Death in Everyman - Research Paper Example

? Death in "Everyman" Thesis Death was very common in the Middle Ages. It could be met with all over the place, and it was a favourite topic for a large number of people. Because life was very hard in those times, people were generally very religious, and religion debates the issue of dying quite often. Death is an important literary theme in Medieval literature, because people were concerned about it and thus wrote about it a lot. But death also had a more pecuniary meaning during the Middle Ages: fear of death helped the church sell "indulgencies" and allowed it to maintain a strong spiritual grip over large masses of uneducated, easily maneuverable individuals. The same fear made the clerics one of the richest social classes of the time, a situation which was to continue many more centuries and which was not given up easily (if, indeed, the church has given up that situation, today). Death was one of the themes that led to the production of important philosophical works, as it was very complex and it could also be associated with religion, which made the debates all the more interesting. However, the same debates caused great unrest among the rulling classes and among the clerics and throughout history they led to the death of several important writers. "Everyman" is a play that could very well be described as a work of propaganda for the church. It is written plainly and clearly, for the ordinary man to understand that he must behave as well as he can in order to avoid punishment from God. In order to be convincing, it is also repetetive on ocassions, so to make sure the message is getting through. And, simple as it may appear, "Everyman" hides many interesting points and possible nuances, which is probably the reason why we are still studying it today. Introduction "Everyman" is an English morality play, with anonymous author, dating from late 15th century. It could not be pinpointed who the author was and, although apparently the play has been produced on stage for a long time after being written, we have no such surviving record. But then again, many manuscripts written in Old English may have perished in the 1530`s, in Henry VIII`s destruction of the monasteries. (Alexander, M., 2007, p. 20) It has been generally accepted that the English version of the play was a translation from the Dutch version Elckerlyc ascribed to Dorlandus. (www.enotes.com) Dorlandus (1454–1507), by his real name Peter van Diest, lived in Diest (in present-day Belgium) and wrote about the lives of the saints. Plot There are 16 characters in the play: the Messenger, God, Death, Everyman, Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Goods, Good Deeds, Knowledge, Confession, Beauty, Strength, Discretion, the Angel and Doctor. Everyman is the central character, who is on his journey and discusses with all the other characters, who come and go throughout the play. As suggested by thier names, the characters are allegorical and represent typical pilgrims that might accompany Everyman on his journey. The setting is also allegorical, in the sense that God speaks from Heaven, where Everyman eventually ascends in the end of the play. God sends Death to Everyman, because He feels it is time for him to answer for what he has done. Learning that, Everyman tries to find companions for this journey to Heaven, in order to have someone to speak on his behalf. Death is the theme of the play from the beginning, when the whole audience is cautioned that men are mortal and will, sooner or later, have to answer for their actions on Earth: That of our lives and ending maketh show How transitory we be every day. This matter is wondrous precious, But the meaning of it is more gracious And sweet to bear away. (Everyman, lines 5-9, Web) The way the theme is treated is typical for a religious age: people must see life as passing and, since death is inevitable and since after it one must answer for one`s deeds in front of God, one should try to live as cleanly as possible, waiting for that day to come to him. It is a view that is rarely found nowadays, because since then people`s ideas about religion have changed radically: many people claim not to be religious at all (although deep down that may not be so), and those that are religious practice their various religions in so many ways that one no longer knows how to quantify them. Back then, though, being religious was the very nature of individuals who lived in a very dangerous world, with a very short life expectancy and with many bitternesses present in their living: hard life, children dying from diseases and starvation, adversities of nature, tyrannical lords to whom they had to swear obedience. So it was only natural to turn to a greater power to help them get through all these and, because of the lack of education, it was very easy to induce to large numbers of people the thought that improper behaviour might bring God`s wrath upon one, hence, for example, the death of one of the children. It was as Thomas Henry Huxley said: "The Cleric asserts that it is morally wrong not to believe certain propositions (...). He declares that he has prejudged certain conclusions, and looks upon those who show cause for arrest of judgement as emissaries of Satan." (Abrams, M.H; Donaldson E.T.; Smith, H; Adams, R.M.; Monk, S.H.; Lipking, L.; Ford, G.H., Daiches, D., 1979, Pp. 1498-1499) The play sends the message that all the things we enjoy in life: companionship, happiness, power, pleasure and beauty fade away and leave us undefended in front of God, who will summon us and demand an explanation for our actions. This message, as the rest of the play, is connected to the theme of death. The play presents us with the following reasoning as why human beings must die and answer to God about their actions: I perceive, here in my majesty, How that all creatures be to me unkind, Living, without fear, in worldly prosperity. In spiritual vision the people be so blind,(25) Drowned in sin, they know me not for their God; In worldly riches is all their mind. They fear not my righteousness, the sharp rod. My law that I disclosed, when I for them died, They clean forget, and shedding of my blood red. (Everyman, lines 22-30, Web) The message, therefore, is that the people who accrue riches and live prosperously and fearlessly are not true Christians, for they cannot possibly know God. At the time "Everyman" was performed, this message was a very frightening one for the majority of people, almost indiferentely to the certain type of church they belonged to. This is as Huxley says : that for the men of God it is "the attainment of faith, not the ascertainment of truth, is the highest aim of mental life" (Abrams, M.H. et. Al., 1979, p.1499) Those ages cultivated the spritual riches (probably in lack of the material ones, as most of the people lived in very precarious conditions) and left the earthly ones to the casts of the rulers. It must be noted, also, that in those ages the life of a monk or, in general, of anyone associated with the church was a considerably easier one than the life of a simple peasants or even than the life of a, say, well-educated scholar, who was constantly risking his life by putting on paper and advertising his vast knowledge. On the whole, it can safely be said that God`s mercy was by far the most precious thing most individuals from that time could aspire to. In struggling to live cleanly, ordinary men had to keep clear of the "deadly" sins punished by the church: They use the seven deadly sins damnable In such wise that pride, covetousness, wrath, and lechery, Now in this world be made commendable, And thus they leave of angels the heavenly company. (Everyman, lines 36-39, Web) The issue of the deadly sins is specific to the manner the church, generically speaking, has chosen to control its parishioners. This manner has always implied fear of some kind: fear of physical or mental abuse from clerics of different sorts or, even worse, from their secular rulling class superiors who were only happy to keep people in a semi-scared state so they could rule as they liked. As to the issue of death itself, this is how God sends Death to tell Everyman that he is about to die: Go thou to Everyman, And show him in my name A pilgrimage he must on him take, Which he in no wise may escape, And that he bring with him a sure reckoning(70) Without delay or any tarrying. (Everyman, lines 66-71, Web) Those few lines denote the horror that must have been associated at the time with the event of one`s dying without a "clean slate". It also shows, in my opinion, the fact that the church of the time was a rather cruel one, which wanted not only to terorise people throughout their lives, but also to keep them horrified until the very last moment. It was meant for Everyman to know he would die soon, so that he would not even enjoy his last minutes on Earth. The following lines complete the picture of what must have been the perspective of dying: And look thou be sure in thy reckoning, For before God thou shalt answer, and show true Thy many bad deeds and good but a few, How thou hast spent thy life and in what wise Before the Chief Lord of Paradise.(110) (Everyman, lines 106-110, Web) Here we find a specific idea of the time expressed very clearly: generally speaking, man was faulty, that is he had many vices and little, if any virtues, so it was virtually impossible to go before God and escape without some sort of punishment. With that purpose, there were for sale the so-called "indulgencies" – basically, pieces of paper saying that God has forgiven your sins. The poor people (the majority of the population, that is) would save penny for penny in order to buy a single indulgency, while the rich lived as they liked, breaking every church rule they felt like, and then they made some generous donation to some monastery and their sins would be forgiven. This idea is expressed in the following lines: Death, thou comest when I had thee least in mind! In thy power it lieth to save me yet ;— Thereto of my goods will I give thee, if thou wilt be kind,—(120) Yea, a thousand pounds shalt thou get!— And defer this matter till another day. (Everyman, lines 118-122, Web) That is, although they had been preparing all their life for this moment, the people of the time could not believe that death had actually come to them. The play tries to induce here the idea that the mercy of God cannot be bought, despite the existence of the indulgencies, and that everbody must strive to be good throughout life in order to be worthy of God`s mercy. CONCLUSION Death was not the worst thing that could fall upon one in the Middle Ages, but, while alive, people feared it most. In reality, their life was very difficult and it offered little comfort of any kind. When death came, it was as much a relief for the deceased as it was a burden for the family to bury him. But fear of death was constanly renewed by the different diseases that came over people, as the following article points out: "Whether through the operation of the heavenly bodies or because of our own iniquities, which the just wrath of God sought to correct, the plague had arisen in the east some years before, causing the death of countless human beings. It spread without stop from one place to another until, unfortunately, it swept over the west ..." (Art and Death in the Middle Ages| Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Web) References Abrams, M.H; Donaldson E.T.; Smith, H; Adams, R.M.; Monk, S.H.; Lipking, L.; Ford, G.H., Daiches, D. (1979), The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Thomas Henry Huxley, Agnosticism and Christianity, Pp. 1498-1499 Alexander, M., (2007). A History of English Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. p.20 Anonymous (late 15th century) , Everyman. Web. www.enotes.com www.metropolitanmuseum.com, Art and Death in the Middle Ages, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Read More