The Major Themes Arising in the Play Mankind - Essay Example

There are at least three major themes arising from the morality play “Mankind the ages-old battle of good over evil, the relative ease with which an individual (whether character or participant) can fall into sin and the concept of fellowship as it contrasts with hard work. These concepts can often be represented in the form of a particular character, such as the concept of fellowship. However, these allegories are developed through the actions and interactions of the characters involved. It can also be seen as the story interacts with the participant, whether they are enjoying the play or reading the script. Because of the many different approaches, venues and historical contexts involved in live performances and audience participation, discussion regarding the participant will focus on the interactions that occur between the reader and the script rather than the audience and the play. This removes the historical context and allows us to concentrate on the language used to a greater detail than might be possible in the live setting. The choice of language used in conveying these actions plays a large role in the creation and development of these allegories, as does the structure in which the action takes place. The battle of good over evil is shown through the actions of the characters within the play as first good, then evil, then good prevails. This idea is immediately established as the story opens and Mercy, the character of absolute good, is given the first opportunity to speak about what is right and good. “Mercy ys my name, that mornyth for yowr offence. / Dyverte not yowrsylffe in tyme of temtacyon, / that ye may be acceptable to Gode at yowr goyng hence” (18-20). By establishing himself as the character who mourns for the reader’s eternal soul, hoping that the reader will remove themselves in times of temptation so they might be acceptable to God upon their death, Mercy establishes himself as the image of good within the play. By providing him with the opportunity to speak first, the author has established Mercy as the character with the most verbal weight. The very character of his speech also establishes the goodness of his intentions. It is written in elegant octaves and quatrains that clash sharply against the crass clumsy meter of the language of Mischief as he enters: “I beseche yow hertyly, leue yowr calcacyon. / Leue yowr chaffe, leue yowr corn, leue yowr dalyacyon. / Yowr wytt ys lytyll, yowr hede ys mekyll, ye are full of predycacyon. / But, ser, I prey this question to claryfye” (45-48). Mercy’s speech has a abba rhyme scheme written in iambic pentameter while Mischief speaks with a aaab rhyme scheme that has a harsher, guttural flow. It collides with the smoother flow of Mercy’s speech. This impacts the senses to automatically assign Mercy to a higher level of existence than Mischief and his friends. Because Mankind’s speech patterns have always been in the same meter as the patterns of speech of the vices (aaab): “I aske mercy of New Gyse, Nowadays, and Nought. / Onys with my spade I remember that I faught. / I wyll make yow amendys yf I hurt yow ought / Or dide ony grevaunce” (650-53), it is easy to see his easy transition from the hard-working farmer to the tavern drunk. His change in pattern to the abab scheme of Mercy at the end of the story indicates Mankind’s new association with the good: “What, aske mercy yet onys agayn? Alas, yt were a wyle petycyun. / Ewyr to offend and euer to aske mercy, yt ys a puerilite. / Yt ys so abhominabyll to rehers my iterat transgrescion, / I am not worthy to hawe mercy be no possibilite.” (819-22). This battle between good and evil can also be traced in the general structure of the total story. Following the establishment of what is good and what is evil, the reader is introduced to Mankind, who is portrayed as a hard-working but poor farmer who adheres to the Christian way of life and has faith in his God. This is established by the way in which Mankind fights off Mischief, Newguise, Nought and Nowadays with his spade. Following this defeat, Mischief and pals persuade the devil Titivillus to intervene. The tricks Titivillus plays upon Mankind are meant to be somewhat exaggerated trials and tribulations that face all mankind, to both entertain and relate with the reader. The amusing tricks work to distract Mankind from his good life and drive him into the tavern. With his defenses down, Mankind easily becomes friends with Mischief even though he had fought with him before. He willingly follows his new friends into actions that are as amusing as the devil’s tricks on Mankind, but that are also equally corrupt, straying further and further from his faith. At the last possible moment, Mercy enters again to save Mankind from himself, reminding him that “These be your thre gostly enmyis, in whom ye hawe put your confidens. / thei browt yow to Myscheffe to conclude your temporall glory, / As it hath be schewyd before this worscheppyll audiens. / Remembyr how redy I was to help yow; fro swheche I was not dangerus;” (888-91). In other words, Mercy was telling Mankind, and the reader, that no matter how much of a friend they might seem, Mischief et al will only work to bring him to the end of his life and it is never too late to ask for Mercy. It is through quotes such as that above that the reader becomes an active participant in the story and is brought to the realization of the allegory of the ease of temptation. Mercy refers to the audience as “worscheppyll” or worshipful, giving the reader the benefit of the doubt that he wants to live a good and Christian lifestyle. This seems to contradict his opening statements that worked to discourage the reader from participating in entertaining activities. By indicating the participant should remove themselves from temptation in his opening monologue, Mercy is indicating that the reader, by continuing to turn the pages for his own entertainment, is participating in just the sort of activity that might be considered giving in to temptation. This underscores the participation required of the reader and the ease with which even the reader can be lured away by temptation. However, these remarks are not necessarily contradictory. Although he has pointed out how easy it is for a reader to fall into temptation, Mercy has also assumed that the reader, thanks to the lessons he has learned as a result of reading this script, has become a worshipful audience, committed to staying on the righteous path and to avoid mischief at all costs. Throughout the play, the reader is lured to the side of sin as actions unfold. The opening lines of Mischief to Mercy are designed to clash against Mercy’s elegant language, but they are also meant to appeal to the common language, to establish a connection between the forces of sin and the average reader. The tricks that the devil Titivillus plays on Mankind are exaggerated representations of average troubles a farmer might come across, but are also meant to be highly amusing as Mankind struggles to plough through a plank or works to help weeds instead of corn grow in his fields. After Mankind has forsworn his work, Titivillus works to distract him from prayer by invoking a sense of need. “Aryse and avent the! Nature compellys” (560) Titivillus says as Mankind starts his prayers. In response, Mankind answers “I wyll into the yerde, souerens, and cum ageyn son. / For drede of the colyke and eke of the ston / I wyll go do that nedys must be don” (561-63). This call to bodily function is meant to appeal to the basest of humors and succeeds in distracting Mankind from his prayers for the evening. As Mankind joins his fellows Mischief, New Guise, Nought and Nowadays at the tavern, there is even more humorous action as they teach him the arts of lechery, robbery and drunkenness. Through this humor, as had been hinted at in Mercy’s opening speech, the reader is drawn into the same world of sin and debauchery that Mankind is embroiled in, demonstrating again how easy it is for one to become ensnared in the pleasures offered. The allegories of fellowship as sin and hard work as righteousness are also played out through these types of interactions between the characters. Hard work is backed up with the physical presence of a specified spade as a prop at the appearance of Mankind. This first glimpse of Mankind as an individual who is dedicated to hard work and Christian living further contributes to the pattern already established by Mercy and Mischief in the opening speeches. It is with this spade that Mankind is able to fight off the vices that Mischief sends his way just like it is with a steadfast commitment to hard work that enables Mankind to adhere to his righteous lifestyle. But, through the tricks of Titivillus, Mankind discovers “Thys londe is so harde it makyth wnlusty and irke. … I se well by tyllynge lytyll xall I wyn.” (545, 547). With the spade proving ineffective in sowing the land, Mankind throws it down, physically demonstrating a rejection of hard work: “Here I gyff wppe my spade for now and for euer” (549). Although this doesn’t necessarily mean he is rejecting his Christian lifestyle (he goes in to pray before going to bed), the story indicates it is this rejection of honest work that opens the pathway for Mankind to lose himself to temptation and sin. With the ill news that Mercy has hung himself buzzing through his ears as he sleeps, Mankind quickly loses hope and joins Mischief and the others at the local tavern, giving himself over to fellowship to fill the hours he once filled with hard work. Under their instruction, Mankind promises to do everything he has been taught is wrong. He agrees to go “Onto the goodewyff when the goodeman ys owte” (704), to “goo robbe, stell, and kyll, as fast as ye may gon” (708) and to skip church and all masses. In short, he agrees to commit all seven of the deadly sins in order to join in their games. That this only leads to ruin is brought out in stark reality when these same friends who have committed Mankind to this sinful life also work together to have him commit suicide rather than face Mercy. Read More

This impacts the senses to automatically assign Mercy to a higher level of existence than Mischief and his friends. Because Mankind’s speech patterns have always been in the same meter as the patterns of speech of the vices (aaab): “I aske mercy of New Gyse, Nowadays, and Nought. / Onys with my spade I remember that I faught. / I wyll make yow amendys yf I hurt yow ought / Or dide ony grevaunce” (650-53), it is easy to see his easy transition from the hard-working farmer to the tavern drunk.

His change in pattern to the abab scheme of Mercy at the end of the story indicates Mankind’s new association with the good: “What, aske mercy yet onys agayn? Alas, yt were a wyle petycyun. / Ewyr to offend and euer to aske mercy, yt ys a puerilite. / Yt ys so abhominabyll to rehers my iterat transgrescion, / I am not worthy to hawe mercy be no possibilite.” (819-22). This battle between good and evil can also be traced in the general structure of the total story. Following the establishment of what is good and what is evil, the reader is introduced to Mankind, who is portrayed as a hard-working but poor farmer who adheres to the Christian way of life and has faith in his God.

This is established by the way in which Mankind fights off Mischief, Newguise, Nought and Nowadays with his spade. Following this defeat, Mischief and pals persuade the devil Titivillus to intervene. The tricks Titivillus plays upon Mankind are meant to be somewhat exaggerated trials and tribulations that face all mankind, to both entertain and relate with the reader. The amusing tricks work to distract Mankind from his good life and drive him into the tavern. With his defenses down, Mankind easily becomes friends with Mischief even though he had fought with him before.

He willingly follows his new friends into actions that are as amusing as the devil’s tricks on Mankind, but that are also equally corrupt, straying further and further from his faith. At the last possible moment, Mercy enters again to save Mankind from himself, reminding him that “These be your thre gostly enmyis, in whom ye hawe put your confidens. / thei browt yow to Myscheffe to conclude your temporall glory, / As it hath be schewyd before this worscheppyll audiens. / Remembyr how redy I was to help yow; fro swheche I was not dangerus;” (888-91).

In other words, Mercy was telling Mankind, and the reader, that no matter how much of a friend they might seem, Mischief et al will only work to bring him to the end of his life and it is never too late to ask for Mercy. It is through quotes such as that above that the reader becomes an active participant in the story and is brought to the realization of the allegory of the ease of temptation. Mercy refers to the audience as “worscheppyll” or worshipful, giving the reader the benefit of the doubt that he wants to live a good and Christian lifestyle.

This seems to contradict his opening statements that worked to discourage the reader from participating in entertaining activities. By indicating the participant should remove themselves from temptation in his opening monologue, Mercy is indicating that the reader, by continuing to turn the pages for his own entertainment, is participating in just the sort of activity that might be considered giving in to temptation. This underscores the participation required of the reader and the ease with which even the reader can be lured away by temptation.

However, these remarks are not necessarily contradictory. Although he has pointed out how easy it is for a reader to fall into temptation, Mercy has also assumed that the reader, thanks to the lessons he has learned as a result of reading this script, has become a worshipful audience, committed to staying on the righteous path and to avoid mischief at all costs. Throughout the play, the reader is lured to the side of sin as actions unfold. The opening lines of Mischief to Mercy are designed to clash against Mercy’s elegant language, but they are also meant to appeal to the common language, to establish a connection between the forces of sin and the average reader.

Read More