محمد شاهر
مشرف ومراسل السنة الأولى
عدد الرسائل : 1981
الدولة : Syria
الكلية : Faculty of Arts
السـنة الدراسية : second
النشاط : 2739
تاريخ التسجيل : 10/02/2011
 |  موضوع: introduction to Everyman play  2011-12-04, 13:45 | |
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overall summary
This morality play seeks to answer the important religious question: "What must a man do to be saved?" God sends Death to summon Everyman, who represents all mankind. Good and Evil will be registered like pluses and minuses in an account book. The play is the story of Everyman's journey to this final reckoning. Along the way, Everyman tries to convince other characters to accompany him in the hope of improving his account. The other characters are also allegorical; that is, each character personifies an abstract idea. The conflict between good and evil is dramatized by the interactions between characters. The play shows us not only how every man should meet death but also how every man should live.
Everyman is a dramatized allegory. An allegory is a narrative in which the characters and action, and sometimes the setting as well, have two levels of meaning. The first level is literal -- a man is going on a trip. The second level is symbolic -- Everyman's life is a journey from birth to death, and every man makes this same trip. An allegory must make sense at both levels. All of the literal pieces will fit together to tell a story -- what happens. In addition, all of the symbolic pieces will fit together to teach a moral -- what the story means.
Type of Work
.......Everyman is a morality play, an allegorical drama that teaches a lesson about how Christians should live and what they must do to save their souls. A morality play is, in effect, a sermon that is acted out. The characters of a typical morality play include personifications of virtues (such as hope and charity), vices (such as pride and sloth), or other qualities, as well as personifications of objects (such as money) or activities (such as death or fellowship). In addition, God and angels may appear as characters, as they do in Everyman.
Title
.......The complete title of the work is The Summoning of Everyman, but over the years it became known simply as Everyman.
Date and Source
.......Everyman was written in the late 1400's.
Language
.......The language of the play is Middle English, but publishers today general print it in modern English unless an edition is intended for scholarly study. Following are examples of the opening words in Middle English and modern English respectively.
Setting
.......The action begins in heaven when God sends Death to summon the main character, Everyman. Thereafter, the action takes place on earth. Since the author intended the main character to represent every human being, the action on earth could take place anywhere.
Characters
Everyman: Typical human being who has neglected his spiritual life but repents his sins in time to be saved.
God: Just but merciful Supreme Being.
Death: Messenger commanded by God to summon Everyman.
Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Material Goods: Earthly acquaintances of Everyman who abandon him in his time of need.
Good Deeds: The only friend willing to accompany Everyman to the afterlife.
Knowledge: Character that tells Everyman what he must do to obtain salvation.
Confession: Character representing the sacrament of penance. Everyman confesses his sins to this character.
Discretion, Strength, Everyman's Five Wits, Beauty: Earthly acquaintances of Everyman who abandon him in his time of need.
Angel: Creature that welcomes Everyman to the celestial realm.
Doctor: Scholar who delivers words of warning at the end of the play.
Tone
.......The tone of the play is solemn and dignified.
Climax
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.......The climax occurs when Good Deeds agees to enter the afterlife with Everyman.
Theology
.......Everyman presents a Roman Catholic point of view. The central character, representing every man and woman, earns his eternal reward through good works and reception of the sacraments of the church, such as penance (confession) and the Holy Eucharist. In Roman Catholicism, a person in danger of death receives Holy Eucharist given under the name Viaticum, a term derived from Latin words meaning travel and road and loosely translated as provision for the last journey. He or she also receives extreme unction, a sacrament in which a priest anoints a person’s ears, eyes, nose, lips, and hands (which represent the five senses) with oil that was blessed on Holy Thursday. After confessing his sins, Everyman receives both of these “last rites,” as they are called, before he enters the afterlife.
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Back with the wind
المراقب العام
عدد الرسائل : 2221
العمر : 31
الدولة : Syria
السـنة الدراسية : الثانية
النشاط : 2547
تاريخ التسجيل : 27/02/2011
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