The play, Everyman Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The play, Everyman - Research Paper Example Considering the reality of death, the author has portrayed death as someone who calls Everyman, the protagonist of the play to meet God and reply for his deeds. The protagonist asks Death that he wants some time to get some friends to accompany him in his journey to his destination to meet God. He gets some time, but he realizes that the friends who were dear to him are not ready to accompany him. The author perceives and treats death as a call from God to enable people realize what is good for them in life. Everyman as the name suggests represents every man on earth. The play as a whole is a play that portrays Christian values and can be understood as an allegorical or morality play. The play starts with God’s call to Death where he claims that human beings in the world are not following his commandments and are committing sins (Lester, 1981). He asks the Death to bring Everyman to answer for his committed deeds. Death works as God’s messenger who brings God’s m essage to Everyman that he should appear before God to answer for his deeds. God sends for Everyman as he says, â€Å"...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...† (Everyman, 1987, 65-71) Death is asked to tell Everyman to conduct a pilgrimage in order to reach God. The sending of Death ensures that Everyman has to leave the world and its belongings in order to reach the court of God. Death also represents the abolition of life and reaches Everyman to inform him of his ending to reach his final destination before God. The representation of death in Everyman is not fearsome, but educative as the figure when comes forth Everyman, he is not frightened at seeing him. However, when he is told that he is going to come before God, he is frightened considering himself alone and secluded. He thinks that he will gain someone’s sympathy i n his journeying towards God and this sympathy will lead him to have Heaven (Spinrad, 1987). Death comes and informs Everyman, â€Å"Death: In great haste I am sent to thee From God out of his Majesty. Everyman: What, sent to me?† (Everyman, 1987, 90-92) At hearing a call from God with Death as God’s messenger, Everyman gets disturbed considering him incapable to appear before God in his present condition. He calls Death â€Å"gentle† And asks him for some time, in which, he can arrange for some friends to accompany him in his pilgrimage. Everyman says, â€Å"O wretched caitiff! whither shall I flee That I might 'scape endless sorrow? Now , gentle Death, spare me till tomorrow, That I may amend me With good advisement.† (Everyman, 1987, 171-75) He sees no place to escape and seeks mercy from Death. He regards himself extremely sorrowful and distressed not because of appearance of Death, but because of being called by God when he is not ready to appear. As mentioned earlier on, death is portrayed not as fearsome and horrible as it was supposed to appear at that time when the play was written. In medieval times and middle ages, death was portrayed with skeletons or someone with frightening appearance that at once made the observer to tremble (Cawley, 1970). Death in Everyman was portrayed as a messenger of God who was so merciful that he gave some time to Everyman to search for his companions for the journey. Death let everyman to ponder over the differences between right and wrong that assign him the title of