he makes his clamorous complaint and pleads with God to receive his
prayers. He requests God not to ignore him though he is a sinner most abominable, and to allow the
inscription of his name in Moses table.
He also implores Virgin Mary to pray to God for his sake, to sooth him at the end of his life, and to save
him from the power of his overwhelming enemy, the Devil. His expectations for life have already turned
spiritual and, as a result, his sole wish for life is to share the glory of Virgin Marys son Jesus and to save
his own soul from mortal sins. Everyman, active in mind and oblivious of body, asks Knowledge to
plague him with penance, in terms of embarking on the purification process. He does not forget to beg for
Gods grace. Knowledge supports him whole-heartedly to prepare him to face his judgement
successfully.
In the name of Holy Trinity, Everyman accepts physical torture in compensation for the carnal pleasures
he acquired through his body, and subjects himself to a process of purification through penance, in order
to save himself from the eternal fire purgatory.

Good-Deeds helps Everyman whole-heartedly

With new energy and health supplied by Everymans purification, Good-Deeds willingly offers to
accompany Everyman in his journey and to help him to declare his merits before God Almighty.
Knowledge congratulates Everyman on the steady support he has received from the hale and hearty
Good-Deeds. Everyman speeds up his journey with a light heart. Without the least hesitation, Good-
Deeds takes good care of Everyman, and becomes his guiding star in his pilgrimage. Everyman is treated
here like a holy person. Everyman enamours Good-Deeds with happy sentiments. Knowledge consoles
him further and clothes him in a garment of sorrow, which is already wet with his happy tears, saying
that if it is not on him, he will lose it at the entrance into Gods domain. The garment of sorrow is
obtained from pain and repentance, and the wearer of it is qualified to receive forgiveness from God. So
with the blessings of Jesus, the Son of Mary, he starts maintaining true contrition. Inspired by Good-
Deeds, he speeds up the journey further and tries to get the judgement clear with the help of Good-
Deeds. Everyman enters into a strong friendship with Good-Deeds and remains inseparable from her.

Everyman experiences the capabilities and attitudes of Discretion,

Strength, Beauty, and Five-Wits
Knowledge advises Everyman not to be overconfident, and Good-Deeds suggests that he acquires the
company of three other persons: Discretion, Strength, and Beauty. Knowledge recommends Five-Wits as
another of his counsellors, and suggests that he can have their company by calling all four together.
First Beauty asks Everyman considerately what she can do for him. Good-Deeds addresses all four of
them on the requirement of accompanying Everyman in his pilgrimage and asks whether they would
help him to carry it out or not. Strength offers to take him to the place in comfort. So does Discretion.
Everyman thanks Almighty God for the company of Strength, Discretion, Beauty, and Five-Wits. He feels
he does not miss anything in their company. He calls Good-Deeds and Knowledge and tells them that he
has no more ambition about any worldly affairs.
Strength promises him of his backing at times of distress and struggle. Five-Wits advises him not to get
carried away by the sensory perceptions. Beauty demonstrates her fragility as if to make Everyman
contemplate transience, by withdrawing from the journey. Discretion encourages Everyman to consult
himself and promises him support in every instance. Everyman prays God to reward all who have
gathered around him, Good-Deeds, Knowledge, Five-Wits, Strength, Discretion, and Beauty, and
presents his testament before them. He gives away half of his wealth for charity and keeps the rest to be
returned to where it belongs. He parts his wealth against Satan the fiend of hell.
Knowledge advises Everyman to go to Priesthood and receive from him the holy sacrament and
ointment together and offers to wait for him till he returns. Five-Wits justifies the advice of Knowledge,
saying that God does not discriminate against anybody on the basis of position, and even the junior-most
priest will be alike in his service to God. The priest has the keys to the cure for the redemption of
Everymans soul, which is the medicine God with great pain has given out of his heart. Then he relates
the seven gracious sacraments of high divinity achievable in this transitory life:
Baptism, confirmation, with priesthood good,
And the sacrament of Gods precious flesh and blood,
Marriage, the holy extreme unction, and penance;

Everyman agrees to execute sacrament on himself and proceed in his journey to God.
After he has left, Five-Wits confirms the efficacy of the process Everyman is following for his salvation,
claiming that, according to Holy Scripture, priesthood transcends all other things. As the priests convert
the human beings from the sinful path to Hell to the meritorious path to Heaven, God has given more
power to them than to any angel in Heaven. With five words a priest can consecrate Gods body in flesh
and blood and get it to materialise in his hands. He makes and unmakes all earthly and heavenly bonds.
He administers all seven sacraments and deserves to be kissed on the feet. He is a surgeon who cures
man of all deadly sins. Therefore priesthood is the best remedy for all moral ailments, and God gave
priests recognition and set them on earth as his representatives. So they are more versatile than angels
when it comes to spiritual refinement.
Knowledge declares that the good priest is undoubtedly good. But Jesus Christ gave the same sacrament
out of his heart, even during crucifixion, despite the great pain and torture he was undergoing. So it is
clear that the God Omnipotent did never sell the sacraments to anybody and, as St Peter said, those who
mishandle such holy practices will fall under Jesuss curse. Knowledge levels a criticism at sinful priests
who set bad examples to the sinners; who let their congregations satisfy their spiritual needs by
imposters; who enjoy womens company out of lust and lechery and lead their lives saturated in the
darkness of sin. Five-Wits prays to God that they would find no bad priest in this journey and suggests
that they should honour the priesthood and follow their doctrine for the sustenance of their soul, like
sheep following shepherds. Then he shows to Good-Deeds Everyman returning from his meeting with
the Priesthood.

Everyman returns on receiving sacraments but is gradually forsaken by Beauty, Strength,

Five-Wits, and Discretion
Everyman reappears with a prayer to Jesus to speed help for all. He declares that he received the
sacrament for his redemption and his extreme goal of life, and thanks all who advised him on that. He
thanks all his companions for waiting on him and urges them to start without any more relaxation. He
extends a rod to them and asks them to hold it and follow him, behind their guide God Almighty.
Strength offers to stay by Everyman till the end of the voyage. Discretion follows suit with Strength.
Knowledge promises to do the same as she did by Judas Maccabee. Everyman feels so weak and finds it
difficult to move his limbs. Disillusioned with mundane enterprise, Everyman expresses repulsion over
worldly life, and points at his grave and tells what happens to his body after his burial.
Shocked by this description, Beauty enquires whether she would get smothered in that grave. When
Everyman confirms it as true, she leaves him without waiting for a minute. Establishing her worldliness
she vanishes, warning that even a chest of gold would not stop her. Everyman realises the unreliability of
beauty and wonders whom to trust.
Strength also leaves him saying that she does not like this game. Everyman begs her to stay longer but
Strength claims that she will not change her mind even if Everyman weeps till his heart bursts. Further
Strength repents that she came with Everyman that far. Everyman questions Strength about her tendency
to break promises and receives an irresponsible answer. He feels insulted.
Simultaneous to Strengths departure, Discretion also warns him about her going away. When Everyman
requests Discretion to look into his grave piteously, she refuses to do so and leaves him abruptly.
Everyman understands the nature of life. For when Death bloweth his blast, they all run from me full
fast.
Without much discussion, Five-Wits leaves him, excusing that he cannot be there with him without the
others. Everyman realises the impermanence of all worldly potentials of life and decides not to get carried
away by their company.

Everyman enjoys Good-Deeds undaunted support till his end

Ultimately, Good-Deeds becomes the sole companion of Everyman. Good-Deeds inspires Everyman,
assuring him of her support, Thou shalt find me a good friend at need. Everyman admits that he loved
Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five-Wits more than Good-Deeds but now he has only her to depend
on.
Everyman asks Knowledge whether she would abandon his association. Knowledge admits that she
would do so when Everyman goes to Death, but not in such a reckless manner as the others did.
Everyman thanks Knowledge heartily for this gesture. Knowledge ascertains that she will not leave there
till she has watched what has become of Everyman in the clutches of Death.
Death tolls on Everyman. Everyman realises the compulsion for him to leave the world to produce his
track record and pay his debts. He regrets the waste of time he made without proper guidance and tells
the spectator to draw an example of how he has been let down by those he loved the best and how he is
presently destined to depend only on Good-Deeds.
Good-Deeds illustrates in one statement the vanity of all earthly things; the fickleness of qualities such as
Beauty, Strength, and Discretion; the foolishness of Fellowship and Kindred whose cajoling is
meaningless; and the dependable nature of Good-Deeds.
Everyman contemplates nothing but God and Holy Trinity. Good-Deeds boosts his morale with her
advocacy. Everyman blows out his last breath having Gods mercy in mind. Good-Deeds accompanies
Everyman to Heaven.
Fortified with inspiration from Good-Deeds, Everyman consigns himself to God, appealing to Holy Spirit
to save him from Devil until the day of doom when he would defend himself with his track record:
In manus tuas- of mights most
For ever- commendo spiritum meum.

Still faithful to Everyman, Knowledge watches the scenario form a distance, and declares her inability to
intervene in Everymans suffering at his death, and the necessity to leave Everyman to the power of
Good-Deeds on this crucial occasion. Referring to angels singing and happiness, Knowledge inspires the
spectators imagination of the warm and festive reception Everyman would be accorded in heaven.
The Angel on the stage leads Everyman to Heaven as a best-selected companion to Jesus, acknowledging
his special virtue. He establishes the positive nature of the judgement on Everyman on the basis of the
separation of his soul from his body. He invites everybody to follow suit with Everyman and clears
his/her path to salvation.
The play is concluded by the Doctors presentation of the moral value of the experience. He warns
everybody, old and young, to give up pride that cheats one at the end of ones life. He recalls how
Beauty, Five-wits, Strength, and Discretion forsake Everyman at his death, and how only Good-Deeds
comes to his support. Before God, only Good-Deeds become prominent while the others become
insignificant. The Doctor explains how Everyman faces the test, without any room for excuse. After
death, there is no room for mercy and pity, and there is no room for correction of anything. Therefore,
while one has the support of Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five-Wits during the prime of ones life,
one should promote Good-Deeds through acts of charity, and thereby one can have a clear track record to
face judgement at Heaven.
If his reckoning be not clear when he do come,
God will say- ite maledicti in ignem aeternum.
And he that hath his account whole and sound,
High in heaven he shall be crowned;
Unto which place God bring us all thither
That we may live body and soul together.
Thereto help the Trinity,
 Amen, say ye, for saint Charity.

Depending on the nature of his track record, Everyman gets his treatment at Heaven. If it is bad, he will
be pushed by God into Hell, and if it is good, he will be crowned in Heaven and rested in eternal bliss.
Therefore, it is primary for every Christian to have faith in the Holy Trinity and follow the teachings of
Charity. Thus the Morality Play ends, inculcating in the spectator a trust in the path to eternal salvation
professed in Christianity.

Structure and Style of EVERYMAN

This morality play has been developed to promote the quest for salvation among the Christian
community. It might have been written by a Christian priest in the mediaeval times. The plot reads that
the average human is found by God to be leading his life subjecting himself to all types of wicked
circumstances, and the ultimate result of his behaviour is thought to be a morally impoverished society.
Alarmed by the rate at which the humans deteriorate and at which evil proliferates, God sends Death to
summon Everyman, who represents all humankind. According to Christian theology, Good and Evil will
be tallied like pluses and minuses in an account book while passing judgement on every human on the
dooms day. So Everyman is supposed to have an account book of this sort ready for presentation at his
trial in Heaven. The play is the story of Everyman's journey to this final reckoning. Along the way,
Everyman tries to convince the other characters Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Goods, Good-Deeds,
Knowledge, Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five-Wits to accompany him in the hope of enjoying their
contribution to the improvement of his account. In the end Everyman finds all characters except Good-
Deeds leave him. So in the company of Good-Deeds he proceeds in his journey.

Everyman is an allegorical play, as the characters are representative of various forces. Like Everyman, the
other characters are also allegorical, as they each personifies an abstract idea. The conflict between good
and evil is dramatised by the interactions between Everyman and these characters revealing their nature.
The play shows not only how every human should face death but also how every human should live. The
moral dilemma that Everyman is burdened with at the beginning seems to be common to every human
being, and the solution prescribed for him by Good-Deeds and Knowledge together is reasonable in the
context of Everymans struggle for salvation. The universality of the play lies in the allegorical
presentation of the process Everyman follows in this concern.

On the basis of its poetic structure, it is correct to introduce Everyman as a dramatised allegory. An
allegory is a narrative in which the characters and action, and sometimes the setting as well, have two
levels of meaning. The first level is literal a man is going on a trip. The second level is symbolic
Everyman's life is a journey from birth to death, and every man makes this same trip. An allegory must
make sense at both levels. All of the literal pieces will fit together to tell a story what happens. In
addition, all of the symbolic pieces will fit together to teach a moral what the story means.

The one-act allegorical play Everyman can be divided into five scenes as follows:

how Everyman is summoned by Death because God desires a reckoning;

how Friendship, Kindred and Goods refuse to accompany him on his journey;
how Knowledge helps him strengthen Good-Deeds to accompany him;
 how Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five-Wits desert him one by one as he approaches the
grave;
how Good-Deeds alone accompanies him on his journey.

Each scene leads to the development of its successive scene, and the combination of all the scenes projects
the process of salvation Everyman follows after being misled by mundane relationships. The
chronological order in Everymans journey is maintained through the action that reveals Everymans
disillusionment with worldly contacts and his attainment of spiritual understanding crucial for his
salvation.
The style in which the play Everyman is written is very effective in achieving the solemn atmosphere it
aims to project its message into. A stylistic analysis of the play would enlighten the reader of the power
the composition has given to the signification of Everymans path to salvation.
The Messenger at the opening of the play in fact makes a moralistic declaration, in terms of presenting the
plot of Everyman. Though aimed at a religious congregation composed of people of all walks of life, the
sophisticated composition of his message is furnished with the rhyming lines created out of metrically
and rhythmically matching phrases and musically matching stanzaic structures. The artistic influence of
his message is retained by the serious composition that helps to characterise him projecting the qualities
he represents. This applies to the renditions made by all the characters in the play. Therefore allegory
materialises not only through the labels the characters wear but also through the expressions they make
in the exposition of their true behaviour.

I pray/ you all/ give your/ audience,

And here/ this mat/ter with/ reverence,

By fig/ure a/ moral/ play-

The Summ/oning of/ Every/man called/ it is,

That of/ our lives/ and end/ing shows

How tran/sitory/ we be/ all day.

This mat/ter is/ wonderous/ precious,

But the/ intent/ of it/ is more/ gracious,

And sweet/ to bear/ away.

The sto/ry saith,/-Man, in/ the be/ginning,

Look well,/ and take/ good heed/ to the/ ending,

Be you/ never/ so gay!/

Ye think/ sin in/ the be/ginning/ full sweet,

Which in/ the end/ causeth/ thy soul/ to weep,

When the/ body/ lieth/ in clay.

Here shall/ you see/ how Fe/llowship/ and Jo/llity,

Both Strength,/ Pleasure/, and Beauty,

Will fade/ from thee/ as flower/ in May.

For ye/ shall here,/ how our/ heaven/ly king

Calleth Eve/ryman/ to a/ general/ reckoning:

 Give au/dience, and/ here what he/ doth say.

A metrical analysis of the opening rendition made by the Messenger appears as above. The rhyming
scheme is developed as: aab, ccb, ddb, eeb, ffb, ggb, eeb. Except for the two anomalies is-shows and
sweet-weep which themselves do not affect the poetic order in a large way, all the word pairs in the
rhyming scheme of this passage of twenty-one lines help to add harmony to the atmosphere, e.g.,
audience-reverence, precious-gracious, and and jollity-and beauty. The musicality of the rhyming
scheme is preserved by the three-line divisions of the twenty-one lines determined by the seven rhyming
words play, day, away, gay, clay, May, say. Except in one place, these words indicate the pauses of the
sentences. Moreover, they effect firmness to the recitation, and help the consistency of the word order in
the passage. They highlight the rhyming couplets and help to integrate them into the body of the passage.
The lines are predominantly in the iambic tetrameter but there are lines in the iambic pentameter and
iambic trimester to effect variation. This fits the theatrical purpose of the composition. These
sophisticated musical features balance with the grammar, syntax, and semantic relations in the lines.
The Messenger cordially draws the attention of the audience in line 1, I pray... The religious value of
the play is suggested in the word reverence in line 2. Going by its form, he calls the presentation a
moral play in line 3, and introduces its title as Summoning of Everyman in line 4. The message conveyed
by the play is summarised in lines 5-6:
That of our lives and ending shows
How transitory we be all day.

These lines prepare the spectator to experience something philosophical as it directly refers to life,
ending, and our nature of being transitory. He uses we for a clear purpose, as it implies he is trying
to share the experience of Everyman with everybody in the audience. Lines 7-9 appreciate the
content and the intent of the play in very positive terms, wondrous, precious, gracious, and
sweet. Line 12 advises, Be you never so gay! This is supported by the depiction of mans behaviour in
lines 10-11. The repercussion of enjoying sin is related in lines 13-15. This is addressed to the audience
directly as if the Messenger charges everybody:
Ye think sin in the beginning full sweet,
Which in the end causeth thy soul to weep,
When the body lieth in clay.

In consonance with transience, Everyman loses the potentials of worldly life, ... Will fade from thee as
flower in May. The comparison is also taken from nature to realise life in relation to what happens in the
surrounds in the course of the four seasons. The flowers in May last only for a short time and they wither,
fall, get buried under snow, and decay in the course autumn and winter.
After getting the spectators to contemplate transience, the Messenger invites them to watch how Gad
calls Everyman to a hearing. Here too the Messenger uses the first person, in order to share the meaning
of the play. The term, our heavenly king eases the average persons communion with God. It prevents
alienation of God from the average man and woman. Thus in lines packed with meanings yet created
with a tremendous sense of the economy of language, all the verses in the play are composed.
Though the play is addressed to an audience of common people for a very obvious purpose, neither the
structure nor the language misses the poetic charm experienced in sophisticated compositions made by
learned poets. Gods declaration projects the average humans present ungrateful behaviour in an irony:
I could do no more than I did truly,
And now I see the people do clean forsake me.
God observes his own creation in a paradox where he sees all things turning up side down. The
cannibalistic behaviour the humans have developed by envy makes God regret his own creation:
Verily they will become much worse than beasts;
For now one would by envy another up eat;
Charity they all do clean forget.

Resuscitating the irony, God expects the humans to thank him for their own good, as that would prevent
them from clinging to worldly treasures as their own:
They thank me not for the pleasure that I to them meant,

The frustration of God is meant in the powerful line which contains an apostrophe engendering fear:
Where art thou, Death, thou mighty messenger?

In response to Gods command, Death threatens what he would do to Everyman. Death makes here a
threat that leads to another paradox as it comes by Gods will:
Every man will I beset that liveth beastly
Out of Gods laws, and dreadeth not folly;

The rhyming lines set to a staccato rhythm sound like a hellish warning to the sinners. Yet Everymans
curtness towards Death implies his pomp and arrogance in ignorance of his destiny in the clutches of
death:
Why askst thou?
Wouldest thou wete?

Death reveals what happens with Everyman in his relationship with God in an interesting antithesis
which is meant to ridicule him for his ingratitude:
Though thou have forget him here,
He thinketh on thee in the heavenly sphere,

Everymans own complacency sets him to ridicule in the line in which intellectual and spiritual blindness
appears in the form of a sticky substance:
This blind matter troubleth my wit.

Deaths clarification of the requirement that Everyman should fulfil contains metaphors of the two
important things he is supposed to do:
On thee thou must take a long journey:
Therefore thy book of count with thee thou bring;
... ... ...
For before God thou shalt answer, and show
Thy many bad deeds and good but few;

The long journey symbolises his life from birth to death. Here all his actions good and bad are
considered pluses and minuses in an account book that reveals his track record.
Death sounds business-like while introducing himself, and the impersonal tone he maintains suits the
dramatic effect needed here:
I am Death, that no man dreadeth.
For every man I rest and no man spareth;
For it is Gods commandment
That all to me should be obedient.
His decline of Everymans offer to give him a bribe involves a zeugma on two occasions, once describing
the gifts and once the designations:
I set not by gold, silver nor, riches,
Ne by pope, emperor, king, duke, ne princes.
For and I would receive gifts great,
All the world I might get;

Again a zeugma occurs in Deaths speech while he reveals the pressure under which Everyman has to act
on the requirement of making his pilgrimage and presenting his track record:
Thee availeth not to cry, weep, and pray:

The process of life is compared to a river, the tide abideth no man, and the destiny of every human is
presented in allusion to the sin committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden by eating the
forbidden fruit:
And in the world each living creature
For Adams sin must die of nature.

Everyman foolishly asks Death whether he could have his friends on his journey and Death gives him an
ironical reply:
Yea, if any be so hardy
That would go with thee and bear thee company.

The implication is that none can accompany Everyman in his journey to Heaven. Everyman, while
appealing Death to give him some time, calls Death gentle. He uses an epithet that contradicts the
dreadfulness that Death is normally identified with. Deaths response clearly contrasts with this:
Nay, thereto I will not consent,
Nor no man will I respite,
But to the heart suddenly I shall smite
Without any advisement.

This portrays Death as a monster slicing the heart of his victim without pity.
Everymans renditions often contain anticlimaxes, and in his helplessness he wishes he had never been
born, but he has already enjoyed the mundane luxuries he has been endowed with:
I would to God I had never be gete*!

When Everyman asks Fellowship for his help in generous terms he promises of his company:
I will not forsake thee, unto my lifes end,
In the way of good company.

He even goes to the extent of taking revenge on his enemies for any injustice caused to Everyman:
If any have you wronged ye shall revenged be,
Though I on the ground be slain for thee,-
Though that I know before that I should die.

He boastfully tells about going to Hell with Everyman to establish the solidness of his companionship:
For, in faith, and thou go to Hell
I will not forsake thee by the way!

He praises the commitment of good friends referring to the words and deeds people carry out for the
sake of others:
 For he that will say and nothing do
Is not worthy with good company to go;

Everyman encouraged by these exaggerations tells his requirement to Fellowship:

Wherefore I pray you bear me company,
As ye have promised, in this journey.

Soon Fellowship lets down Everyman contradicting everything he promised so far. Here emerges a
paradox to the sweet words of Fellowship:
That is a matter indeed! Promise is duty,
... ... ... For your words would fear a strong man.

Everymans response projects an anticlimax developing from his feelings:

Why, ye said, If I had need,
Ye would me never forsake, quick nor dead,
Though it were to hell truly.

This time Fellowship reveals his true nature. He is not ready to do such a journey even for his own father:
I will not go that loath journey-
Not for the father that begat me!

In a zeugma Fellowship describes where Everyman can be sure to have his company:
And yet if thou wilt eat, and drink, and make good cheer,
Or haunt to women, the lusty companion,
I would not forsake you, while the day is clear,
Trust me verily!

And Everyman retorts, denying his desire for worldly pleasures in a counteracting zeugma:
Yea, thereto ye would be ready;
To go to mirth, solace, and play,
Your mind will sooner apply
Than to bear me company in my long journey.

Fellowship achieves sarcasm in his offer to join him in murder:

Now, in good faith, I will not that way.
But and thou wilt murder, or any man kill,
In that I will help thee with a good will!

Everymans repeated request is finally answered in a sarcastic reply which exposes Fellowship as an
epitome of falsehood:
And as now, God speed thee in thy journey,
For from thee I will depart as fast as I may.

His final words sound a parody of confidence and credibility. The sorrow he shows is merely a faade
over selfishness:
For you I will remember that parting is mourning.

Throughout the interaction between Everyman and Fellowship, what is clear is the shallowness of their
relationship.
It is said, in prosperity men friends may find,
Which in adversity be fully unkind.
The paradox to this situation is that Everyman cannot depend on Fellowship in any spiritual exercise, but
only in fun, debauchery, and violence. Therefore that relationship works only for his downfall and
disaster.
Cousin and Kindred start their interaction with Everyman in the same terms as Fellowship does. Their
promising words give so much courage to Everyman but without any effect:
If ye be disposed to go any whither,
For wete you well, we will live and die together.

In wealth and woe we will with you hold,

For over his kin a man may be bold.

When they are posed with the real challenge Everyman has, with regard to his absolution, they side track:
What, to go thither? Is that the matter?
Nay, Everyman, I had liefer fast bread and water
All this five year and more.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

But as one thing I warn you, by Saint Anne,

As for me, ye shall go alone.

Both Cousin and Kindred betray their shallowness in the words which add an anticlimax to the high
hopes they build in Everyman out of their boastfulness.
I will deceive you in your most need.

In these words Cousin utters, a paradox emerges revealing his true form. The turmoil in Everymans
mind foams out in his separation from them:
For fair promises to me make,
But when I have most need, they me forsake.
I am deceived; that maketh me sad.

Everyman laments the disappointment he has had with Fellowship and Kindred and calls Goods for
help. As he expects something impossible the expression he makes leads to an irony to realise:
If that my good now help me might,
He would make my heart full light.

The self-introduction Goods gives effectively characterises his inanimate nature. The image of prison it
evokes serves paradoxically to impose imprisonment on its owner:
I lie here in corners, trussed and piled so high,
And in chest I am locked so fast,
Also sacked in bags, thou mayst see with thine eye,
I cannot stir; in packs low I lie.

It is obvious that love of wealth retains no generosity or compassion but only the selfish desire to be
wealthy and powerful, but Everyman sounds different leading to an irony:
And all my life I have had joy and pleasure in thee.
Therefore I pray thee go with me,

His belief in wealth is superficial but there is a paradox in it against the corrupt way in which the world
operates:
That money maketh all right that is wrong.
Goods sounds frank in his straightforward denial of Everymans request:
Thy reckoning I have made blotted and blind,
That thine account thou cannot make truly;

Revealing the hypocrisy, the cruelty, the selfishness, the cunning, the craving, involved in the association
of Goods, he warns Everyman that his continuous company will hinder the compilation of his account.
Using the alliteration blotted and blind he relates the harm he does to Everymans conscience.
Variation in the wording of the request made repeatedly adds to the dramatic nature of the dialogue
highlighting the tension being built up and reducing the monotony:
Alas, I have thee loved, and had great pleasure
All my life-days on good and treasure.

The answer he receives from Goods exposes Everymans selfishness behind his effort to collect wealth:
That is to thy damnation without lesing,
For my love is contrary to the love everlasting.

Goods takes delight in Everymans blindness and greed that had prevented him from sharing his wealth
with the poor, and makes him regret his own folly. Everyman feels confused and ashamed:
Lo, now was I deceived or was I ware,
And all may wyte* my spending time.

Goods reveals his real mission as an agent of evil, frightening Everyman and making him further regret:
My condition is mans soul to kill;
If I save one, a thousand I do spill;

At his departure from Everyman he reveals his ruthlessness further:

Therefore to thy soul Good is a thief;

For when thou art dead, this is my guise
Another to deceive in the same wise

Everymans complaint sounds foolish and empty and is demonstrative of every foolish persons regret
after being deceived:
Thou traitor to God, that hast deceived me,
And caught me in thy snare.

Goodss wicked response to this sounds an eye-opener for every human being, as he openly laughs at
Everyman here:
I must needs laugh, I cannot be sad.

The exchanges Everyman has with all his worldly contacts are suggestive of the regretful nature of all his
fancies. The futility of his involvement with them is demonstrated in the ruthless way in which they leave
him in his dire need. The philosophy behind the moderate association with mundane potentials friends,
relations, and wealth is projected through Everymans fruitless interaction with them. They all let him
down in his spiritual needs. That is the bottom line.
The author of the play makes it emerge through powerful rhetoric inserted in dramatic dialogue where
the element of conflict works for both aesthetic and moral realisation of the theme. Everymans admission
of his own fault results in a climax in this series of interactions which all in anticlimaxes:
Then of myself I was ashamed,
And so I am worthy to be blamed;
But there occurs a transition in Everymans enquiry, after he meets Good-Deeds. Like Goods, Good-
Deeds also finds herself bound but for a different reason. This is a very effective parallelism. The
physical binding of Goods parallels the psychological binding of Good-Deeds:
Here I lie cold in the ground;
Thy sins hath me sore bound,
That I cannot stir.

The author of the play has put it logically that through the involvement of Everyman only Good-Deeds
can be fortified, in order have his assistance:
I would full fain, but I cannot stand verily.

Good-Deeds presents the Christian interpretation of good and bad actions that impact the psyche of
Everyman with comfortable and regretful feelings respectively. He compares the memories of these
activities to books lying under his feet and resting on his soul:
Look, the books of your works and deeds eke;
Oh, see how they lie under the feet,
To your souls heaviness.

Introduced by Good-Deeds, Knowledge comes to help Everyman in his journey. Her offer contrasts with
the early contacts he tried:
Everyman, I will go with thee, and be thy guide,
In thy most need to go by thy side.

Everymans mood changes radically and he is happy and content with the inspiration drawn from
Knowledge.
In good condition I am now in every thing,
And am wholly content with this good thing;
Thanked be God my creator.

The acknowledgement he makes for God confirms that presently he has been converted to a genuine
follower of God. In the process of Christian purification, confession is a preliminary function, and
Knowledge prescribes to Everyman to meet the holy man Confession who is comparable to a cleansing
river:
To Confession, that cleansing river.

Knowledge recommends meeting Compassion in the house of salvation for he is in good conceit with
God almighty. Everyman still uses the river metaphor to address Confession, O glorious fountain that
all uncleanness doth clarify, that on me no sin may be seen;and moves on to call him mother of
salvation. These remain epithets of the holy and sublime.
Confession prescribes penance for Everyman to practice. He introduces penance as a precious jewel
which is a wise voider of adversity and the scourge of confession and with which he should
chastise his body with abstinence and perseverance in Gods service. In terms of fulfilling a need of
the religion, penance is praised so much but through painful imagery. The association of Confession as a
river and penance as a jewel lead to a metaphor of ablution in a holy river rubbing off the dirt on the
body with a jewel. Thus Confession introduces penance as a self-mortifying disciplinary process, but in a
really positive sense:
When with the scourge of penance man doth him bind,
The oil of forgiveness then shall he find.
Gods forgiveness is introduced in the above line as an oil to treat the wounds sustained from penance.
The dramatic transformation that Everyman undergoes in the company of Confession adds to the artistic
consistency of the play. He calls his sinful habits knots inside him:
This hath rejoiced and lighted my heart,
Though the knots be painful and within.

The prayer Everyman makes at this juncture is very common in a commission in a church. But the
concluding lines give so much force to his expression. Everymans transformation into a courageous
human is evident in his brave request:
Knowledge, give me the scourge of penance;
My flesh therewith shall give a quittance;
I will now begin, if God give me grace.

The entire process works on his conscience, but here it is depicted as physical in order to make the
audience understand the impact of penance. Whatever he does to clear his conscience appears as physical
torture carried upon oneself in compensation for the sins one committed in the past:
In the name of the Holy Trinity,
My body sore punished shall be:
Take this body for the sin of the flesh;
Also though delightest to go gay and fresh;
And in the way of damnation thou did me brine;
Therefore suffer now strokes and punishing.
Now of penance I will wade the water clear,
To save me from purgatory, that sharp fire.

Good-Deeds resuscitation as a result of Everymans penance is symbolic of the spiritual improvement

people achieve through understanding life and inclination to charity:
I thank God, now I can walk and go;
And am delivered of my sickness and woe.
Therefore with Everyman I will go, and not spare;
His good works I will help him to declare.

The benefit Everyman enjoys from the process is clear in the mental solace and the new energy he feels
within himself:
My heart is light, and shall be evermore;
Now will I smite faster than I did before.

Knowledge compares Everymans repentance to a heavenly dress.

Put on his garment to thy behove,
Which is wet with your tears,
Or else before god you may it miss,
When you to your journeys end come shall.

She clarifies it further in simple terms for the average spectator to understand:
It is a garment of sorrow:
From pain it will you borrow;
Contrition it is,
That getteth forgiveness;
It pleaseth God passing well.
The Christian belief that repentance leads to the humans purification is promoted in these lines and the
garment imagery works for establishing the necessity to look pious and modest in ones daily life.
However, the positive developments Everyman undergoes in the process of penance contribute to the
dramatic flow of the play. Here conflict is replaced by transformation and that works for the effective
elimination of monotony.
EVERYMAN: ... Good-Deeds, have we clear our reckoning?
GOOD-DEEDS: Yea, indeed I have it here.

EVERYMAN: Then I trust we need not fear;

Now friends, let us not part in twain.

KNOWLEDGE: Nay, Everyman, that will we not, certain.

GOOD-DEEDS: Yet must thou lead with thee

Three persons of great might.

EVERYMAN: Who should they be?

GOOD-DEEDS: Discretion and Strength, they hight,

And thy Beauty may not abide behind.

KNOWLEDGE: Also ye must call to mind.

Your Five-wits as for your counsellors.

GOOD-DEEDS: You must have them ready at all hours.

The above stretch of discourse shows the cooperation among the forces characterised in the play. There is
perfect harmony in the atmosphere but a tremendous deal of suspense is achieved through the new
processes suggested by them. The author of Everyman dramatises the process of purification rather than
present it as a piece of discourse in a sermon. When Everyman calls his personal potentials, Strength,
Five-Wits, Beauty, and Discretion, they also speak in a style similar to his worldly potentials, Fellowship,
Kindred, Cousin, and Goods. Their unreliability is clear in the lack of originality they demonstrate in
their speech:
STRENGTH: And I, Strength, will by you stand in distress,
Though thou would be battle fight on the ground.

FIVE-WITS: And though it were through the world round,

We will not depart for sweet nor sour.

BEAUTY: No more will I unto deaths hour,

Whatsoever thereof befall.

DISCRETION: Everyman, advise you first of all;

Go with a good advisement and deliberation;
We all give you virtuous counsel,
That all shall be well.

They do not suggest anything new but supports what Knowledge suggests. Five-Wits is more chatty than
the others and he describes the seven sacraments that Everyman should receive in a naive tone. He
describes the priests as some characters in a fairy tale.
With five words he may consecrate
Gods body in flesh and blood to mate,
And handleth his maker between his hands;
The priest bindeth and unbindeth all bands,
Both in earth and in heaven;
Thou ministers all the sacraments seven;
Knowledge corrects the reckless generalisation of priests that Five-Wits has given. She states that there
are good priests as well as bad priests. Yet Five-Wits continues to praise priests submissively:
We be their sheep, and they shepherds be
By whom we all be kept in surety.

While proceeding in the path to salvation, Everyman does not want to leave the four physical potentials
and asks them to hold a rod of which he holds one end.
Now set each of you on this rod your hand,
And shortly follow me:
I go before, there I would be; God be our guide.

Here, Strength and Discretion make a promise to accompany him to his grave which is impossible to
fulfil. Their unreliability contrasts with the firmness of Knowledge and Good-Deeds:
And though this pilgrimage be never so strong,
I will never part you fro:
Everyman, I will be as sure by thee
As ever I did by Judas Maccabee.

Everymans declaration at this juncture reveals his disillusionment with worldly life. The authors
intention culminates at the point where Everyman enters into his grave, saying that he should not have
come to this world:
Friends, let us not turn again to this land,
Not for all the worlds gold,
For into this cave must I creep
And turn to the earth and there to sleep.

The dialogue between Everyman and the personal potentials, Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five-Wits,
carried out in short exchanges dramatises the natural deprivation of Everyman of all worldly potentials
on the verge of death. They all reject his plea ruthlessly, and it helps to materialise the authors wish that
every member of his audience should have realised this in the prime of his/her life, i.e., when s/he is in
control of these personal potentials and the others, friends, kindred, and wealth. No sensible person
would forget the cathartic experience s/he receives here, as it is so powerful and dreadful.
Everyman summarises the experience in great sorrow, frustration and disillusionment;
O all thing faileth, save God alone;
Beauty, Strength, and Discretion;
For when Death bloweth his blast,
They all run from me full fast.

The delayed departure of Five-Wits adds to the dramatic irony of this situation. Five-Wits behaves here
like a slow learner.
Everyman, my leave now of thee I take;
I will follow the other, for here I thee forsake.

The authors intention to emphasise the indispensability of Good-Deeds materialises in her offer to
accompany Everyman, helpless after the departure of all worldly potentials:
EVERYMAN: O Jesu, help, all hath forsaken me!

GOOD-DEEDS: Nay, Everyman, I will bide with thee,

I will not forsake thee indeed;
Thou shalt find me a good friend at need.
Through Good-Deeds the author conveys his message to the spectator, indirectly criticising peoples
vainglorious thinking:
All earthly things is but vanity:
Beauty, Strength, and Discretion, do man forsake,
Foolish friends and kinsmen, that fair spake,
All fleeth save Good-Deeds, and that am I.

The artistic grandeur of the display is enhanced in what takes place after Everymans departure.
Knowledge describes Everymans festive reception in Heaven, when he appears there with a good track
record:
Now hath he suffered that we all shall endure;
The Good-Deeds shall make all sure.
Now hath he made ending;
Methinketh that I hear angels sing
And make great joy and melody,
Where Everymans soul received shall be.

What Knowledge describes is confirmed by the Angel who practically leads Everyman through the
portals of Heaven. The encouraging and inspiring words he utters to Everyman exemplify the reception
one is accorded at the moment of ones death, if one is equipped with a good track record full of entries of
charitable acts. The heavenly confirmation of Everymans safe departure into Heaven is theologically re-
confirmed by the Doctor who narrates what happened in the course of Everymans pilgrimage.
This moral men may have in mind;
Ye hearers, take it of worth, old and young,
And forsake pride, for he deceiveth you in the end,
And remember Beauty, Five-wits, Strength, and Discretion,
They all at last do Everyman forsake,
Save his Good-Deeds, there doth he take.
But beware, and they be small
Before God, he hath no help at all.

In philosophical terms he summarises the message of the play. Yet we see that the artistic form is
preserved by the economy of language. Although it is not a colourful sort of discourse, the message is
conveyed in forceful terms so that every member of the congregation follows the path prescribed by
Good-Deeds, in fear of getting drowned by Death and pushed into Hell.
While noted for its simplicity, Everyman remains a piece of morality theatre teaching every man and
woman on how to face Death bravely and wisely on the strength of leading his/her life in accordance
with the norms of Christian morals and principles of charity. Nevertheless, the style does not overdo to
the theme in making it too complex for the spectator to understand the plain truth of life.

General Vision and Achievements of EVERYMAN

The play Everyman aims at enlightening its spectator on the futility of mundane pursuits; on the spiritual
challenge posed by the trial he has to undergo on the day of judgement; on the requirement of having a
sound track record full of acts of charity; and on the way in which one achieves purification through
reflection, confession, penance, commission, and absolution. On the basis of its philosophical expectation,
Everyman is considered a morality play. The symbolic representations the characters maintain, the
symbolic meanings the action projects, and the symbolic atmosphere the entire scenario engenders make
the play allegorical. All the characters represent forces either good or bad, and all the actions represent
the operational behaviour of these forces. So the play has a symbolic structure and a philosophical theme.
When all aspects of the play are assessed in a philosophical context the vision of the play appears noble
and sublime.
This vision of inculcating good morals in the spectator materialises with the aesthetic devices the author
has applied in developing the theme. The play firmly focuses on the compulsion of receiving sacrament
when ones personal potentials are sound and steady, and to achieve charity before ones worldly
potentials go out of control. Delay in satisfying such moral requirements of life can blur the prospects of
comfort and solace in the other world. So the play in very clear terms emphasises its moral focus.
Though the message is purely of religious significance, the play does not continue as a sermon that may
not be attractive to many people. The process prescribed in explicit terms in the holy texts is presented in
a theatrical form heightening the catharsis one undergoes during aesthetic experience. The impact is
indeed much greater than that of a sermon dictating the needful in a prescriptive form. The play
dramatises Gods expectation of Everyman and his frustration over his degeneration; Deaths encounter
with Everyman where he uncompromisingly dictates the requirement of carrying out the pilgrimage of
purification and furnishing his book of account or track record to be presented at his trial before the
Messiahs; Everymans failure in his effort to canvass support from worldly potentials - Fellowship,
Kindred, and Goods; his consultation of Good-Deeds and Knowledge; his realisation of the unreliability
of physical potentials Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five-Wits; his continuation with Good-Deeds
and Knowledge; his pursuit of Confession and Penance in the association of a Priest; and his peaceful and
confident movement into the grave with the company of Good-Deeds. All these highly theological
situations are woven into a play which presents them with the elegance of theatre.
There is drama in every episode. When the action is analysed it is clear that what happens with
Everyman has a universal meaning. Everyman is as fearful of dying as the rest of us. When Death
identifies himself, Everyman does what every cowardly person would do, he begs for more time, saying
he's not ready, and when all else fails, he tries to bribe Death. The drama materialises in the interaction
between Death and Everyman because of the conflicting situation that arises from it. Everymans
helplessness and Deaths relentlessness clash with each other, and due to it the action engenders suspense
to a great extent.
Death is businesslike and offers unarguable reasons why he cannot be bribed. When Everyman knows
that the summons is inescapable, he turns in the wrong direction. He expects the other people to save
him. Friendship and Kindred are false friends who promise to accompany him on his journey; yet each
forsakes him when they hear of his destination. The sudden collapse of Everymans morale and his
restlessness becomes the pivotal point in these dealings. Again the ironical excuses and the anticlimactic
withdrawals these characters make in response to Everymans plea provide situations of friction.
Then Everyman goes even further, to Goods. He expects his worldly wealth to save him. Trust in other
mortals is useless, but trust in Goods is damnable. Everyman is strictly warned by Goods against
trusting him too much. Goods reveals that his whole mission is to trap people and to blur their prospects
for salvation. The disillusionment Everyman makes at this point is really an anticlimax. This reminds of
the statement in the Bible: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)
In despair, Everyman turns at last to Good-Deeds (who could save him if strong). Like Goods (an apt
parallelism), Good-Deeds is bound up, but for a different reason. Good-Deeds is pitiably weak. Only if
strengthened, can his Good-Deeds save him. Everyman develops a strong relationship with Good-Deeds
and decides to proceed the rest of his life with her, but Good-Deeds convinces him that he should sort out
things in association with Knowledge. Again the appeal Good-Deeds makes poses a challenge to
Everyman. He has to compromise most of the mundane values he has been maintaining so far. The
conflict within Everyman contributes to the element of drama in the dealings between Everyman and
Good-Deeds. The radical change in Everyman leads to an explosive development.
Knowledge puts him in the correct path by getting him to meet Confession and undergo the process of
purification through penance. Everyman fulfils the seven sacraments and achieves absolution to become
clean of his sins. On his return, he acknowledges Good-Deeds and Knowledge for the invaluable
guidance rendered to him. A denouement is suggested in the progress Everyman achieves in his
spirituality, with a hope that Everyman will not collapse further.
From this point on, Everyman's fortunes improve, and he gains various friends. These friends parts of
himself are more reliable than the earlier ones, and Everyman becomes hopeful and happy. But again,
he must be disappointed: Beauty, Strength, Five-Wits, and Knowledge will not pass with him through the
grave. He expects his own physical properties to save him. But Knowledge helps Everyman strengthen
Good-Deeds because when Everyman knows he has sinned, he has the Knowledge to repent. Ultimately
only Good Deeds can accompany him for his reckoning.
Thus, while projecting the process of salvation prescribed by Christianity, the author of Everyman has
taken a secular style. Any group can produce the play therefore to suit any audience as it does not
emphasise the label of the morality it promotes but the morality itself. Theism is the only element that
makes the play look Christian. Other things are all of some universal value, and therefore can be enjoyed
and studied universally. In the presence of blatant moral decay, the play Everyman provides a path for
everybody to follow. The philosophical basis it develops by providing the spectator with an exposure to
the moral and spiritual matters one needs to tackle during life is the real achievement of Everyman. It
emerges in every line with meaning and force. Religion wrapped in art serves better than sheer sermon,
coming from a pedestal. So the play is vigorous in promoting the unpopular.