EVERYMAN : Drama: 16th and 17th Century (MAJ-ENG-2.1)

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University: Rabindranath Tagore University (RTU), Hojai, Assam

Course: BA ENGLISH (Honours)

EVERYMAN

🔵 EVERYMAN : Drama: 16th and 17th Century (MAJ-ENG-2.1)

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📜 Study Note: The Allegorical Journey of Everyman (15th-Century Morality Play)

Core Academic Focus: Understanding Everyman as the foundation of English Renaissance tragedy and the Moral Allegory tradition.

1️⃣ Academic Context: Everyman in the British Dramatic Canon

Within the university curriculum for Drama: 16th and 17th Century (MAJ-ENG-2.1), Everyman functions as a historical bridge between Medieval religious drama and Renaissance psychological tragedy.

1. It predates the professional Elizabethan theatre.
2. It acts as the indispensable precursor to later masterpieces such as:
   • Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus
   • Shakespeare’s Othello
   • Jonson’s Volpone
3. It allows students to trace the evolution of the British stage:
   
   Medieval Liturgical Drama → Morality Play → Renaissance Psychological Tragedy

Key Transformation:
The “final hour” tension in Everyman becomes the ancestor of the agonizing final soliloquy in Doctor Faustus.

👉 Shift from communal religious spectacle 👉 To individual psychological catastrophe

🧠 Memory Trigger: Think of Everyman as the “Grandfather of Renaissance Tragedy.” Without this medieval reckoning, Faustus could never cry in existential terror.

2️⃣ The Definitive Morality Play

Genre Identity: Everyman is the definitive exemplar of the Morality Play tradition.

1. The Messenger opens the play with a didactic address.
2. The Doctor concludes with a moral summation.
3. The structure resembles a religious treatise in dramatic form.

The play explicitly presents itself as a “moral play” illustrating the transitory nature of human existence.

Central Event	Spiritual Meaning
God summons Everyman	Divine Judgment is inevitable
General Reckoning	Final Spiritual Audit
Loss of Worldly Companions	Isolation before Death

Core Narrative Formula:
“Summoning of Everyman” → “General Reckoning” → “Sure Reckoning before the High Judge Adonai”

Final Insight: Worldly prosperity collapses; only spiritual merit remains.

🧠 Memory Formula: Life – Wealth – Friends – Strength = Soul Alone Before God

3️⃣ Thematic Movement: From Worldly Entanglement to Spiritual Isolation

The journey of Everyman is not geographical — it is spiritual and psychological.

1. Beginning: Immersed in worldly prosperity.
2. Middle: Companions gradually abandon him.
3. End: Stands alone before the “high judge Adonai.”

This progression dramatizes the medieval theological belief:

Only Good Deeds accompany the soul beyond death.

🧠 Visual Memory Cue: Imagine a crowded banquet hall slowly emptying — until one man stands alone under divine light.

Study Note: The Allegorical Journey of Everyman
(15th-Century Morality Play)

1. Academic Context: Everyman in the British Dramatic Canon

Within the university curriculum for Drama: 16th and 17th Century (MAJ-ENG-2.1), the inclusion of the 15th-century text Everyman serves a vital pedagogical purpose. While it predates the professional triumphs of the Elizabethan era, it stands as the indispensable precursor to later masterpieces like Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Shakespeare’s Othello, and Jonson’s Volpone.

By analyzing this text, students track the evolution of the British stage from medieval liturgical drama—essentially ritualized extensions of the liturgy— to the sophisticated, allegorical Morality Play, and finally to the psychological tragedies of the Renaissance.

The "final hour" tension found in Everyman’s reckoning is the direct ancestor of the agonizing final soliloquy in Doctor Faustus, representing a shift from a communal "ghostly sight" to the individualized psychological catastrophe of the professional stage.

The play is the definitive exemplar of the Morality Play genre. As established by the Messenger’s opening address and the Doctor’s closing summation, the play functions as a "treatise" or "moral play" intended to illustrate the "transitory" nature of human existence.

The narrative synthesizes a singular core objective: the "Summoning of Everyman" by God for a "general reckoning." This final spiritual audit strips away the "worldly prosperity" of the protagonist, leaving only a "sure reckoning" before the "high judge Adonai."

The following analysis explores the specific personified abstractions that populate this journey, illustrating the play's movement from worldly entanglement to spiritual isolation.

2. Character Analysis: The Anatomy of Allegory

In Everyman, characters are not psychological individuals with nuanced interiority; they are personified abstractions. Each figure embodies a specific theological concept, a social bond, or a physical faculty. This strategic use of allegory is central to the play’s didacticism, enabling the playwright to dramatize the invisible mechanics of the soul’s salvation.

The Divine & The Inevitable

God (Adonai): Appearing to lament a world "drowned in sin" where people live "without dread in worldly prosperity," God functions as the ultimate architect of justice. He views humanity as "traitors deject" who have forgotten the "shedding of [His] blood red."

Death: As the "mighty messenger" of God, Death is the unstoppable officer of the divine court. He is characterized by his absolute impartiality, famously refusing Everyman’s attempt at bribery ("a thousand pound"). He "set[s] not by gold, silver, nor riches" and ignores the status of "pope, emperor, king, duke, ne princes."

The False Friends

The play critiques worldly reliance by demonstrating the systematic abandonment of Everyman.

Fellowship: Initially promising to stay "unto my life's end" even in "Hell," he quickly pivots to offering "mirth, solace, and play" or "haunt[ing] to women," but refuses the grave.

Kindred and Cousin: These represent the failure of familial bonds. Cousin offers the famously mundane excuse of a "cramp in my toe" to avoid the pilgrimage. Kindred displays a cruel social deflection, refusing to go but offering Everyman his "maid" who "loveth to go to feasts" and "to dance"—a stark critique of how earthly connections offer trivialities in exchange for eternal needs.

Goods: Representing "worldly riches," Goods is "trussed and piled" in chests and bags. He reveals himself as a "thief" to the soul, explaining that Everyman’s "love of [Goods] is contrary to the love everlasting."

The Spiritual Guides

Good-Deeds: Initially, she lies "cold in the ground," so weak she "can neither go nor speak." She is the visual representation of Everyman's spiritual neglect, with his "books of works" lying "under the feet" and "one letter" so blotted he cannot see it. She is only revived through Everyman's penance.

Knowledge and Confession: Knowledge is the indispensable guide to the "house of salvation." Here, Confession provides the "precious jewel" of Penance, described as a "cleansing river" that clears the "blind reckoning" of the soul.

The Transitory Attributes

Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five-Wits: These represent the faculties of the physical self. Their departure at the mouth of the grave is the play's most poignant lesson on the "transitory" nature of life.

Beauty’s exit is particularly vivid: she "takes her cap in her lap" and flees, refusing to "smother" in the grave. This underscores for the student that even the most intimate personal attributes are "but lent."

These allegorical betrayals serve a narrative function, isolating Everyman until he is stripped of all but his spiritual essence.

3. Thematic Transformation: The Book of Reckoning and the Pilgrimage

The central metaphors of Everyman are the pilgrimage—a "long journey" from which "turn again thou can not"—and the "book of count." This structure provides the dramatic tension, as Everyman must transform his blotted account into a "crystal-clear" reckoning.

The Process of Spiritual Transformation

The process of Everyman’s spiritual transformation follows a rigorous progression:

1. The Summoning: The arrival of Death galvanizes Everyman into a state of existential terror, forcing him to realize his "unready" state while his mind was on "fleshly lusts."
2. The Search for Company: Everyman repudiates his reliance on external bonds (Fellowship, Kindred, Goods) as he realizes they are "but lent" and ultimately "deceive [him] in [his] most need."
3. The Path of Penance: Guided by Knowledge, Everyman internalizes the Church's discipline. He undergoes the physical act of the "scourge" and dons the "garment of sorrow" (Contrition), which physically enables Good-Deeds to walk.
4. The Final Reckoning: Having purified his soul, Everyman vindicates his existence. His "reckoning is crystal-clear," allowing him to transcend the "blind matter" of his sins.

This transformation highlights the totalizing role of the Church, shifting the focus from the individual's social identity to their status as a member of the mystical body of Christ.

4. Socio-Religious Framework: Priesthood and the Seven Sacraments

To fulfill the syllabus objective of exploring British society, culture, and politics, one must recognize the play's assertion of the Church’s absolute mediation. Everyman reflects a pre-Reformation worldview where salvation is impossible outside the institutional framework.

The Power of Priesthood

The character Five-Wits delivers a vital defense of the Priesthood, claiming "priesthood exceedeth all other thing." The text makes the radical claim that God has given priests more power than "any angel that is in heaven" because with just "five words" (the words of consecration in the Mass), the priest may "consecrate God's body in flesh and blood" and "handleth his maker between his hands."

The Seven Sacraments as "Soul's Medicine"

The play identifies the Seven Sacraments as the essential tools to avoid "purgatory, that sharp fire."

1. Baptism
2. Confirmation
3. Priesthood
4. Marriage
5. Extreme Unction
6. Penance
7. The Sacrament of the Altar

These function as the "soul's medicine," the only valid currency in the "general reckoning."

Pre-Reformation Tension

While the play elevates the office of the priest, it acknowledges clerical corruption. Knowledge warns of "sinful priests" who live in "lechery" or "buy or sell" the sacraments.

This reflects a sophisticated medieval distinction: the office is holy and necessary for salvation ("No remedy we find under God / But all only priesthood"), even if the man holding the office is flawed.

5. Critical Synthesis: Learning Outcomes and Moral Imperatives

The play concludes with the Doctor’s speech, a memento mori that serves as a final academic and moral synthesis for the audience.

Critical Takeaways for Undergraduate Mastery

1. The Vanitas Theme: The play asserts the utter worthlessness of "worldly riches," "fleshly lusts," and "gay" attire. At the hour of death, these are revealed as "but vanity."
2. The Sole Sufficiency of Good-Deeds: Only Good-Deeds crosses the threshold of the grave. While Beauty "takes her cap" and Strength "denies" him, Good-Deeds is the only companion whose "singular virtue" leads to the "heavenly sphere."
3. The Imminence of Account: The play concludes with a stern warning: "after death amends may no man make." If the reckoning is not clear, God will pronounce the terrible judgment: ite maledicti in ignem æternum ("Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire").

In the final scene, Everyman’s surrender— In manus tuas, commendo spiritum meum— marks the completion of the pilgrimage. For the student of MAJ-ENG-2.1, Everyman provides a "ghostly sight" into a society where the Church was the sole mediator of reality, providing the essential cultural and formal foundation for the 16th-century dramatic explosion that followed.

Analytical Study Guide:
Everyman and the 15th-Century British Worldview

1. Historical and Theological Context: The Summons of Humanity

To approach the 15th-century masterpiece Everyman is to engage with a profound "treatise" and "moral play" intended for the spiritual edification of the laity. Commissioned, as the prologue suggests, by the "High Father of Heaven," the work functions as a potent didactic instrument.

It was designed not for mere aesthetic diversion, but as a strategic pedagogical tool to navigate the medieval audience through the harrowing reality of the memento mori tradition. The play’s central preoccupation is the "general reckoning"—an eschatological accounting of the soul that every Christian anticipated with a mixture of hope and holy dread.

In an era where the body "lieth in clay" with alarming frequency, the play served as a manual for the art of dying well (ars moriendi).

The drama’s inciting incident is a celestial intervention. "Adonai"—invoked also by the syncretic title "highest Jupiter of all"—looks down upon the world and perceives a state of terminal "unkindness."

God’s grievances are rooted in the "ghostly blindness" of a humanity "drowned in sin," preoccupied entirely with "worldly prosperity" and the "seven deadly sins." Humanity has forgotten the "shedding of [His] blood red," becoming "worse than beasts" in their pursuit of "covetise" and "lechery."

Consequently, God commands Death, his "mighty messenger," to summon Everyman to a "pilgrimage" from which there is no return. This divine necessity for a "sure reckoning" dictates the entire soteriological and literary structure of the work, transforming the stage into a courtroom of the soul.

The weight of these theological stakes necessitates a specific literary architecture— the personification allegory—to map the internal journey of the soul onto the external movements of the stage.

2. Form and Allegory: The Personification of the Human Condition

The Morality Play served as the ideal medium for communicating abstract spiritual truths to a 15th-century audience. By manifesting internal psychological states and social categories as breathing characters, the play bridges the gap between the invisible struggle for salvation and the visible world.

This personification allegory allows the "hearers, old and young" to witness the stripping away of the ego, as Everyman discovers the "transitory" nature of all he holds dear.

As Everyman begins his "loath journey," his various attributes and associations are tested. The following table evaluates their fidelity to the soul in its final hour.

Character Allegory Table – Everyman

Character Category	Specific Characters	Reason for Abandonment or Fidelity
Transitory Social Ties	Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin	Abandonment: Fellowship prefers "mirth, solace, and play"; Cousin cites a "cramp in the toe"; Kindred offers his "nice" (wanton) maid who loves "to dance" as a surrogate, mocking the seriousness of the summons.
Material Possessions	Goods	Abandonment: Goods is "locked so fast" in chests and "sacked in bags"; he admits, "My condition is man's soul to kill; If I save one, a thousand I do spill." He reveals that wealth is but "lent" and "killeth man’s soul."
Inherent Human Attributes	Strength, Beauty, Five-Wits, Discretion	Abandonment: These attributes flee at the edge of the "cave" (the grave). Strength and Beauty prove to be but "vanity" that "fade from thee as flower in May" when the body faces dissolution.
Spiritual Guides	Knowledge, Good-Deeds	Fidelity: Knowledge (the sister of Good-Deeds) represents the institutional understanding of the faith; she guides Everyman to confession. Good-Deeds, though initially too weak to stand, stays with Everyman into the grave to "make all sure."

3. The Stage and Dramatic Framework: Framing the "Reckoning"

The play employs sophisticated meta-theatrical elements to bridge the ontological gap between the divine drama and the audience's reality. This is achieved through the framing characters of the Messenger and the Doctor.

The Messenger demands "audience" and "reverence," framing the play as a "gracious intent" for the "hearers." The Doctor provides the closing "moral," ensuring the audience understands that "after death amends may no man make." Together, these figures transform the play from mere spectacle into a communal ritual of self-examination.

The dramatic movement follows Everyman’s transformation from an "unready" state of "blindness" to a "crystal-clear" reckoning.

This internal evolution is punctuated by specific, highly symbolic physical actions:

• The Scourge of Penance: A physical manifestation of mortification, used to "chastise the body" and align Everyman’s suffering with that of the "Saviour."
• The Garment of Sorrow (Contrition): A metaphorical and literal robe, "wet with tears," which Everyman must don to signal his spiritual readiness to meet the "High Judge Adonai."

As we pivot from the externalized ritual of the scourge to the internal corruption of the treasury, we find Everyman serving as a speculum—a mirror—for the social and institutional anxieties of 15th-century Britain.

4. Exploration of British Society: Wealth, Kinship, and Class

Everyman serves as a poignant critique of the shifting social fabric of late medieval Britain, particularly the tension between "worldly riches" and the spiritual mandate of "charity."

The play deconstructs the reliability of the "British social fabric" by portraying Fellowship, Kindred, and Cousin as fundamentally fickle. Their refusal to accompany Everyman—typified by the absurd excuse of a "cramp in the toe" or the offer of a "nice" maid to "dance"—satirizes the perceived security of familial and social bonds in the face of mortality.

The deconstruction of Goods is even more scathing.

Represented as being "trussed and piled so high" and "sacked in bags," Goods is both a literal and spiritual weight. The character’s admission that he "blots and blinds" the account book reflects a 15th-century obsession with spiritual bookkeeping.

Goods’ devastating statement, "My condition is man's soul to kill; If I save one, a thousand I do spill," serves as a stark warning against the "thief" of materialism.

This representation suggests that in the competitive landscape of medieval wealth, "money maketh all right that is wrong" only in the world of men; before God, it is a liability.

Because these secular structures fail, the play directs the individual toward the only authority it deems absolute: the centralized institution of the Church.

The "So What?" of this allegorical form is found in the movement from "Fellowship" to "Good-Deeds." This transition represents the dramatic shift from the secular / horizontal social world to the sacred / vertical divine judgment.

While the horizontal ties of kinship and capital are "but vanity," the vertical account—buttressed by the "writing" in the "book of count"—is the only reality that persists. This reinforces the play’s core argument: in the "general reckoning," the soul stands solitary, stripped of all but its moral residue.

This transition from the literary representation of attributes to the literal manifestation of the soul's state is further reinforced by the play’s physical presence on the stage.

5. Culture and Politics: The Institutional Power of the Priesthood

The play underscores the political and cultural centralization of the Church in Britain through its exaltation of Priesthood. The text claims that priests are "above angels in degree" because they possess the power to "bind and unbind" and to handle the "Maker between [their] hands."

This reflects the contemporary worldview that the "office" of the priest is the only "surgeon that cureth sin deadly."

The play identifies the Seven Sacraments as the essential "medicine" for the soul's journey:

1. Baptism
2. Confirmation
3. Priesthood
4. The Sacrament of God's precious flesh and blood (Eucharist)
5. Marriage
6. Holy Extreme Unction
7. Penance (Shrift)

The "So What?" of the play's political subtext emerges in the dialogue between Knowledge and Five-Wits regarding "sinful priests."

The text acknowledges contemporary critiques of the clergy—specifically those who "buy or sell" sacraments (simony) or "haunteth women’s company" in "lechery." However, the play ultimately upholds the institution’s necessity.

By distinguishing between the "bad example" of the man and the divine authority of the "office," Everyman reinforces the Church’s role as the indispensable mediator for "man’s redemption," regardless of individual corruption.

Q1. How does Everyman's allegory represent British society and politics?

The allegory in Everyman represents British society and politics by illustrating a worldview where earthly status and material wealth are subordinate to divine judgment. While primarily a religious "moral play," its personified abstractions reflect the social structures, institutional power, and moral anxieties of its time.

Representation of British Society

The play critiques the social fabric of the period, portraying a society that has become "blind" to spiritual matters due to an obsession with wealth and personal pleasure. Critique of Materialism: The character of Goods represents the growing importance of material wealth in society. The play warns that "worldly riches" are merely "lent" to individuals and that an over-reliance on them leads to spiritual "damnation". God laments that people are so "cumbered with worldly riches" that they have forgotten charity.

Fragility of Social Bonds: Through Fellowship, Kindred, and Cousin, the allegory represents the transience of human relationships. Fellowship is willing to join Everyman for "sport and play" or even to help him commit "murder," but refuses to accompany him on his spiritual journey. This reflects a social critique of "fair-weather" friends who are present in "prosperity" but absent in "adversity".

The Role of the Church: The society depicted is deeply rooted in the sacramental life of the Church. The play emphasizes that Priesthood "exceedeth all other thing" because priests have the authority to handle the "blessed sacraments" necessary for salvation. It explicitly lists the seven sacraments—baptism, confirmation, priesthood, marriage, extreme unction, and penance— as the "medicine" for the soul.

Representation of Politics and Power

The play addresses political authority by placing earthly power within a larger, cosmic hierarchy.

Earthly vs. Divine Hierarchy: Everyman asserts the absolute authority of God as the "high father of heaven" and the "highest Jupiter". Worldly political titles are shown to be powerless against the "summons" of Death. Death explicitly states that he has no regard for "pope, emperor, king, duke, ne princes" and cannot be bribed with "gold, silver, nor riches". Authority of the Priesthood: The play reflects contemporary political-religious tensions by asserting that even the "least priest" has a divine commission that surpasses that of any "emperor, king, duke, ne baron". Priests are described as being "above angels in degree" because of their power to "unbind all bands".

Institutional Corruption: The text also provides a glimpse into political and social critiques of the Church. Through the character of Knowledge, the play acknowledges that "sinful priests" exist—those who lead "unclean" lives or "buy or sell" their offices (simony). This suggests a society that was increasingly aware of and vocal about institutional corruption.

In summary, the allegory serves the syllabus objective of exploring British life by showing how medieval social values and political hierarchies were fundamentally framed by a preoccupation with mortality and religious accountability.

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