Everyman Play Summary

From ‘Literature and Spirituality” by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Marl Ray Schmidt, we find the play “Everyman”. “Everyman” is a 15th century play written in medieval times by an unknown author. The story “Everyman” is a play about morality. Morality plays were also commonly referred to as “Elckerlijc” which are attributed to Peter van Diest, a medical writer from the Low Countries. Both Dutch and English historians have argued for decades over whether the English play “Everyman” was based on “Elckerlijc” (or vice versa). The most convincing evidence that “Elckerlijc” was the original was provided by the English historian E.R. Tigg, who showed how many rhymes and literal translations were copied from the Dutch-language play into the English “Everyman”. The prevalent view is that the Dutch-language version was the original. The play “Everyman” uses allegorical characters to examine the Christian salvation and how it is obtained. The play has been compared to many other morality plays and novels throughout its origin. There is a novel written by John Bunyan called the “Pilgrim’s Progress’’. The comparison of both stories being religious allegories that depict a protagonist who is a representation in comparison or relation to mankind, all of mankind. In the play “Everyman” the focus is on doing good

In “Humor in Everyman and the Middle English Morality Play” by Ron Tanner, he makes light of this exchange between Death and Everyman. The author suggest that there is humor in this interactions mainly from Everyman whose very persistence, fast talking trying everything to sway Death, when that fails Everyman offers monetary compensation to Death? But Everyman is convincing because Death relents and will spare him until the next day. Everyman not wanting to go alone will try and see if he can convince a companion to accompany him on his journey for his meeting with