Treatment of Death in Everyman

This study discusses the perception of the author about death, with reference to his treatment of death in the play Everyman. The play portrays the encounter of Everyman with death and highlights the Catholic beliefs regarding death and eternal life. The author treats death as a reminder and a catalyst for spiritual awakening, emphasizing the importance of good deeds and morality.

Running Head: TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

2TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
‘Everyman’ is a late 15th century play written by Peter van Diest. Peter van Diest was a
morality writer of medieval times. His literary works aim to teach the readers the moral values
and message of humanity as depicted in Christianity. Literary works of the author is ‘Lives of the
Saints’, ‘Elckerlijc’ the English translation of which is ‘Everyman’ and so on. This play is based
on the moral as well as ethical values of medieval period. Hence it is categorized as one of the
famous morality play written during 15th- and 16th-century. The purpose of this study is to
discuss about the perception of the author about death, with reference to his treatment of death in
the plat ‘Everyman’.
The advent of morality play during 15th- and 16th-century, can be attributed to the need
of teaching the mass moral message. Hence during this period of time, there were many
allegorical stories which were basically underpinned by the teachings of Christianity.
‘Everyman’ possesses all the attributes of a morality play. The characters in the play are
personified with all the qualities of evil as well as goodness, virtue as well as vice. Like other
morality play, there I s the battle of virtue and vice in Everyman, which ultimately leads to the
battle of winning the souls of mankind1.
The premise of the play ‘Everyman’ is that God is there to tally all the good and evil
deeds of a person after he or she is engulfed by death. Hence, this play can be considered as the
allegorical accounting related to the life of ‘Everyman’2. Here Everyman is the representative of
the entire mankind. The other characters of this play are also allegorical. Each of them
1 The British Library, "Everyman, a morality play", The British Library, 2019, online, Internet, 5 May 2019. ,
Available: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/everyman-a-morality-play.
2 Duffy, Carol Ann. Everyman. Faber & Faber, 2015.

3TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
personifies different abstract ideas like-fellow ship, material goods, as well as knowledge3. In
order to fulfill its objective to educate the mass about the moral values the plot of the play is
designed in a way which showcases, conflicts between conflicts between the good and the evil.
The portrayal of this conflict has been made lively through the interaction between different
characters. The natural flow of the narrative will portray how Everyman is singled out as he was
unable to find out a company on his way to pilgrimage. Thus in his way to the pilgrimage
‘Everyman realizes that a person was left alone even by his near and dear one when death is
approaching. Only his or her god deeds stay with the person when he or she encounters God at
the time of death4.
The theme of death is highlighted all through the play. The play dramatizes the encounter
of Everyman with death and this dramatization leads to the manifestation of the truths related to
death of a person. In this play, the author has been depicted the theme of death depending on the
Catholic point of view. The Catholic perception of death which was very popular during the 15
th and 16 th century aims to deliver the follower of the catholic Christianity, the moral message
that every human being live each day of his life keeping in mind the consequences of his or her
deeds that the person has to undergo during the eternal life in heaven5. According to the
perception of the author as depicted in this play, death is inevitable and when a person
encounters death, he becomes all alone. Another most important lesson which is highlighted in
3 essaysprofessors.com, "Religion Essay Sample: Perceptions and Treatment of Death in Everyman |
EssaysProfessors.com", essaysprofessors.com, 2019, online, Internet, 5 May 2019. , Available:
https://essaysprofessors.com/samples/religion-/perceptions-and-treatment-of-death-in-everyman.html.
4 Jernigan, Daniel K., Walter Wadiak, and Michelle Wang, eds. Narrating Death: The Limit of Literature. Routledge,
2018.
5 www.cambridge.org, www.cambridge.org, 2019, online, Internet, 5 May 2019. , Available:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/theatre-survey/article/deaths-arrival-and-everymans-separation/.

4TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
this play is that, a person is solely accountable for his good and bad deeds. In another words, a
person has to bear his or her burden of sins alone. In this play ‘Everyman’ was dedicated to his
near and dear ones all through his life 6. Through the way he adopted merged with the path of
sin, his intentions were good. In spite of all these, when Everyman approached his friends and
closed ones and asked to accompany him to his pilgrimage, he was refused by everybody7.
The author’s perception of death reflected through the incident when God asks ‘Death’ to
approach Everyman. When death was approaching, God asked Everyman to prepare an account
for all the good as well as bad deeds of him. This is the situation when the author Peter van
Diest, started informing his audience about his perception of death. The author has beautifully
portrayed the panics during being accountable for his evil deeds. The transformation of the
character of Everyman happened when he was refused by all of his friends, family; when the
wealth he had earned was not with him. As the character of Everyman transformed slowly, the
perception of the author about death revealed8. This indicated the fact that, death acts as a
catalyst in the process of the realization of the fact that, it is only the good deed and wisdom of a
person that accompanies him to his journey towards death. If the perception for the author about
death is looked through an analytical prism, it will manifest the truth that, the friends, family or
6 Nilsson, Emma. "Bringing Death to Life: The Personifications of Death in Zusak's The Book Thief, Moore's A
Dirty Job and Pendle's Death: A Life." (2018).
7 Bartleby.com, "An Analysis of the Perception and Treatment of Death in... | Bartleby", Bartleby.com, 2019, online,
Internet, 5 May 2019. , Available: https://www.bartleby.com/essay/An-Analysis-of-the-Perception-and-Treatment-
FKLEZUZTC.
8 Bartleby.com, "Perception of Death in the Play “Everyman" Essay - 1101 Words | Bartleby", Bartleby.com, 2019,
online, Internet, 5 May 2019. , Available: https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Perception-of-Death-in-the-Play-
Everyman-FKCKHLQZVJ.

5TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
assets of a person cannot save him from the penalization by God due to the evil deeds, which the
person is going to face during the life after death. In this play, the learning of Everyman to
sacrifice the worldly vices like greed and lust and to purge the sins committed by him
emphasizes the Catholic beliefs regarding death- ‘every man’s soul needs to be saved before
death’.9 Another believe of the author which has been revealed all through the play is that, the
physical existence or physical body of a human being may be destroyed as death approaches, but
death actually connects a person with the spiritual journey where he or she will encounter God10.
The author’s treatment of death can be realized from the manifestation of truth regarding
death. All through the play the author has treated death as the process of final judgment in which
all the good and bad deeds of a person will be tallied by God. Hence it can be said that the author
treated ‘death’ as a reminder in the life of Everyman. The author’s treatment of death enlightened
Everyman leading to the realization of Everyman that, neither his friends nor his families will be
accountable for all the sins he had committed. The author portrayed death as an instrument used
by God to awake a soul and drive him towards spirituality. Hence, it can also be said that this
morality play, treated death as an element which clearly depicts the juxtaposition of material as
well as eternal lives of mankind. According to the treatment of the author, death is an individual
journey, in which everybody is left alone 11. Thus the author’s treatment of death is very effective
9 Cram.com, "An Analysis of the Perception and Treatment of Death in Everyman | Cram", Cram.com, 2019, online,
Internet, 5 May 2019. , Available: https://www.cram.com/essay/an-analysis-of-the-perception-and-treatment/
PKSN79NAJ.
10 Kinch, A. (2017). Death. The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, 1-8.
11 GradesFixer, "The Characters, Perception and Treatment of Death, and the Repercussions of Evil Deeds in
Everyman, a Morality Play: Essay Example, 1531 words GradesFixer", GradesFixer, 2019, online, Internet, 5 May

6TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
to realize the medieval people, that they need to be aware of the consequences they may face
during their encounter with God when death approaches. The author treated death in a way that
will imprint the message of the Catholic Christianity, in the mind s of the audience. If the
author’s treatment of death is looked through an analytical prism, it will lead to the manifestation
of the fact that, death is not just the ending of a physical life death is a journey. Before setting out
to the final journey, the soul of a man needs to be purified by his own good deeds12. During this
journey a person will be accompanied by his or her wisdom and virtues and there will be God at
the end of journey estimating the sins as well as good deeds of that person. The sufferings of the
eternal life depend on the estimation of the evil and good deeds of a person. The more a person
in involved in evil practices, the more he or she has to suffer during his or her eternal life13.
Hence, in the conclusion, it can be said that the worldly pleasure as well as sin are
tempted all through the play. The final consequences in the play show the hollowness of the
worldly pleasures and the importance of the moral values. All these are related to the theme of
death and the life after death. Finally this play portrayed the realization and repents of the human
representative during the journey of death thy will be accompanied only by his good deeds and
morality, not the worldly vices, death will encounter him with God to whom he has to be
accountable for the evil practices or sins committed by him. Thus this play does not only teach
2019. , Available: https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-characters-perception-and-treatment-of-death-
and-the-repercussions-of-evil-deeds-in-everyman-a-morality-play/.
12 Badir, Patricia. "Everyman." The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain (2017): 1-3.
13 LitCharts, "The character of Everyman in Everyman from LitCharts | The creators of SparkNotes", LitCharts,
2019, online, Internet, 5 May 2019. , Available: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/everyman/characters/everyman.

7TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
the value of morality, but also emphasizes the Catholic beliefs regarding death as well as eternal
life.

8TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
References
Cram.com. "An Analysis of the Perception and Treatment of Death in Everyman | Cram".
Cram.com, 2019. Online. Internet. 5 May 2019. . Available: https://www.cram.com/essay/an-
analysis-of-the-perception-and-treatment/PKSN79NAJ.
Bartleby.com. "An Analysis of the Perception and Treatment of Death in... | Bartleby".
Bartleby.com, 2019. Online. Internet. 5 May 2019. . Available:
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/An-Analysis-of-the-Perception-and-Treatment-FKLEZUZTC.
essaysprofessors.com. "Religion Essay Sample: Perceptions and Treatment of Death in
Everyman | EssaysProfessors.com". essaysprofessors.com, 2019. Online. Internet. 5 May 2019. .
Available: https://essaysprofessors.com/samples/religion-/perceptions-and-treatment-of-death-in-
everyman.html.
GradesFixer. "The Characters, Perception and Treatment of Death, and the Repercussions of Evil
Deeds in Everyman, a Morality Play: Essay Example, 1531 words GradesFixer". GradesFixer,
2019. Online. Internet. 5 May 2019. . Available:
https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/the-characters-perception-and-treatment-of-death-
and-the-repercussions-of-evil-deeds-in-everyman-a-morality-play/.
The British Library. "Everyman, a morality play". The British Library, 2019. Online. Internet. 5
May 2019. . Available: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/everyman-a-morality-play.
Bartleby.com. "Perception of Death in the Play “Everyman" Essay - 1101 Words | Bartleby".
Bartleby.com, 2019. Online. Internet. 5 May 2019. . Available:
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Perception-of-Death-in-the-Play-Everyman-FKCKHLQZVJ.

9TREATMENT OF DEATH IN EVERYMAN
LitCharts. "The character of Everyman in Everyman from LitCharts | The creators of
SparkNotes". LitCharts, 2019. Online. Internet. 5 May 2019. . Available:
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/everyman/characters/everyman.
www.cambridge.org. www.cambridge.org, 2019. Online. Internet. 5 May 2019. . Available:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/theatre-survey/article/deaths-arrival-and-everymans-
separation/.
Kinch, A. (2017). Death. The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, 1-8.
Badir, Patricia. "Everyman." The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain (2017): 1-3.
Duffy, Carol Ann. Everyman. Faber & Faber, 2015.
Jernigan, Daniel K., Walter Wadiak, and Michelle Wang, eds. Narrating Death: The Limit of Literature. Routledge,
2018.
Nilsson, Emma. "Bringing Death to Life: The Personifications of Death in Zusak's The Book Thief, Moore's A Dirty
Job and Pendle's Death: A Life." (2018).