Everyman and the Morality Play Tradition — Medieval Allegorical Drama
The Morality Play Genre and Its Origins
The morality play is a distinctively late medieval dramatic form that flourished in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, particularly in England and the Low Countries, and it represents one of the most important developments in the history of European drama. Unlike the mystery plays, which dramatized biblical narratives from the Creation to the Last Judgment, morality plays are allegorical dramas in which the central character — typically called “Mankind,” “Everyman,” or “Humanum Genus” — is confronted with personified abstractions representing vices, virtues, emotions, and cosmic forces such as Death, Knowledge, and Good Deeds. The plot follows a consistent and powerful pattern: the protagonist falls into sin through the influence of Vice figures, undergoes a period of spiritual crisis and despair, and is ultimately saved through repentance and the intervention of virtue figures and divine grace. Morality plays are explicitly and designedly didactic — they are, in effect, sermons in dramatic form, designed to teach audiences about the spiritual journey of the human soul and the means of salvation through repentance and God’s mercy. Their roots lie in the allegorical tradition of medieval preaching and in the dramatized psychomachia — the battle for the human soul — that had been a theme of Christian literature since Prudentius’s poem of that title in the fifth century. The morality play represents the first sustained attempt in European drama to represent the inner life of the human soul on stage, and in this sense it looks forward to the psychological depth of Elizabethan drama and beyond. The genre also provided an important model for the development of dramatic structure, character, and theme that later playwrights from Shakespeare to Beckett would build upon.
Everyman: The Text and Its Sources
Everyman is the best-known of the English morality plays, probably composed around 1495–1500, and it has achieved a canonical status that makes it the most frequently anthologized and performed medieval English play after the mystery cycles. The play is a translation and adaptation of the Dutch morality Elckerlijc (written by Peter van Diest around 1470), and for many years scholars debated whether the English or Dutch version came first — the question was finally settled in favor of Dutch priority through careful analysis of textual details, rhyme patterns, and historical context. The play is remarkably spare and concentrated compared to other English moralities: it lacks the comic scenes and the Vice figures that provide entertainment in plays like Mankind and The Castle of Perseverance, and it focuses its attention single-mindedly on its theological theme with a relentless force that gives the play its power. The play’s power comes from its simplicity, its concentration, and the inexorable logic with which it pursues its central premise: that every human being must face death alone and will be judged by what he has done in life. The play’s 900 lines of rhyming verse move with an almost unbearable dramatic tension toward a conclusion that is both theologically orthodox and deeply moving. The anonymous English translator skillfully adapted the Dutch original to English conditions, making the play feel native to English dramatic tradition while preserving the theological precision of the original.
Plot and Allegorical Structure
The play opens with God sending Death to summon Everyman for a reckoning — an accounting of his life that will determine his eternal destiny. Everyman, confronted with the reality of his own mortality, seeks companionship for the journey to face his judgment. He approaches Fellowship, who promises to stay with him until he learns the destination, at which point he immediately abandons him. Kindred and Cousin also refuse to accompany him. Goods, representing his material possessions, cannot come because they have been the cause of his sins. Everyman is in despair until Good Deeds, though weak from neglect, offers to accompany him — but only after Everyman has been purified by Confession. After receiving the sacrament of penance, Everyman is joined by Knowledge, Strength, Discretion, and Five-Wits, who help him prepare for death. One by one they leave him — Strength fails, Discretion departs, even Knowledge cannot go with him past death — until only Good Deeds remains. Everyman commends his soul to God and descends into his grave, whereupon an angel welcomes him to heaven. The allegorical structure is transparent and powerful: each character represents an aspect of human experience or spiritual resources, and the sequential abandonment of Everyman dramatizes the stripping away of all worldly supports in the face of death. The progression from Fellowship to Kindred to Goods to Good Deeds is a movement from the most external and worldly to the most internal and spiritual, and the abandonment of Everyman by Strength, Discretion, and Knowledge represents the failure of merely human faculties at the hour of death.
Theological Background and Allegorical Meaning
The play dramatizes the late medieval Catholic understanding of salvation, specifically the doctrine that good works are necessary for salvation but insufficient without God’s grace and the sacraments of the Church. The central message concerns the importance of good works performed in a state of grace, the necessity of the sacrament of penance for the remission of sin, and the vanity of relying on worldly relationships or material possessions in the hour of death. The play is thoroughly orthodox in its theology and reflects the teachings of the Church as they were understood in the decades before the Reformation. The figure of Good Deeds, weak and unable to stand at the beginning of the play but strong after Everyman has received the sacrament of penance, precisely expresses the Catholic understanding of works performed in a state of grace: they are meritorious not because of their own power but because of the grace that flows through them. The play also emphasizes the role of the Church in the salvation of the individual: Confession, Penance, and the priestly ministry are all represented as essential to Everyman’s salvation. The figure of Knowledge, who guides Everyman to Confession and then to the priest, represents the role of catechetical instruction and the teaching authority of the Church.
Performance and Stagecraft
The simplicity of the play’s staging is remarkable and contributes to its dramatic power. The play requires no elaborate sets or special effects — the action takes place in a neutral space that represents whatever location the dialogue requires. The characters enter and exit as needed, and the focus is entirely on the dialogue and the developing dramatic situation. This minimalism allows the play to work in any performance space, from a church hall to a modern theater, and gives it a universality that transcends its specific historical origins. The play’s movement is essentially a series of encounters followed by departures, as each character in turn abandons Everyman, and this repetitive structure — each scene follows the same pattern of hope followed by disappointment — creates an accumulating sense of desolation that makes Everyman’s final salvation all the more powerful. The play’s affective power depends largely on the actor playing Everyman, who must convey the full range of human emotion from denial to despair to hope to resignation.
Legacy and Modern Reception
Everyman was revived in the early twentieth century and has remained in the modern theatrical repertoire, frequently performed by amateur and professional companies alike. Its stark power and universal theme have made it attractive to directors who see in it a dramatic archetype that speaks to modern existential concerns. The play’s influence extends beyond the stage: the name “Everyman” has entered the language as a term for any ordinary human being, and the play’s structure of a journey toward death with allegorical companions has been adapted and reimagined in countless later works. Modern adaptations have ranged from faithful historical reconstructions to radical reinterpretations that set the play in contemporary contexts.
FAQ
What does Everyman represent? Every human soul facing death and judgment.
Who wrote Everyman? The author is unknown — the play is a translation of the Dutch Elckerlijc.
How long is Everyman? About 900 lines of rhyming verse, a compact and concentrated drama.
What is the message of Everyman? Salvation depends on good deeds performed in a state of grace.
Why do Everyman’s friends abandon him? They represent worldly attachments that cannot survive death.
What other morality plays survive? The Castle of Perseverance, Mankind, and Wisdom are the other major English moralities.
How is Everyman different from other moralities? It lacks comic scenes and Vice figures, focusing relentlessly on its theological theme.
Internal Links
- Read about allegory in Medieval Allegory.
- Explore the mystery plays in Mystery Plays.
- See the broader context in Medieval Literature Guide.
Related Concepts and Further Reading
Understanding everyman morality play requires familiarity with several interconnected ideas and principles that together form a complete picture. Exploring these related concepts deepens your knowledge and provides context that makes the core material more meaningful and applicable. Each concept builds on the others, creating a web of understanding that supports deeper learning and practical application. Taking time to explore how these elements connect reveals patterns that accelerate comprehension and retention of new information.
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