Perspective on Death in the Play Everyman Essays - 1344 Words

The play Everyman may have been written many years ago, but its lessons are still relevant today. Generally, the facts of death are very traumatizing and in fact unthinkable. This leads the modern day Everyman to ignore its significance, dying without acknowledging or reflecting on their lives here on earth. It is based on this fact that this paper aims to show the position of the author of the play â€Å"Everyman† regarding death. History of the Play Like many other morality- allegorical plays, Everyman, fits in as the finest representative of this category. This morality play reflects on the reaction of mankind when faced with the dilemma of eternity. In the play, God sends Death to summon Everyman- a representation all mankind. It is†¦show more content†¦Eventually, these plays later moved outside of the church walls and into the mainstream. Consequently, they became a very popular form of entertainment in theaters. The main characteristics of morality plays include; being tailored to educate the audience through entertainment, they made complex issues for instance, original sin and their consequences to be easily understandable, they personified aspects such as -Vices, Virtues, the Devil and the Good Angel, and God making them easy to understand and communicate meaning to thus who could not read. Therefore, a character representing either humanity as a whole or a fraction of the social structure; supporting characters that are exemplifications of either the good or evil; Objects towards providing the audience with moral leadership and they aims at encouraging human beings men to lead righteous lives (wonderfulfaustus.com, 2013). Allegory plays are symbolic plays where the characters in the play have a double meaning. Generally, the in-depth meaning communicates; ethical, social, spiritual, and or political worth, and characters are frequently personifications of intangible concepts for instance Death in the play Everyman and the concept of evil. In addition, the communications in the play are delivered in the form of allegorical characters, each one representing a variety of concepts that is, Good Deeds, Material Possessions, and Knowledge. Themes1 Similar to otherShow MoreRelatedEveryman1653 Words   |  7 PagesEveryman Liberty University Online English 102 i. Thesis/ Introduction ii. Summary of Characters and what they add to the play a. Messenger b. God c. Death d. Everyman e. Fellowship f. Kindred g. Cousin h. Goods i. Good Deeds j. Knowledge k. Confession l. Beauty m. Strength n. Discretion o. Five Wits (Senses) p. Angel q. Doctor iii. Perspective of Death rRead MoreThe Somonyng of Everyman 1244 Words   |  5 PagesEveryman is a morality play revolving around life, death, good and bad deeds. Everyman, Death and God are the main characters used in the play, in order to bring out the plot of the story. The play uses allegorical characters in order to address Christian salvation, and ways of achieving salvation. The play argues that both good and evil deeds of a person will count, when God makes the final decision on death of a person. The perception and treatment of death plays a vital role in developing theRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Everyman, The Summoning Of Everyman1378 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction and Thesis Statement The full title of â€Å"Everyman† is â€Å"the summoning of Everyman†. It is a morality play known by many people because every character involved in the play is imperative for the plot as well as the morality interpretation. However, Death takes most of critical role (Goldhamer, 1973). Everyman is the main character but without Death, the play would lack its illuminative and illustrative nature. 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