Perception and Treatment of Death in the Play “Everyman”

Outline

Introduction
Summary
- Treatment and perception of death
- God’s messenger
- Death is Mandatory
- A way of Salvation and Redemption
- Means of Repentance
- End of Life
- Death as a way of facing reality
Conclusion

Perception and Treatment of Death in the Play “Everyman”

Introduction

The concept of death in human life is dreaded by all who hear it. People fear the mention of death. People look for ways to prolong their lives and avoid death. They avoid things, situations, or people that will cause them to die. The uncertainty and inevitable nature of death instills the fear of death in people. People want to be certain of their position in life. People like life because they know where they belong. Death presents an unsolvable challenge for most people. In the Christian perspective, death has two destinations. Christians believe that when a person dies, he or she goes to heaven or hell, depending on the extent of their salvation. The various Christian denominations have different interpretations of the exact details that lead people to spend their eternity. However, they all agree that sin leads to death and hell and that Jesus is the redeemer and savior of humanity. They believe that Christians, who manage to live life according to God’s standards, will spend eternity with him. They perceive that spending eternity with God is better than living life on earth. The play Everyman is written from a Christian perspective. In the play, the author not only treats death as God’s messenger, but also as a way for people to reflect on their lives and repent their sins, in readiness for an assured eternity with God.

Summary

The play “Everyman” is a religious morality play from a Roman Catholic point of view, which was written in the fifteenth century. The play’s main character is Everyman, who represents all the people on earth. The author has personified different virtues and vices, and he uses them to represent the other characters in the play. The play begins by God sending Death, His messenger on earth. God is portrayed as patient and merciful. The play shows peoples haste to live in sin and enjoy the pleasures of the earth, while they abandon and neglect their spiritual life until their final moments on the earth. It highlights the uselessness of some of the worldly things, since they do not count for much when one is dying. The play is a reflection of how people suffer on the earth while trying to obtain worldly riches, yet in the end, all the suffering leads to nothing, as ultimately, people leave this earth with nothing when they die. The author focuses on different themes, among them death.

Treatment and Perception of Death

God’s Messenger

The author perceives death as something sent from God. This is seen in the way he designates Death as a messenger from God. As God’s messenger, he has to deliver the news that God sends him to deliver to the people, whether good or bad. He has to follow God’s commands, and he is submitted to God’s will. He does not wait for what people consider a “suitable moment”, for him to deliver the message. He comes at an unexpected moment. When death approaches Everyman, Everyman tells him, “Oh Death, you’ve come when I least expected you.” As God’s messenger, he does not live by man’s bidding. He is not tempted by people’s persuasions. Everyman attempts to bribe Death by telling him that he will give him whatever he wants if he delays his coming. This does not work with Death, and he tells Everyman that he does not respect worldly riches, people’s emotions, or even powerful people when delivering God’s message (Gassner & Quinn, 2002). Although Everyman fears death, he does not realize that Death is not the one in control. He does not realize that God is the ultimate being, the one who has all the power, and the one who controls death.

Death is Mandatory

The author treats death as something that must happen to all people eventually (Cunningham & Reich, 2009). He notes how it affects everyone, whether rich or poor. This is seen in the way Death first approaches Everyman, who is finely dressed. Everyman had spent his life seeking life good things and pleasures. He declares how he loved his possessions more than he did anything in the world. He also stated how his goods and riches gave him a light heart. Everyman was in every sense living a comfortable life. Despite this, he had to face death. Death does not consider someone’s position in the society, social class, status, or title. It does not consider a person’s family or the worldly possessions. It has to strike all people, irrespective of whom they are in their communities. Death does not even consider someone’s good deeds. In the play, Everyman finds consolation when Good Deeds decides to accompany him on his journey. Initially, Good Deeds is weak, and he needs to be strengthened. After man receives penance, good deeds become stronger, and he fulfills his promise of accompanying Everyman on his voyage. This does not change the fact that Everyman has to die. In the end, Everyman dies, and he spends his soul with God, although he had good deeds. Even those who abandon Everyman at his hour of need know that they too will not escape. When Everyman approaches his kindred and cousin, they tell him that they cannot help him, but they also add that they will see him later. They know that they too will have to face death when their time comes. However, they are not willing to hurry the process by accompanying Everyman.

A way of Salvation and Redemption

Death is not always a bad thing, as it leads to a person’s salvation. God sends Death, to lead man to his final days. In the end, Everyman will spend his eternity with God. In this case, the author does not treat death with condemnation. He sees it as a way for people to live free from sin and all kinds of suffering. When people are with God, they do not have to be troubled. They do not have to worry or spend time thinking of the worries of this world. The author mentions how Jesus had to hang on the cross with immense pain, so that people might receive salvation. In this case, death is not a bad thing, as it shows there is a way for people’s redemption and salvation. The death of Jesus gives people hope for eternity. It gives people a reason to hope for better things after they depart from this earth.

Means of Repentance

Death is something that brings people to repentance and conviction. People dread death and they will do anything to avoid it. It is only when Everyman realizes that he is facing death, that he becomes sorrowful and mournful. Everyman appears arrogant and proud before he realizes that he is facing death. When Death asks Everyman whether he has forgotten his maker, Everyman responds by asking him, “Who wants to know?” he also asks Death what God wants from him. When he realizes he has no way of escaping death, he looks for ways to escape death, and he comes to repentance. He realizes how he was wrong in pursuing earthly pleasures over pursuing God. He comes to full repentance when those he had held dear and close to him, abandon him, and let him face his journey alone. He calls them false hopes and traitors, who only deceived him. He realizes that he is at fault, and he is the only one to blame for his actions. He also realizes that he was wrong, for he did not do any good deeds in his life. He sees Good Deeds as his final hope, for without him, he will have to spend his eternity in hell. Were it not for death, Everyman would not have known the full extent of his actions while on earth. He would not have known the importance of being good and charitable to other people. Goods reveals that Everyman should have been wiser, and he should have shared his goods and wealth with the poor after Everyone shares his predicaments.

End of Life

Death puts an end to people’s lives. When someone dies, he or she has to forget the plans and dreams that he had. He has to forget his inspirations in life, and his ambitions. He has to forget his relatives, friends and all his acquaintances. He has to forget all that he enjoys in this life. People have to forget their talents, abilities, skills, and knowledge. Everyman realizes this, when he learns that he cannot use any of those things to save him from death. All friends and relatives have abandoned him. His worldly possessions cannot do anything for him. The knowledge he has acquired can only help him when he is alive. His personal attributes, which include strength, beauty, and discretion, cannot help him in any way. He cannot even rely on his five wits to help him on his final journey.

Death as a way of Facing Reality

Death is a way of facing reality. In the play, Death dares Everyman to find anyone who is willing to travel with him and accompany him before God (Robinson, 2011). Everyman faces the fact that all his friends and relatives deceive him, and do not care much about him. Good Fellowship promises that he will go to him in hell, while another acquaintance promises to be with him through thick and thin. Another promises never to abandon him, and another promises that he will be with him in riches and poverty. With all these promises, one would be tempted to think that Everyman has remarkably good and loyal friends. Everyman thinks the same, but he comes to realize that all these promises are false, and that no one will go with him. Everyman also comes to the realization that everything fades with time. Beauty, strength, discernment, and the five senses are innate attributes of Everyman. They agree to accompany Everyman on his journey, and they even take him to the grave. However, once they are at the gravesite, they all leave Everyman to face death on his own. They start disappearing one by one, beginning with beauty (Gassner & Quinn, 2002).

The play illustrates how nothing seems to matter at the end of one’s life. One cannot even depend on what he or she thinks is rightfully his (ANON, 2009). Some may depend on beauty and strength, yet these do not help in the end, for they soon fade with time. It only takes death to notice the triviality and insignificance of everything in life. One might love his or her relatives, but they too cannot help him in his or her hour of death. When a person does charitable and good deeds, people will continue talking of him even before those things are gone. They will remember how the person lived his life to serve and help others, and they will consider that person a hero. The author’s perception of death, as something that makes one alienated, indicates how a person cannot rely on himself. In death, knowledge abandons Everyman, after helping him realize the truth of his sins (Robinson, 2011). This perception highlights the fact that a human being can only depend on God. He alone made human beings, and He alone determines their end.

Conclusion

The play Everyman highlights and speaks of death in a manner that it easy to understand. It shows how people can live their lives on earth without the fear of death. The author observes that people do not need to be afraid of death. They only need to realize that God is in control of death, and he only uses death as his messenger. This play brings out the Christian hope and faith by showing the possibility of a better and assured life in eternity, when one repents and lives according to God’s standards. The author perceives and treats death as something that causes people to come to repentance and to be convicted of their sin. He treats death as something unexpected and compulsory. Everyone has to face death, and there is no way out of it. Death is something that puts an end to man’s effort on earth. It does not consider anything that man possesses. He treats death as a way of gaining salvation, and as a means of spending eternity with God.

References:

ANON (2009). Everyman and mankind. London, United Kingdom: A&C Black Publishers Limited.

Bolton, D. (2011). The study of death in “the summoning of everyman”. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-study-death-summoning-everyman-10726313.html?cat=38

Cunningham, S. L., & Reich, J. J. (2009). Culture and values: A survey of the humanities. New York, NY: Cengage Learning

Gassner, J., & Quinn, E. (2002). The reader’s encyclopedia of world drama. Courier Dover Publications

Robinson, M. (2011). Everyman, a modern adaptation (or, number’s down). Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=honr_proj&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dperception%2Bof%2Bdeath%2Band%2Bthe%2Btreatment%2Bof%2Bdeath%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bplay%2BEveryman%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D11%26ved%3D0CEEQFjAAOAo%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fdigitalcommons.olivet.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1013%2526context%253Dhonr_proj%26ei%3DRRAsUN3vKcSn0AWt0oGYAg%26usg%3DAFQjCNH-6p1Yv4aUMR941PTPiVyqIZU_Ug

Timko, M. (2007). The collected almost works of Michael Timko. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse