Religious Messages in Everyman Book
Identify several religious messages in "Everyman" that can be expressed as enduring moral themes
The medieval morality play "Everyman" is an allegory, a literary form that has fallen out of favor since the Middle Ages. However, many of the lessons of the play still have startling relevance and application today. For example, the fact that 'Death' is not portrayed as bad or good, merely a neutral force who 'visits' all human beings in time, shows that people living in the medieval era did not see religion in simplistic terms of good vs. evil. Death is not bad rather he is merely fulfilling his function in the divine scheme of things. Also, the central character 'Everyman' is not shown to be good or bad, rather his fear of death is natural, and his instinctive desire to look for companionship on his journey to judgment is also natural.
Interestingly, the play never makes clear what the final verdict is, if Everyman will go to heaven or hell. What the play is clear in communicating is that the only thing that will protect Everyman on his journey is his Good Deeds. While it may be unsurprising that Worldly Goods will be of little use in the afterlife (perhaps a 'dig' at church ostentation, when the play was originally performed) the play also stresses that even family and friends, two cherished institutions, will be of little use, as will Discretion (intelligence), Strength, and other valued social attributes. A person who is well-liked and successful and supports the sacred institutions of 'mom, country, and apple pie' cannot bring these things with him to the afterlife, he or she can only call upon the good he or she has won on his or her own merit after death.
The play counsels an individual to keep his or her character in order. Remember that every person dies, and is reduced to the same state of nothingness after death (significantly, Everyman's 'Five Wits' leave him). The only thing remains are the things that have made the world and others a better place -- no possessions can be retained, when the body is no more, only the person's good actions live on.
