be their own pleasure. Angered by this casual manner humans have adopted toward Him, God decides a reckoning is in order. He summons his "mighty messenger" Death, eerily and effectively personified for the audience members. God commands the dark figure to go forth to the Earth and take Everyman on a "pilgrimage" he will never escape. At the beginning of the play, there is no doubt that this pilgrimage is the road to hell and eternal damnation.

The character of Everyman, is the personification of the human race. The play relies heavily on that literary technique. Human traits and ideals are personified to more effectively convey the stern message of the play. Fellowship, knowledge, discretion, and

God also states that "Every man liveth so after his own pleasure(266)." In fact, later in the play, Everyman confronts Goods, the personification of all that he has owned during his life. He learns that though he has derived pleasure from his goods, he is no

The use of Death as a character is very effective, and as we discussed in class, it would have made a profound effect on medieval audiences. One wonders if this effect is more pronounced in the world of today. After all, most Americans have the luxury of being able to ignore or hide from death, fearing it only in their innermost thoughts In medeival times, congregations were taught to fear God. The clergy were very powerful, and most dramas of this period dealt with religious themes. In class, someone mentioned that these plays might have been a way for landowners to keep their serfs in line. By scaring them into civil behaviour, the upper classes would not have to worry about peasant uprisings an

Some common words found in the essay are:
Earth Everyman, Deadly Sins, , God Death, message play, otherwise everyman,
Approximate Word count = 645
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)