Gorka 1
Katarzyna Gorka
Prof Joseph Safdie
English 216 (Honors)
Everyman and the Medieval Theatre
The medieval theatre tradition originated from folklore pagan festivals, blended over time
with Christian beliefs. One of the main sources were Saturnalia, a large joyful Roman festival,
marked chiefly by having masters and slaves switch places. It gave rise to the medieval Feast of
Fools, featuring a total inversion of values, a mock mass, and the election of a Lord of Misrule, who
temporarily replaced the authorities. The same spirit persisted in the Carnival, a time when one
could indulge in sensual pleasures before the restrictions of the Lent came into effect.
Another source of the medieval theatre tradition was liturgical drama, specifically Passion
plays: religious dramatizations depicting the Passion of Christ. Originally they were performed at
Easter time in the church and presented, like the mass, in Latin, but eventually they would
incorporate more biblical scenes and be presented at other occasions. Gradually they moved away
from the church: first into the churchyard, then into town squares and streets. At the same time they
were slowly being secularized and switched from
Latin to the vernacular, which made them
accessible to largely illiterate audience and thus
far more popular, giving rise to mystery plays.
Mystery plays were a sequence or “cycle”
of plays, produced and performed by city guilds.
Each guild was responsible for a part of the cycle
which corresponded to their trade, for example
nail-makers would perform the Crucifixion. The
name “mystery” comes from the Latin word
“mysterium,” meaning “handicraft,” and relates to
the guilds. Each guild had their own decorated
wheeled wagon, called “pageant,” serving as a
stage (Pic. 1). The performers usually moved their Pic. 1. “Chester Mystery Plays,” 1864, an
pageants about the city, acting out their shows in engraving from R. Chambers’ Book of Days.
several key places (see the online simulation of the movement of the York Corpus Christi Play at
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http://jerz.setonhill.edu/resources/PSim/applet/index.html). Unlike in Roman amphitheatres, the
audience were close to the actors, so there was no need for solemn declamation or symbolical
masks. As a result, they combined serious topic with funny or bawdy intrusions, reflecting the taste
of the audience. Robert Chambers in his Book of Days notes the importance of the plays as
providing amusement: “. . . the buffoonery and coarse jests of the devils . . . formed the chief
attraction to the crowd” (Chambers 634).
Side by side with mysteries evolved
morality plays. Unlike mystery plays, they were
not grouped in cycles and they approached the task
of religious preaching in a different way. Instead of
dramatizing biblical episodes, morality plays
represented allegories of spiritual struggle for
salvation. Everyman is a perfect example of such
morality play. It is clearly designed to teach a
moral lesson, according to Christian (Catholic)
belief, and employs typical techniques used in
other morality plays. It features abstract characters:
the protagonist personifying Mankind (here called
Everyman), Death coming to claim his body, and
virtues and vices fighting for his soul. The allegory
of the battle of good and evil came from the Latin
poem “Psychomachia” (“Battle of Souls”) by
Prudentius. Apart from Everyman, it influenced Pic. 2. “The Judgment of Death,” 15th century,
many other medieval works, such as Romance of manuscript illumination by the Rohan Master
the Rose and Piers Plowman (Pic. 2). Today, little in A Book of Hours.
figures of an angel and a devil are still recognized as depicting an internal conflict between good
and evil in modern cartoons, although they are associated with the moment of temptation rather than
with death.
Another important allegory common in morality plays was La Danse Macabre, dance of
death, which illustrated the universality of death, impartially turning people of all ranks and ages
into skeletons and leading them dancing to the grave (Pic. 3). In Everyman, all the appealing aspects
of Death are portrayed: he is a powerful agent of God, sent to every man with no exception, he
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comes when he is least expected, when Everyman is not ready to make his account, and he remains
unaffected by Everyman’s pleas, money, friends, or family connections. The allegory is based on
the notion that human life is not given, but only
lent by God to men, and Death is depicted as a
ruthless debt collector, demanding of Everyman
his “book of reckoning.”
There is hardly any action: Everyman
repeatedly summons and is abandoned by various
characters, symbolizing values important to him
during his lifetime, and finally, after receiving
cleansing sacraments, his soul is taken to Heaven.
The only movement is provided by characters
entering and leaving the stage. It is in fact a single
scene, the scene of death of Everyman, stretched
in time to contain the instructive dialogs. His last
journey is not physical, but psychological, and
stands for his inner development, progression from
ignorance and negligence to recognition and Pic. 3. “Danse Macabre,” c. 1670, Bernardine
reconciliation in the moment of death. Stretching church, Cracow. The scenes in the corners
time resembles modern montage technique of life depict Original Sin, Christ’s death on the
flash, and similarly provides a summary of life Cross, Heaven, and Hell.
which is about to end and emphasizes the gravity of the moment.
The play provides an example of good, proper, Catholic death: going to confession, doing
penance, and receiving holy communion and extreme unction. It can be argued that the story does
not portray an ideal Christian life, since Everyman seems to cling to his false values up to the very
last moment of death, or even justifies living in sin provided one gets absolution from sins before
s/he dies. However, the path to salvation is explained to Everyman by Knowledge, most probably
the theological knowledge of good and evil according to Christian values, therefore everyone who
has access to this kind of knowledge should make good use of it and apply it in his or her life.
The source of knowledge is obviously the Church, but also morality plays, such as this one.
It employs a variety of teaching techniques. One of them is the compositional frame, consisting of a
short prologue and epilogue, spoken as if from outside the play. The Messenger announcing the
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play evokes God’s authority in order to create solemn atmosphere of respect: “. . . ye shall hear how
our Heaven-King / Calleth Everyman to a general reckoning. / Give audience and hear what he doth
say” (Everyman 464:19-21). The Doctor (of theology) summarizes and explains the meaning of the
play, reminding the audience about the eternal flames of hell or the bounty of heaven, awaiting
every soul, and ending his speech with an
invocation to Holy Trinity. The play teaches by
providing an example, describing the story of
Everyman being successively abandoned by his
unreliable “friends.” Obtaining knowledge through
a dialog also draws from the tradition of debates, a
popular
form
of
instruction
in
medieval
universities. But the dominant tone is that of a
religious sermon, illustrating the moral problem
with an allegorical example, and drawing the
instructive conclusions. The ultimate statement
about the nature of the world, a paraphrase of the
biblical vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas, is
delivered by Good Deeds: “All earthly things is Pic. 4. The title page of Everyman, 1530
but vanity. / Beauty, Strength, and Discretion do edition. Personified Death pointing his finger
man forsake, / Foolish friends and kinsmen that at Everyman.
faire spake – / All fleeth save Good Deeds, and
that am I” (Everyman 483:869-72). Therefore, the moral goes, we should not attach ourselves to the
earthly delights and our lives, which are but lent to us, but keep in mind the fragility of our
existence, and care for eternal reward for the soul rather than the pleasures of the flesh.
Works Cited
Everyman. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt and Meyer Howard
Abrams. Vol. A. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. 463-484.
Chambers, Robert. Book of Days. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott&Co., 1879. Online:
<http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/BookofDays/06600634.html>. 12 Oct 2006.