Everyman

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The Reflection of Death in Everyman
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the morality play evolved as the popular dramatic form which offered instruction to the audience on the Christian lifestyle and attitudes toward death. Most often, these plays gravitated toward the conflict between good and evil for the human soul, concluding with the soul’s redemption. (Miracle). The matter that morality plays dealt with was allegorical in nature and its intent was to apply Christian doctrine to conduct, in order to promote Christian character (Warren). One of the most celebrated morality plays dates back to approximately 1475 and is titled Everyman. The morality play Everyman serves as a reflection of Medieval and Renaissance views toward death and the concept of a soul’s final struggle for salvation.
In order to gain an understanding of how Everyman is reflective of Medieval and Renaissance conceptions about death, it is necessary to have some knowledge of the play’s plot. Everyman opens with an introductory statement which aids this necessity: “Here beginneth a treatise how ye high Father of Heaven sendeth Death to summon every creature to come and give account of their lives in this world, and is in manner of a Moral play”. The introduction reveals the play’s message and introduces the plot. The character Everyman is visited by the character Death who orders Everyman produce an account book and prepare to journey to the grave:

On thee thou must take a long journey.
Therefore thy book of count with thee thou bring,
For turn again thou cannot by no way!
And look thou be sure of thy reckoning
For before God thou shalt answer and shew
Thy many bad deeds and good but a few,
How thou hast spent thy life, and in what wise,
Before the chief Lord of Paradise.
The idea that Everyman must produce a book filled with all of his deeds was indeed a reflection of the common belief ...