Everyman, Allegory, and Medieval Religious Performance
Religious Performances in Late‐Medieval England
Liturgical Calendar Alignment
Performances were scheduled to coincide with major feast days and other moments in the church year.
Events typically unfolded in 2–3-day cycles, allowing townspeople repeated opportunities to attend.
Pageant Wagons
Mobile stages (“carts that could move around town”) carried scenery, props, and actors from location to location.
Enabled the dramatization of multiple biblical episodes in sequence, bringing theatre directly to different neighborhoods.
From Scripture to Drama
Actors did not recite verbatim biblical text; instead they dramatized plots and characters derived from scripture.
Result: familiar sacred stories became vivid, embodied, and theatrically compelling.
Introduction to Everyman
Genre & Date
Classified as an English morality play dating from the late 15th century.
Part of a broader European tradition of didactic drama.
Central Theme
Explores death and the journey of the soul toward divine judgment.
Plot Snapshot
Protagonist Everyman (an emblem of all humankind) is summoned by Death to give an account of his earthly life before God.
He searches for companions (Fellowship, Goods, Good Deeds, Knowledge, etc.) to accompany him on this final pilgrimage.
Allegory & Personification
Meaning of “Allegorical Play”
Characters embody abstract concepts: e.g., Good Deeds, Knowledge, Goods, Strength.
Actions on stage dramatize moral and theological ideas rather than realistic psychology.
Pagan Echo?
The practice of personifying ideas links back to classical traditions where abstract notions were given divine or semi-divine forms.
Raises the question of how Christian content blends with a dramatic device of pre-Christian origin.
Social Commentary & Class
Greed and Wealth Disparity
Everyman is portrayed as spectacularly wealthy yet lacking self-awareness, bordering on caricature.
Scene: a poor neighbor requests aid; Everyman refuses, illustrating extreme avarice.
In-Depth vs. In-Life Inequality
The play insists all are equal in death (everyone faces judgment), but leaves earthly class structures largely unchallenged.
Critical question posed:
Is the drama implying anyone would act like Everyman if given the chance?
Or is it sidestepping a deeper critique of systemic inequality?
Didactic Aim
Moral Instruction
Labelled “didactic” because its primary function is to teach salvation doctrine: repentance, confession, and reliance on Good Deeds at death.
Contrast with Shakespearean Drama
Later Renaissance theatre (e.g., Shakespeare) shifts toward the “concrete particular”—individualized personalities and complex psychologies.
Morality plays remain at the level of general abstractions (Good Deeds, Fellowship), indicating a historical movement from general → particular characterization.
Open Questions for Further Study
Allegory vs. Realism: How does personification affect audience empathy and ethical reflection?
Class Positioning: Does the absence of explicit social critique dilute or strengthen the play’s universal message?
Performance Choices: Different modern editions offer variant textual details—how do these affect interpretation?
Practical Classroom Activity (Mentioned in Transcript)
Students were instructed to:
Form small groups.
Select and read a passage from one of two provided editions (the reading-list version or module-site version).
Address three short analytical questions about the selected excerpt.
Key Takeaways
Everyman synthesizes medieval religious ritual, allegorical structure, and social reflection within a compact dramatic form.
It underscores the inevitability of death, the insufficiency of material wealth, and the salvific importance of good deeds.
The play stands at a transitional moment in English drama, preceding the individual-focused character work that later defines Renaissance theatre.