Morality Plays

• Morality plays are a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama
• Morality plays feature personified concepts (virtues or vices, sometimes even practices or habits) as well as angels and demons, who try to persuade a protagonist, who represents a generic human being, toward either good or evil
• The common story arc of these plays follows "the temptation, fall and redemption of the protagonist"
• Morality plays remind the audience to meditate upon their relationship with God
• All of the morality plays are written in rhymed verses

Everyman

• Everyman is a late 15th-century morality play by an anonymous English author, printed around 1530
• The play deals with the theme of Christian salvation: Man must have a relationship with God in order to reach salvation
• The story makes use of allegorical characters
• To develop a relationship with God and attain salvation, Man's strength, wisdom, senses, and discretion are not helpful
• The relationship with God is strengthened through adherence to rules that prepare Man to eternal salvation. These rules were established by the Church:
  • The partaking of the Eucharist
  • Confession
  • Penance
  • Participation in rites

Summary

• The play is the allegorical accounting of the life of Everyman, who represents all mankind
• Everyman tries to convince other characters to accompany him in his journey towards death
  • Some of these characters are Fellowship, Kindred, and Cousin
• The conflict between good and evil is shown through the interactions between the characters
• It is difficult for Everyman to find characters that can accompany him on his pilgrimage
• Everyman realizes that he is essentially alone, despite all the personified characters that were supposed necessities to him during life
• Everyman learns that when one is brought before God at the time of death, one's Good Deeds (following the Church's rules) are what will draw into salvation with Christ