The Perception of Death and the Treatment of Death

Introduction 

The play Everyman is a drama that was produced in the 15 th century and depicts death as a spiritual event, which proves that the body, mind and the physical occurrences in life are all temporary. The morality play conveys the relationship between liturgical drama and secular drama that became popular towards the end of medieval English literature. From the author’s tone and purpose, readers can identify how the author considers death as a tragic event. Everyman is the protagonist who experiences death and presents it as a reality by revealing to the readers that only the soul is permanent. The author presentation of death through Everyman provides readers with psychological insight, which showcase dying as a transition process to heaven and death a learning experience. Through death Everyman has to account for his experiences on earth to God. Thus, the author’s perception of death in Everyman is associated with the desire to find the meaning of life. 

Analysis and Discussion 

In the play, death is personified and is considered to be cruel since it is untimely and comes to rob human beings of life. The author perceives death as an agent sent by God and forces everyman to defend their actions on earth. "On thee thou must take a long journey: Therefore thy book of count with thee thou bring; for turn again thou cannot by no way, And look thou be sure of thy reckoning..." (Garner, 1987). Death is sent to humanity by God as a punishment to everyman who have forsaken their moral values as they accumulate wealth and material possession. In his search to find the right path to heaven, Everyman depends on his virtues, family and friends to guide him. Death is an awakening to Everyman, which makes him re-evaluate all his life choices and decisions while he questions the kind of life he has led. 

Death is perceived as an obstacle that denies man the grace of entering the Kingdom of God. Through the experience of death, Everyman recognizes it as a fence that blocks him from entering the immortal world – since he is forced to question his life. Everyman perceives death and struggles with the idea of embracing death without fear and confusion. This is because Everyman learns that he has led an immoral lifestyle that does not promote the values of righteousness. As a result, Everyman struggles to conform to the process of dying, and attempts to persuade death to give him an opportunity to correct his mistakes and make everything right. As a cruel and unforgiving mediator between God and humanity, it forces everyone to analyze their life and account for themselves. 

In Everyman , death is represented as something that many people loathe since they are afraid of confronting the idea of leaving earth. Therefore, Everyman makes an effort to escape death by offering it a thousand pounds; however, death turns down the offer and declares that if it was interested in riches and material possessions it would have accumulated all the wealth in the world. According to death, if it wanted wealth it would have gathered from all those human beings that were desperate to evade death. This shows that no man is immortal and no amount of wealth or persuasion can equip a person with the ability of preventing death from taking away their life. 

Death is final and cannot be reversed. Everyman requests death to allow him to return to earth once he has accounted for his life choices, but he is informed that he cannot go back on earth after he has left. This demonstrates that human beings are only provided with one chance to live; therefore one is expected to lead a righteous an exemplary life that will create a pathway for them to enter heaven. This is because morality is an important aspect of what it means to Everyman to lead a righteous life and to have found God’s favor and assurance to enter heaven. Death means that one has to confront their actions since each of their deeds is brought to the spotlight. For this reason, Everyman fears the idea of death since it is a finality that judges an individual’s morality and does not give them a second chance. According to Potter (1975), when the morality of Everyman is brought to the spotlight he is faced with the reality that he should live according to the will and teachings of God. God instructs Everyman that he has a lot of work to do in order to meet the expectations of God for humanity. In order to meet these expectations human beings must follow the doctrines of the bible, which outline the moral acts. In following these doctrines man will be ready for the day that death comes knocking and will be ready to leave earth without any regrets. During the process of dying instead of being filled with fear and confusion, a person will rejoice and prepare to go to heaven since they know that they led a moral life that is acceptable to God. 

Death is associated with loneliness and isolation; thus, no person embraces death. Although death is unforgiving and denies Everyman the opportunity to rectify his mistakes, he allows him to choose an accomplice to accompany him during as he faces death. Death tells Everyman, “Yea, if any be so hardy / That would go with thee and bear thee company. Hie thee that you were gone to God’s magnificence, / Thy reckoning to give before his presence” (Anonymous, 15 th Century). Therefore, Everyman attempts to convince his family and friends to accompany him, but they are unwilling to follow and help him account for his actions in the presence of God during the day of reckoning. However, his kindred and cousin refuse to accompany Everyman as they are not willing to leave their lives on earth. This reveals that every person on earth will ultimately be forced to face death and the Day of Judgment by themselves. No family members, friends or wealth will be by anyone’s side when one has to account for the life they led on earth. When judgment is passed a person leaves behind all their worldly and earthly possessions. The physical body decomposes on earth while the soul transitions into the afterlife. 

Death is inevitable and cannot be evaded; Everyman realizes this and is terrified of this idea. Therefore, he opts to do what is right and good so that he can create his pathway to heaven. He seeks the good deeds that he had neglected during his time on earth; good deeds direct Everyman to the way of knowledge and confession. It is at this point that Everyman is provided with the chance to seek forgiveness and confess his sins through the Sacrament of the Church. Good deeds direct Everyman through the journey of confession, “Now we go together lovingly, / To Confession, that cleansing river” (Garner, 1987). Through the confession, Everyman has the opportunity to repent and ask for forgiveness for his sins. The Virgin Mary and her son Jesus offer intercession prayers as a way of asking God to forgive man for the sins they have committed. Once Everyman confesses his sins, he is forgiven and his good deeds revived, he is then clothed in a robe, which symbolizes his purity as a renewed person. This shows that for God to accept man to his kingdom, they must seek penance and be righteous in the presence of God; thus, no man can go through the gates of heaven or acquire eternal life without salvation and repentance. 

Conclusion 

Everyman is a morality play that demonstrates to its audience the significance of life through the experience of death. The author’s perception of death reveals that the meaning of life is to be righteous and engage in good deeds that are acceptable to God. The author examines the importance of spiritual values in life by examining the attitudes that the protagonist has towards death. When faced with death Everyman struggles to conform to the process of dying and attempts to negotiate with death to allow him to enter the Kingdom of God. The moral of the play shows its audience that human beings must evaluate their actions and life choices and rectify their immoral behaviors by confessing and seeking forgiveness from God. 

References 

Anonymous. Everyman . 15th Century. 

Garner, S. (1987). Theatricality in Mankind and Everyman. Studies in Philology 84(3), pp. 272-285. 

Potter, R. (1975). The English morality play: origins, history, and influence of a dramatic tradition . Routledge.