The death and the treatment of death in Everyman - Essay Example

Discuss the perception of death and the treatment of death in Everyman. No: Outline Thesis Statement: Death is Everyman is portrayed as a character who reminds Everyman about his ultimate connection to God and his accountability for all of his sins. Introduction Everyman is a morality play that highlights the moral doings of Everyman. He is able to analyze his survival and life after the appearance of Death. The play illustrates the temporary friendships and attractions and informs about the destination of human beings after having their life’s journey. Body Everyman is busy in his day to day routines of pleasure seeking when Death meets him and reminds him of his nature of existence. Everyman pleads for some more time, but his plea is rejected. Inevitability of death is expressed by Death’s arrival. Death acts as God’s messenger as he is sent by God to take Everyman along. Everyman gets terrified with the appearance of Death, but in actuality, it is his doings that horrify him. He gets approval of taking some company along, but no one is ready to accompany him but only his Good Deeds. He goes with Death for his reunion with God and completes the task given to Death by God. Conclusion Death reminds Everyman of his return to God who exercises control over all the beings. Everyman is accountable for his sinned life. Death is God’s messenger and just obeys God without any denial or refusal. Discuss the author’s perception of death and the treatment of death in Everyman. Everyman belongs to the genre of morality plays. It evaluates the life of the protagonist entitled as Everyman who leads a pleasure seeking life and ignores his moral obligations. With the arrival of Death, Everyman is able to analyze his survival and life, which is not at all spiritual. Everyman depends on his temporary companions who deny accompanying him in his union with God. The play illustrates the temporary friendships and attractions and informs about the destination of human beings after having their life’s journey. Everyman, as the name informs, describes every human being and their expected moral doings in life. With introduction of death, human beings start pondering over their led lives, but they have no time to correct themselves (Cawley, 1970). The friends and companions that are very dear to every man are only temporary partners and the final journey is to be traveled alone. Death is Everyman is portrayed as a character who reminds Everyman about his ultimate connection to God and his accountability for all of his sins. Everyman is busy in his day to day routines of pleasure seeking when Death meets him and reminds him of his nature of existence. His life is only pleasure based and he has forgotten death and the ending of his life as the author says, “Every man liveth so after his own pleasure, And yet of their life they be nothing sure” (Anonymous, 1955, 40) Everyman has led his life in activities that were not spiritual or moralistic. God sends Death after observing Everyman who is not leading a moralistic life (Davenport, 1982). When Everyman meets Death and knows about its reality, he gets horrified as well as worried because he feels that he is not ready for going with him. At this time, he realizes about what was expected of him and he pleads for some time in which, he can correct his mistakes. With the arrival of Death personified as a person, Everyman at once realizes that his led life is not such that his salvation is possible (Davenport, 1982). Death is portrayed as a reminder of Everyman’s moral doings that were expected of him. Death is inevitable and its inevitability is expressed by Death’s arrival. The author of the play Everyman has expressed the notion of inevitability of death as no living soul escapes death (Gilman, 1989). When Everyman meets death, he realizes that his life is over then due to which, he tries to get rid of death through various ways such as asking for some time, bribing Death and finally asking for some company. Everyman realizes with the arrival of Death that he has to be accountable for all his sins. However, before that, he forgot his real mission in life. He was supposed to lead a spiritual life for God (Gilman, 1989). Death reminds him of the undeniable fact that he has to meet God finally by going with Death. Death acts as God’s messenger as he is sent by God to take Everyman along. He is obedient to God and performs as he is asked to do. The author informs that God asks Death to take Everyman along for his accountability of his doings in his life as he says, “….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 Without delay or tarrying...(Anonymous, 1955, 65-71) Not only Everyman is expected to answer for his doings, but also travel towards God along with a list of all his actions in life. Death can be explicitly seen as God’s messenger who takes God’s message to Everyman (Cawley, 1970). Death is given no chance to opt for the final decision, but to adhere what is asked of him. Death is not powerful, but subservient to God and God is all powerful. God restricts Death to show any mercy to Everyman or allow him to escape in any manner. The restrictions on Everyman are placed by God and not by Death. Death is in position to interfere in God’s decision of bringing Everyman to Him. God asked Death to make Everyman “bring with him a sure reckoning”, which is an account book of his doings in life and with God’s command, Death allows Everyman to get his account book (Foster, 1996). The reunion with God is through a pilgrimage that is a holy journey as it is towards God. Death is not cruel or victimizing for human beings, but he fulfills the will and order of God and reaches human beings as God’s messenger. Everyman gets terrified with the appearance of Death, but in actuality, it is his doings that horrify him. Death is not portrayed as cruel by the author, as Death fulfills God’s command of taking Everyman along (Cawley, 1970). Everyman has not led his life in obedience to God and this disobedience horrifies him in his reunion with God with the company of Death. Everyman has led a sinned life that is wholly pleasure seeking and has forgotten death and his final togetherness with God where he would be accountable for his doings (Foster, 1996). These considerations make Everyman threat Death as Death acts as a linkage between God and Everyman. Everyman gets approval of taking some company along, but no one is ready to accompany him but only his Good Deeds. This is a lesson for Everyman that the journey towards the union with God where a person is accountable for his sinned life has to be travelled alone as no worldly pleasures or accompaniments give support to human beings (Nelsen and Taylor, 1972). They have to go without any worldly belongings and possessions that are very dear to human beings in their lives. He asked fellowship, strength, beauty and pleasure to accompany him in his journey, but as they were temporary and worldly, they denied being with him. The last friend left to accompany him in his journey were his good deeds, which he took along (Nelsen and Taylor, 1972). A person has to gather more and more good deeds as they are the only companions to a person’s final destination. Everyman goes with Death for his reunion with God and completes the task given to Death by God. Death has been assigned a task and that is to bring Everyman to God and when Everyman is ready with his company, the Good Deeds, he helps Death in fulfilling his assigned task (Foster, 1996). All the aspects of our life are personified as persons as death, fellowship, pleasure, good deeds, beauty, strength and so on. This personification gives meanings to the perception of the author. He perceives death as a character who reaches Everyman (name for all human kind) for reminding him of his union with God (Cawley, 1970). The ultimate destination of human beings is unity with God where every person is accountable for his doings whether they are right or wrong. God has all the power over all the existing beings and for Everyman, it is essential that he accepts the power of God, obeys to His orders and leads his life in a moral condition so that he can unite with God without any fright or fear (Davenport, 1982). Death acts as a reminder of God’s control over human beings and with leaving with Death, Everyman acknowledges about God’s ultimate power over all beings. Everyman is portrayed as a character that represents the whole human kind. The author personifies all human aspects and possessions to show their importance in life and after life. Everyman after meeting Death realizes that he has not fulfilled what was expected of him. He led his life in seeking pleasures and sinning. However, when he meets Death, he becomes ready to correct himself, but there is no allowance of time for the correction of his deeds. He has to collect what he has done and accompany Death. No one else is ready to accompany Everyman, but his Good Deeds. Death reminds Everyman of his return to God who exercises control over all the beings. Death is portrayed by the author as a reminder of God’s existence, human final reunion with God, his accountability for his sins and inevitability of death. Everyman in his routine living has forgotten many aspects of moral living. Death reminds him of what he has not done and what was expected of him. Death acts just as a messenger of God. Death has no control on its decisions; it just obeys what is commanded to it by God. Death is unable to refute or deny what is ordered to it. Hence, the author perceived Death as a reminder to Everyman about power of God and his connection to God along with his accountability for his sinned life. References Anonymous. (1955). Everyman: A moral play. Edited by B. Meredith and H. Sackler. New York: Caedmon. Cawley, A. C. ed. (1970). Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays. London: Dent. Davenport, W. A. (1982). Fifteenth-Century English Drama: The Early Moral Plays and Their Literary Relations. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield. Gilman, D. ed. (1989). Everyman & Company: essays on the theme and structure of the European moral play. New York: AMS Press. Foster, Edward E. (1996). “Everyman”. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press. Nelson, Alan H., and Taylor, J. (1972). Medieval English Drama:  Essays Critical and Contextual. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Read More