Everyman Essay, Research Paper
Everyman the play is a lesson in correct or righteous behavior, thought, belief, and action for the common man of the day. The majority of the play is devoted to demonstrating how temporary everything in life is as death approaches, except good deeds. The play follows a pattern where, Everyman, the universal protagonist, pleads with a character, who is the physical embodiment of some worldly attribute, to go with him on a journey to his day of reckoning, which is followed by promises of allegience from the other characters ending in ultimate betrayal. The play takes one noticeable break from this pattern in order to take off on a tangent led by two of the earthy characters, Knowledge and the Five-wits. The choice to use these characters was probably no accident, and hopefully as we examine the lines from 706 to 769 we shall see why.
On line 706 Knowledge begins a discussion, or more accurately, a sermon on the usefulness and power of the priesthood. He begins
?Everyman, hearken what I say:
Go to Priesthood, I you advise,
And receive of him, in any wise??
and ?any wise? means at all costs. Here is an example in the play where the use of the allegorical figures starts to become transparent, and then the names of the characters spoken almost tongue-in-cheek. Therefore, the lines almost read, ?Everyman (in the audience), carefully listen to what I have to say: go to your priesthood (local clergyman), I you advise, and listen to him and follow his counsel, at all costs (through both physical and financial costs).? This counsel is then immediately backed up by Five-wits (line 713), who adds that there is no emperor, king, duke, nor baron that has been commissioned by God as the very least priest in the world has been. Not only does this statement help impress the importance of the clergy in ?everyman?s? life, but it also subtely works to help assert the dominance of the clergy over the ruling classes, which the ruling classes should allow if they want to follow God and live ?righteously.?
Five-wits goes on to explain the importance of the sacraments as keys to salvation, and how only the priest holds those keys. Everyman says he would gladly receive those sacraments, and then Five-wits bursts into a final glorification of the priesthood (lines 730-49) that includes suggesting that through the priesthood is the only way to salvation, and the priesthood has more power that the angles, and has more power to hold God?s flesh, and the power to damn people to hell or save them forever, and finally just saying that all of God?s blessings come through the priesthood and the priesthood only. The passage is so direct and has so many far-reaching implications, that the play right feels the need to immediately clarify some of those issues, and I feel I should include the passage here in its entirety.
?Everyman, that is the best that ye can do:
God will you to salvation bring.
For priesthood exceedeth all other thing:
To us Holy Scripture they do teach,
And converteth man from sin, heaven to reach;
God hath to them more power given
Then to any angel that is in heaven.
With five words he may consecrate
God?s body in flesh and blood to make,
And handleth his Maker between his hands.
The priest bindeth and unbindeth all bands,
Both in earth and in heaven.
Thou ministers all the sacraments seven;
Though we kiss thy feet, thou were worthy;
Thou art surgeon that cureth sin deadly;
No remedy we find under God
But all only Priesthood.
Everyman, Gad gave priests that dignity
And setteth them in his stead among us to be.
Thus be they above angels in degree.?
After this passage by Five-wits, Knowledge plays the devil?s advocate, and represents the audience, and begins, ?If priests be good, it is so, surely.? Then he asks, ?what about priests that sell these sacraments? Jesus did not charge us when he died on the cross. And, what about priests that chase after women, and live unclean lives, and have lust in their hearts?? Five-wits responds saying that he trusts God that there are none like that, and that we should therefore just honor our priests because they save us. They are the shepherds and we are the sheep, so we should just leave everything to them.
I find these passages in Everyman to be the most telling and illustrative of the role religion, and the clergy that went with it, played in the lives of Europeans in the middle ages and their art. This strict attempt to not only control the people of the time through religion but also not allow any reciprocal control over the clergy that governed, may have been the foreshadowing of the religious reform and diversification that would occupy the rest of the millennium, and is possibly only now subsiding.
Другие работы по теме:
Romeo An Juliet Essay Research Paper hi
Romeo An Juliet Essay, Research Paper hi i need an essay about a character in romeo and juliet that demonsrtated maturity. in a well developed multi pagraph essay and say why you think the character’s maturity was greater than the other characters in the play.
The Allegory Of Young Goodman Brown Essay
, Research Paper In Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown, the characters and settings are used to show allegory. The characters and setting are used in metaphor to represent something else. The whole story of Young Goodman Brown, represents the journey of everyman. It s path that everyone follows, or so Hawthorne seems to believe.
Everyman Essay Research Paper Every character represents
Everyman Essay, Research Paper Every character represents a different characteristic of the main character, Everyman. The characters are used as symbols. Beauty, Strength, and Discretion are examples of some different characteristics that were expressed in Everyman .These characteristics are assumed to make up a person.
Everyman Essay Research Paper
Everyman is an English morality play written by an anonymous author in the late fifteenth century. It is an allegorical play as well, and may have been based on an earlier
Greek Tragedies Essay Research Paper In consideration
Greek Tragedies Essay, Research Paper In consideration of the plays we discussed in class, the dramatic contents of each play reflect and develop a category of it’s own. Some that deal with comedies, morality, and other’s with, tragedies, whichever the case maybe each play has its unique style and theme.
Cyrano De Begerac Essay Research Paper Cyrano
Cyrano De Begerac Essay, Research Paper Cyrano De Begerac, the play and Roxanne the 80?s version of the play have a lot of differences between them. In this essay I chose to write about three of
Othello Essay Research Paper Iago was a
Othello Essay, Research Paper Iago was a very influencel character in the play, also very cunning. he worked on the emotiotion of just about every characther. some were cassio, othello, and rodrigo.
Play Everyman Essay Research Paper The play
Play ?Everyman? Essay, Research Paper The play “Everyman” is about a complacent Everyman who is informed by Death of his approaching end. The play shows the hero’s progression from despair and fear of death to a “Christian resignation that is the prelude to redemption.” Throughout the play Everyman is deserted by things that he thought were of great importance portrayed by characters that take the names of the things they represent.
The Moral Of Everyman Essay Research Paper
The Moral of Everyman Everyman, an English morality play, is an allegory of death and the fate of the soul. Summoned by Death, Everyman calls on Fellowship, Goods and Strength for help, but they desert him. Only Good Deeds and Knowledge remain faithful and lead him toward salvation.
Eveyman Analysis Essay Research Paper Everyman
Eveyman Analysis Essay, Research Paper Everyman is a medieval allegory and also classified as a morality play that is majorly devoted to the demonstration of how temporary everything in life is as
Everyman Vs The Pardoner
’s Tale Essay, Research Paper Morality is strongly lacking in present society, as it was lacking in society in medieval times. The play, Everyman, and the short story, The Pardoner?s Tale, are both literary works which try to educate the reader in the proper ways of life. Everyman?s theme seems to aim toward educating the reader on the reasons why death comes to all people.
Everyman 2 Essay Research Paper Everyman
Everyman 2 Essay, Research Paper Everyman” certainly fits the mold of a typical medieval mystery play. Ominously, the play begins with God perceiving how “all creatures be to [Him] unkind.” Men, it seems, commit the Seven Deadly Sins far too regularly, and their only concern seems to
Jewish Essay Research Paper Beowulf EssayThere were
Jewish Essay, Research Paper Beowulf Essay There were many differences between Beowulf the play and 13th Warrior the movie. In the play Beowulf was depicted as a soul warrior who?s strength and ability was
Julius Caesar Essay Research Paper Julius CaesarThere
Julius Caesar Essay, Research Paper Julius Caesar There are a lot of examples of supernatural in the play Julius Caesar . In this play we see signs of the supernatural from the Soothsayer, Calpurnia, which is Caesar s wife, and Caesar s ghost after his death.
Jon Locke Essay Research Paper 4 John
Jon Locke Essay, Research Paper 4. John Locke was opposed to an absolute monarchy; Hobbes thought they were a good system. John Locke believed that the individual should be responsible for his own justice; Hobbes thought that a society needed an absolute ruler. The differences that appear lye in regard to their thoughts on mankind in general.
Potrayal Of Evil Essay Research Paper Portrayal
Potrayal Of Evil Essay, Research Paper Portrayal of Evil In the allegory The Faerie Queen, by Edmund Spenser, evil is depicted primarily as character. In Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe and Everyman written by an anonymous author, evil is depicted as an action.
Everyman Essay Research Paper In the medieval
Everyman Essay, Research Paper In the medieval play Everyman, the author uses the play as a piece of didactic literature. Everyman is a morality play that uses an individual, Everyman, to represent all men. The play dramatizes his reckoning with death and salvation to show that when one dies, all of the things one lives for are taken away, and only your good deeds succeed.
Two Sides Of Humanity Essay Research Paper
The Two Sides of Humanity The journey of life is like an endless highway. Any number of obstacles could be waiting over the next hill. Fortunately, we may choose our own paths just as we can make our own choices in life. Just as a map provides directions during an excursion, there is a divine guide that provides a map for humanity.
A Comparison Of Medieval And Renaissance Eras
, In Terms Of Drama Essay, Research Paper It is amazing how aspects of society can and will change so significantly over the course of a few hundred years. Between the time periods of the Medieval era and the Renaissance, one can note numerous significant changes, mainly those pertaining to religion and art, and specifically, drama.
Wait Until Dark Essay Research Paper Wait
Wait Until Dark Essay, Research Paper Wait Until Dark Frederick Knott The play “Wait Until Dark” has a melodrama form about it, which opens in the first act with a confused plot. It is a normal size play with three act in it. The whole theme of the play is centered around a total of seven actors, each of which have pretty active parts.
Lacrosse Essay Research Paper During spring break
Lacrosse Essay, Research Paper During spring break I went to the beautiful state of Arizona where me and my father were going to play golf all week long. We stayed with my dads old college friends. Well me
Beowulf Vs Everyman Essay Research Paper Beowulf
Beowulf Vs. Everyman Essay, Research Paper Beowulf vs. Everyman The plays Beowulf and Everyman are two plays that were written to tell great stories and dictate morality to the readers. Each of the two poems tells a story with many examples of religion very evident in them. Stories from early times like these tell historians about the history of the people of the story?s original land.
Romance And Allegory Essay Essay Research Paper
Romance and Allegory Essay Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is justifiably an allegory. An allegory is a narrative constructed by representing general concepts (Sin, Despair, and God) as persons. Many characters in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight have features that represent general concepts. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight can be interpreted allegorically by reviewing the characteristics and features of Gawain, the Green Knight, the Fair Lady, and the events that link the characters together.
The Monkey Essay Research Paper The MonkeyThis
The Monkey Essay, Research Paper The Monkey This historical and Chinese novel Journey to the West, which is also known as the Monkey, is the most popular book in East Asia. Originally written by Wu Ch eng-en in the sixteenth century, which consisted of one hundred chapters but was traditionally cut-down to various lengths to suit different audiences.
Poem Breaking Me Essay Research Paper Breaking
Poem: Breaking Me Essay, Research Paper Breaking Me Everyday, I see your face, I wish that you?d stayed Don?t even know what made you run away It?s just the way, that you play the game
Shakespeare Lack Of Understanding Of Women Essay
, Research Paper Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew Paper I believe that Shakespeare had a very little understanding of women. In this play The Taming of the Shrew the women seem very flat. There is Kate; she is the proverbial “witchy” woman. The butt of jokes men think of while sitting around a campfire discussing their troubles with women, or the woman everyman wants to go out with and “conquer” to prove how really “macho” he is.
Symbolism In Young Goodman Brown
” Essay, Research Paper In “Young Goodman Brown” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism and irony to illustrate the theme of man, oblivious that sin is an inescapable part of human nature, attempting to escape from sin. The idea that mankind is perfectible, or perhaps that good Puritans are without imperfection, seems to dominate the worldview of Hawthorne’s Puritan everyman, Young Goodman Brown.
Antigone And Creon Essay Research Paper The
Antigone And Creon Essay, Research Paper The play Antigone, written by sophocles in 441 B.C.E., presents a tragedy of characters whom suffer greatly, caused by series of tragic flaws. Antigone, the title character of the play, seems to be the perfect character in the role of a tragic hero, in the light of the fact that she dies in doing what is right.
New Hreligion And Medieval Literature A
Look At Mystery And Morality Plays Essay, Research Paper As The Norton Anthology of English Literature says, “By far the larger proportion of surviving literature in Middle as in Old English is religious” (7). This shouldn’t be surprising since we know education had a religious affiliation; men were educated, went to “universities” to become clerics. “The church offered a path for gifted commoners to make a career” (7), but left the majority of commoners illiterate.
Poem The Beach Essay Research Paper Ryan
Poem: The Beach Essay, Research Paper Ryan Hartney English 9 3/8/01 The Beach I have always liked the beach best Its fun in the sun for everyone You can have a picnic
Complete Works Essay Research Paper Suddenly Bob
Complete Works Essay, Research Paper Suddenly, Bob dashes out into the audience and jokingly asks one of the audience members if she would like to catch a movie after the play. This type of theme
Socrates And Sophist Essay Research Paper Socrates
Socrates And Sophist Essay, Research Paper Socrates and Sophist Plato s Sophist is one of the only dialogues in which Socrates isn t the main character. This makes for an interesting question: why? Why would Plato stray from the norm of making his teacher the main focus of this dialogue? As I ve thought about this I ve come up with three possible explanations that may explain Plato s decision.
Games Arn
’t Fun If You Don’t W Essay, Research Paper Why games are no fun unless you win Games arn’t any fun unless you win because your opponent gets the chance to laugh at you, If you want to win you have to play that much longer, and you lose intrest if you don’t win the game after that which makes it no fun