The Summoning of EVERYMAN:

A Student Guide
Synopsis Of EVERYMAN:
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 tallied 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.
For example, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory teaching the doctrines
of Christian salvation. The hero, named Christian, is warned by Evangelist to flee
the City of Destruction and seek the Celestial City. En route Christian encounters
such characters as Faithful, the Giant Despair, and Mr. Worldly Wiseman. He passes
through places like the Slough of Despond, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and
Vanity Fair. On the literal level, this is an exciting adventure story. On the symbolic
level, however, each adventure also teaches a moral lesson.
Journey to Paradise. Long journey from life to death that Death orders Everyman to
make. Everyman is to take with him his full book of accounts; he must be careful,
as he has done many bad deeds and only a few good ones. When he reaches
Paradise, he will be required to account for his life. Death permits Everyman to take
with him on his journey any companions he wishes, but only Good-Deeds goes with
him the entire way.
With several stops along the way, Everymans journey takes on a dual purpose. On
one hand, the image of his traveling from place to place to find a suitable
companion is similar to a realistic trip; on the other, and on a more spiritual plane,
Everymans peregrination characterizes his quest for salvation. On this path,
Everyman is damned until he realizes that he must free himself of his sins before he
is permitted to enter the heavenly sphere. He can accomplish that task only with
the help of the sacraments and his own good deeds.
House of Salvation

House of Salvation. Place where Everyman receives the sacrament of penance from
Confession. On a certain level, the House of Salvation represents Heaven and is
where the play beginswith God speaking about humankinds forgetfulness of his
sons sacrificeand ends with the angel taking Everymans soul, as does human
life.

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.
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.
End Rhyme
The dialogue contains varying patterns of end rhyme. When God first appears, he
speaks with alternating lines that rhyme.
I perceive here in my majesty,
How that all the creatures be to me unkind,
Living without dread in worldly prosperity:
Of ghostly sight the people be so blind,
Drowned in sin, they know me not for their God;
In worldly riches is all their mind,
They fear not my rightwiseness, the sharp rod;
My law that I shewed, when I for them died,
They forget clean, and shedding of my blood red;
I hanged between two, it cannot be denied;
To get them life I suffered to be dead.
Death, God's messenger, often speaks in couplets:
Lord, I will in the world go run over all,
And cruelly outsearch both great and small;
Every man will I beset that liveth beastly
Out of Gods laws, and dreadeth not folly;
He that loveth riches I will strike with my dart,
His sight to blind, and from heaven to depart,
Except that alms be his good friend,
In hell for to dwell, world without end.
Occasionally, there is no rhyme, as in the following lines spoken by Fellowship:
Now, by God that all hath brought,
If Death were the messenger,
For no man that is living to-day
I will not go that loath journey
Not for the father that begat me!
Plot Summary
The original text of the playpreserved in the British Library in editions by two
different printerscontains archaisms and old spellings. In the following summary,
most of the quotations from the play have been modernized.

The author introduces the play with the following announcement:

Here beginneth a treatise how the high Father of Heaven sendeth Death to summon
every creature to come and give account of their lives in this world, and is in
manner of a moral play.
A messenger of God then admonishes readers to play close attention to the play,
for it reminds them that a day will come when they will be called to a reckoning.
Ye think sin in the beginning full sweet, he says, which in the end causeth the
soul to weep when the body lieth in clay.
God then speaks. He laments that his creatures live preoccupied with worldly
prosperity, blinded to what is really important. Drowned in sin, they know me not
for their God, the King of Heaven says. He summons a messenger, Death, and tells
him to inform Everyman that his time on earth has ended and that he must now
give an account of his life.
Everyman says he needs more time, but Death refuses to grant it. Everyman then
attempts to muster acquaintances to support him. When he begs Fellowship to help
him with a problem, the latter pledges assistance. However, when Fellowship learns
that Everyman wants him to testify in the land of death, Fellowship says he would
normally accompany Everyman everywhereto eat, drink, make merry, and pursue
the pleasures of lust. He would even help Everyman commit murder. But to go with
him to the afterlife and help him give an accounting of his life, that is out of the
question, Fellowship says. Under no circumstances would he undertake such a
fearsome journey.
Everyman then seeks help from those related to him, Kindred and Cousin. But they,
too, refuse to take part in the perilous journey. Sorely distressed at their
unwillingness to support him in his time of need, Everyman now thinks that the
material possessions he has stored up may enable him to buy his way into heaven.
He calls out to Goods, saying money maketh all right that is wrong. Goods
answers that he cannot stir from his position, for he is a heap of chests and bags
and sacks.
But if thou had me loved moderately, Goods says, giving part of Goods to the
poor, then shouldest thou not in this dolor be.
Desperate, Everyman turns to Good Deeds:
I pray you, help me in this need
Or else I am forever damned indeed;
Therefore, help me to make reckoning
Before the Redeemer of all things.

Because he has been long neglected, Good Deeds is in a sorry condition. Although
he is willing to go with Everyman, he cannot muster the strength to do soat least
not at the moment. However, he introduces Everyman to his sister, Knowledge, who
says she can help him by taking him to Confession. Everyman weeps for joy.
Confession tells Everyman he will give him a precious jewel, penance, if he
confesses his sins. Everyman calls on the Lord to forgive his grievous offenses,
acknowledging that he is a sinner most abominable, and calls on the Virgin Mary
to intercede with her Son on his behalf. After Everyman completes his confession,
Knowledge informs him that his friend Good Deeds is healthy and whole once again.
Good Deeds himself then comes forth and says Everyman is now prepared for
eternity. Knowledge outfits Everyman with a robe of contrition, signifying his
repentance.
Good Deeds introduces Everyman to Discretion, Strength, his Five Wits, and Beauty
and asks them to accompany Everyman on his journey. Knowledge then tells him
before he leaves he must receive the last sacraments of the churchHoly Viaticum
(which is a special name for Holy Eucharist or Holy Communion when given to
anyone about to die) and anointment with an oil. After he receives the sacraments,
Beauty, Discretion, Strength, and the Five Wits go with Everyman to his grave but
refuse to accompany him to the afterlife. Disheartened, Everyman cries, O, Jesus,
help! All hath forsaken me. However, Good Deeds says, Nay, Everyman, I will bide
with thee. Knowledge remains a while longer: I will not from hence depart / Till I
see where ye shall be. . . .
Everyman then prays that the Lord will receive him, saying In manuas tuas,
commendo spiritum meum (Latin for Into thy hands, I commend my spirit).
Knowledge hears angels singing. One of them invites Everyman into the heavenly
regions. Only Good Deeds accompanies him.
Climax
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

persons 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.
Themes
Live for Tomorrow
Live for tomorrowthat is, life after deathby leading a holy and virtuous earthly
life that includes doing good works. In the opening lines of the play, Death states
this theme when he says, "Man, in the beginning, / Look well, and take good heed
to the ending." Everyman learns to "take good heed" before it is too late. He
confesses and repents his sins and thus earns paradise on the strength of his
contrition and the good works that he has performed .
The Deceptive Appearance of Sin
Man in his youth perceives sin as beautiful, like a spring flower, as Death says in the
opening lines:
Ye think sin in the beginning full sweet,
Which in the end causeth thy soul to weep,
When the body lieth in clay.
But this flower fades and dies in the autumn and winter of life. Death warns the
audience to take heed of this truth.
Material vs Spiritual Gain
A man may gain a world of riches, but they are as nothing if he suffers the loss of
his soul. God enunciates this theme near the beginning of the play:
I perceive here in my majesty,
How that all the creatures be to me unkind,
Living without dread in worldly prosperity:
Of ghostly sight the people be so blind,
Drowned in sin, they know me not for their God;
In worldly riches is all their mind. . . .
Everyman discovers the truth of the adage You cant take it with you. It, of
course, is his store of material goods, a burden that encumbers his spirituality.
Good Deeds tells him that he should have lightened this burden by giving
possessions to the poor.

God's Mercy
Humans snub Gods mercy. Caught up with the pleasures of life and the pursuit of
material possessions, people neglect to petition the Lord to receive forgiveness for
their sins, which He is every ready to bestow. God calls attention to this human
fault near the beginning of the play:
I proferred the people great multitude of mercy,
And few there be that asketh it heartily.
They be so encumbered with worldly riches.
Final Judgment
No human being can escape final judgment. God tells Death that the day will come
when every person must undertake a final journey and give an accounting of his life
before the Lord. No man can escape this task; every person will face a day of
reckoning. .

Meanings:
1. kindred
A group of related persons, as a clan or tribe.
(used with a pl. verb) A person's relatives; kinfolk.
Of the same ancestry or family: kindred clans.
Having a similar or related origin, nature, or character: kindred emotions.
2. moral
Of or concerned with the judgment of right or wrong of human action and
character: moral scrutiny; a moral quandary.
Teaching or exhibiting goodness or correctness of character and behavior: a
moral lesson.
Conforming to standards of what is right or just in behavior; virtuous: a
moral life.
Arising from conscience or the sense of right and wrong: a moral obligation.
Having psychological rather than physical or tangible effects: a moral
victory; moral support.
Based on strong likelihood or firm conviction, rather than on the actual
evidence: a moral certainty.
n.
The lesson or principle contained in or taught by a fable, a story, or an event.
A concisely expressed precept or general truth; a maxim: likes to follow the
moral "To each, his own."

morals Rules or habits of conduct, especially of sexual conduct, with

reference to standards of right and wrong: a person of loose morals; a
decline in the public morals.
3. mortal
a. Liable or subject to death; not immortal: mortal beings.
b. Of or relating to humans as being subject to death: "When we have
shuffled off this mortal coil" (Shakespeare).
a. Causing death; fatal: a mortal wound. See Synonyms at fatal.
b. Fought to the death: mortal combat.
c. Relentlessly hostile; implacable: a mortal enemy.
a. Of great intensity or severity; dire: mortal terror.
b. Conceivable; imaginable: no mortal reason for us to go.
c. Used as an intensive: a mortal fool.
A human.
4. pilgrimage
A journey to a sacred place or shrine.
A long journey or search, especially one of exalted purpose or moral
significance.
5. reckoning
1. The act of counting or computing.
2. An itemized bill or statement of a sum due.
3. A settlement of accounts: a day of reckoning.
a. The act or process of calculating the position of a ship or an aircraft.
b. The position so calculated.
6. redemption
1. The act of redeeming or the condition of having been redeemed.
2. Recovery of something pawned or mortgaged.
3. The payment of an obligation, as a government's payment of the value of
its bonds.
4. Deliverance upon payment of ransom; rescue.
7. repentance
The act or process of repenting.
Remorse or contrition for past conduct or sin.
8. respite
A usually short period of rest or relief.
a pause from exertion; interval of rest
a temporary delay
temporary stay of execution; reprieve
9. reverence
A feeling of profound awe and respect and often love. An act showing
respect, especially a bow or curtsy. Reverence Used as a form of address for certain
members of the Christian clergy

10. salvation
Preservation or deliverance from destruction, difficulty, or evil.
b. A source, means, or cause of such preservation or deliverance.
Theology
a. Deliverance from the power or penalty of sin; redemption.
b. In religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, deliverance from the cycle of
rebirth and suffering.
c. The agent or means that brings about such deliverance.
11. sin
A transgression of a religious or moral law, especially when deliberate.
Theology
b. A condition of estrangement from God resulting from such disobedience.
Something regarded as being shameful, deplorable, or utterly wrong.
intr.v. sinned, sinning, sins
To violate a religious or moral law.
12. summon
To call together; convene: summon a meeting of officials
b. To request to appear; send for: summon a doctor to help an injured man.
To order to take a specified action; bid: summon the captain to surrender.
To bring to mind or remember. Often used with up: We tried to summon up
an image of our childhood friend.
To cause one to think of (something); evoke. Often used with up: "Badly
cured hippie fur ... mat, and paraffin heating oil are the scents that summon
up my remembrance of the late sixties" (Judith Thurman).
To bring into existence or readiness.
13. virtue
Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness.
14. vice
A practice or habit considered to be evil, degrading, or immoral: the vices of
smoking and drinking.
Wicked or depraved conduct or habits; corruption
A flaw or imperfection
Comprehension:
In the story Everyman why does god send death to everyman?
God sends Death because Everyman only cares for money and worldly
possessions. Death makes Everyman consider life, his choices, his
triumphs, his losses and his rights, and wrongs. God sends death to
summon everyman so he can come before Gods judgment to give
account of his life here on earth.This summon was because every man
cared just about the worldly possessions rather than living the
christian values which can save ones soul.

God is unhappy with the way Everyman is living his life. Money is one
factor, but there are many others. Remember that Everyman is one of
the first morality plays, and it would be performed in church to teach
the every day folks who didn't read and write how they were supposed
to live. Plays of this type were a common and successful way of
teaching the illiterate masses the words and ways of the Bible.
After Death is sent to deliver the message to Everyman, he goes
through the typical reactions--denial, refusal, acceptance, and then he
seeks company to travel with him. Of course, once everyone else finds
out where he is going, they all find something else to do. Only
Knowledge and Good Deeds go with Everyman to judgement day and
the grave.
How does Everyman react to the summons by death in the story Everyman,?
He begs for more time, saying he's not ready, and when all else fails,
he tries to bribe Death. Death approaches Everyman, and asks him
where he is going, and whether he has forgotten his maker (the one
who made him). He then tells Everyman that he must take a long
journey upon him, and bring with him his book of count (his account
book as per Gods reckoning, above) which contains his good and
bad deeds.Everyman says that he is unready to make such a
reckoning, and is horrified to realize who Death is. Everyman asks
Death whether he will have any company to go on the journey from
life into death. Death tells him he could have company, if anyone was
brave enough to go along with him
Good deeds is unable to accompany everyman at first because she is very
weak resulting from the reason that every man had not fed her. Good Deeds
is at first unable to accompany him because he is weak and needs to be
strengthened.
Everyman-The second level is symbolic -- Everyman'

Seven Deadly Sins

1. pride
2. envy

Seven Redeeming Virtues

1. prudence
2. justice

Seven Sacraments
1. baptism
2. confirmation

3. gluttony

3. temperance

3. communion

4. sloth

4. fortitude

4. penance

5. lust

5. faith

5. ordination

6. avarice

6. hope

6. matrimony

7. wrath

7. charity

7. unction

Human Nature
What view of human nature is illuminated? How do you derive this
view? What sort of attitude towards man does God have in the play?
The sinful and selfish view of human nature is revealed in this play.
This view is evidenced by Everyman forgetting about his salvation and
instead, choosing to indulge himself in worldly pleasures. When he is
called to give an account for his life on his journey to embrace death,
he calls on goods, who tells him that he cannot go with him for his
place is on earth causing the damnation of many men. He responds by
telling him that he loved his Goods the most and never gave any away
to charity. It is also evidenced by Everyman's neglect of Good Deeds.
God's attitude towards man is that of sorrow and heartache because
man has forgotten all that He had done for them, and instead has
found pleasure in their worldly possessions. His attitude is also that of
judgment, for he sends Death to Everyman to call him to give an
account of the things he did with his life.
Friends
What is the significance of the various friends Everyman encounters
throughout his journey? What role does Beauty, Strength, Discretion,
and Five Wits play? How does the order in which Beauty, Strength,
Discretion, and Five Wits abandon Everyman parallel the process of
aging and Everymans journey closer to death?
The significance of the friends is to bring to light the fact that one can
not take anything or anyone with him except his works on his journey
to death and judgment. Fellowship or friendship abandons him when
things got tough, his family must abandon him because they can not
speak for him at the judgment. He finds Confession and salvation
along his journey to give him peace and comfort in his approaching
death. Beauty, Strength, Discretion (good judgment) and the Five
Wits(five senses) are the only ones able to accompany Everyman on
his journey, but must leave him before his death. Beauty is th first to
go due to the aging process the skin sags and wrinkles. Next is
strength, as one gets older it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain
ones physical strength due to bone and muscle deterioration.
Discretion follows strength as the mind begins to go, judgment is
impaired. The Five Wits are the last to go, the elderly begin to have
problems with vision, hearing, taste, smell and sensation. The only two
that remain with Everyman are his Good Deeds and Knowledge.
Knowledge stays around until Everyman's death, while his Good Deeds

is the only thing that he can take with him into the afterlife to be
judged accordingly.
In the morality play Everyman, the sinful nature of man is illuminated. Death
emphasizes man's sinful nature by making it clear that Everyman's "mind is on
fleshly lust and his treasure" (82). In a dialogue with Everyman, Death tells
Everyman "thou have forgot him here," referring to Everyman forgetting God (94).
Everyman is neglecting God and embracing "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16).Everyman's sinful nature is continued to be
seen when Death informs Everyman that he has come for him. Instead of Everyman
submitting to the will of God, he entertains his rebellious nature and attempts to
bribe Death by saying, "A thousand pound shalt thou have, and deter this matter till
another day" (122-123). In addition, Everyman goes on to ask, "But twelve year
and I might have a biding, my counting book I would make clear" (135-136). In
other words, Everyman is asking Death for a twelve year delay. God's attitude
towards Everyman's behavior is pure frustration as well as feelings of hurt by man.
God states, "How that all creatures be to me unkind" (23). The tone of pain and
hurt from being rejected protrudes from this line. Hurt is also seen when God
emphasizesEveryman's ungratefulness. He says, "They thank me not for the
pleasure that I to them meant, nor yet for their being that I them have lent" (5657). God's frustration becomes evident as He describesEveryman's godless
character. He states that Everyman is "drowned in sin," only "worldly riches is all"
on his mind (26, 27). God recalls the extremities He had to experience to get
Everyman life. He said, "I for them died/shedding of my blood red/I hanged
between two/ I suffered to be dead/ with thorns hurt in my head" (29-33). He is
frustrated and hurt that with all that He has experienced "the people do clean
forsake" him (35).
Friends
In the play Everyman, the friends that Everyman encounters throughout his journey
are of great significance. The friends signify the typical hindrances and distractions
that prevents one from growing closer to God. For example, Fellowship represents
one's friends; Fellowship is only interested "to go to mirth, solace and play" (277).
In other words, Fellowship pushes Everyman further and further away from the
things of God. Everyman embraces Fellowship and puts total trust in him. He says
in regards to Fellowship, "For in him is all mine affiance" (199). Fellowship promises
Everyman that he "will not forsake thee" to his life's end (213). However, reality
reveals that Fellowship is untrustworthy because he forsakes Everyman when he
needs him most. Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five Wits play an important role
inEveryman's journey as well. Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five Wits represents
one's personal assets and positive characteristic qualities that accompany
Everyman on his journey to redemption. For instance, Strength tells Everyman,
"And I, Strength, will by you stand in distress, though thou would in battle fight on
the ground" (684-685). Unlike Fellowship who was leading Everyman in a negative
direction, Strength is pushing Everyman in the direction of God. It was brilliant of
the author to present the abandonment of Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five
Wits in an order that is parallel to the aging process and Everyman's journey closer

to death. Beauty is the first of the characteristics to leave Everyman. In the aging
process, physical beauty is also the first to go. It is said that by the age of thirty
everything starts to go downhill, starting with beauty. Strength leaves Everyone
next. It is common is the aging process for strength to outlast beauty. However,
strength eventually dwindles away with age. Eventually, Discretion leaves Everyman
followed by Five-Wits. When one gets up in age, individuals are prune to diseases
such as Alzheimer's which can effect one's judgement. Therefore, it is logical for
Discretion to leave before Five Wits in the aging process. Finally, the five senses are
last to go in the aging process. As one ages, the closer to death he/she becomes.
Therefore, as Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five-Wits leave Everyone, the closer
he comes to death.
Why, some students often ask, does Everyman not immediately go to his grave
once his Good Deeds has emerged? Though it is not stated particularly clearly in
the play, it likely would have been common knowledge among Everymans original
audience. Christian doctrine teaches that good deeds are of no use to a man in a
state of sin: and, just as Catholics today believe, Everyman must cleanse himself of
sin before he can progress to make his reckoning and be rewarded for his good
deeds.It is Good Deeds sister, Knowledge, who takes over at this point as
Everymans guide, who perhaps, rather than knowledge in a more general sense,
could be said to represent acknowledgement of ones own sin. Everyman has to
face up to and repent for his own actions. It is interesting that we do not really see
Everyman commit sin; his sins, of course, have been committed before the play
begins, which is the reason that God calls Death to visit Everyman in the first place.
First he looks for solace among his friends, allegorized by Fellowship. Initially,
Fellowship seems very concerned about Everymans grave state and pledges his
undying fealty and assistance, but upon discovering that Everyman undertakes the
journey to Death, Fellowship abandons Everyman to his own fate. Next, Everyman
turns to Cousin and Kindred, believing that familial bonds will prove stronger than
those of Fellowship; but, family, too, despite professing their love for and support of
Everyman, abandons him in the time of his greatest need. Next, Everyman turns to
his own material possessions, his Goods, which Everyman has spent a lifetime
amassing. Everyman believes that his Goods will accompany him on his pilgrimage
to judgment, but his Goods, too, forsake Everyman, leaving the lamentable figure
wailing over his fate.

Now, in his moment of greatest despair, Everyman considers his own good deeds.
Calling for his Good Deeds, Everyman can hear only a weak and faint reply, since
his Good Deeds are but small in comparison to Everymans sins. Nonetheless, Good
Deeds advises Everyman to call upon his knowledge, to act as counsel in this hour
of need. Knowledge comes when called and prepares Everyman for Confession;
after making an honest and penitent accounting of his life, Everyman finds Good
Deeds strengthened and able to rise from the dirt. Good Deeds and Knowledge urge
Everyman to call upon his other attributesBeauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five

Witsto aid him in preparing for his journey. This they happily do, each offering
their support and proffering some wisdom to aid Everyman on his final pilgrimage.
Each of his qualities pledges to stand by Everyman, but as he approaches his own
grave, each is taken aback. First Beauty abandons him, then Strength, then
Discretion, and then finally his own Five Wits. Eventually, even Knowledge warns
Everyman that he, too, will abandon him but only at the very end. Thus Everyman
learns that he may only take Good Deeds with him to the grave and with him as he
stands before God.

Everymans suffering, honest, and penitent confession, buoyed by his Good Deeds,
allows him to be brought into the Kingdom of Heaven. As an angel welcomes
Everyman into heaven, Doctor, a figure who represents a wise theologian in
medieval times, comes on stage and gives the plays moral. The Doctor warns that
Everymans friends, family, and material possessions cannot take the final journey
with him and that even Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five Wits will abandon
him. The Doctor also warns that if the size of Everymans Good Deeds is too small,
they will not be sufficient for him to enter into heaven. Yet, the Doctor concludes, if
Everyman makes an honest confession and can make a clear accounting of his own
good deeds, then the Kingdom of Heaven will belong to Everyman.
EVERYMAN

2. The following will cause a person NOT to be saved:

(1) Replacing faith in God with faith in ___________ things, such as

friends, ___________, or money, will damn a person. In the play, friends are
symbolized by the character __________________; family, by the two characters,
______________ and Cousin; and money by the character, _________. All four of
these characters at first promise Everyman that they will be ______________ to
him, but when they find that he is headed to the grave they immediately
___________ him.

(2) While the first part of the play stressed the folly of putting faith in
worldly things, the last part emphasizes how foolish it is to put faith in
_____________ things. Again four characters are usedBeauty,
______________, Discretion (the ability to make decisions), and _________ Wits
(the five senses), the first two representing the ______________ body and the last
two, ones _____________ capacity. They promise to accompany Everyman into

the __________, but when they reach its entrance, they, just like worldly things,
quickly desert ________________.

(3) The Seven __________ Sins (Pride, _____________, Anger,

__________, Envy, ________________, and Laziness) prevent a person from
gaining salvation. Before Everyman gains penance (forgiveness for his sins), he
exhibits each of these ___________ sins, which are referred to in lines 34-35.
Note: All line citations are from the Norton Anthology cited
above.

3.

The following will result in a person being saved:

(1) The simple act of affirming ____________ in God will gain a

person salvation. The central idea of the play is the responsibility of each person to
_______, the Creator and Sustainer of all life, who at any time can send
__________ to a human being. In Everyman, the character Knowledge represents
this ___________ in God. Knowledge leads Everyman to Confession (representing
the Catholic _____________), which grants Everyman penance or
__________________ for his __________. At this pointthe Climax of the play
Everyman can __________ to God for salvation.

(2) Doing _________ works is a sign that one is saved. In the play,
good works is symbolized by the character Good _____________. At first, she is
presented as __________ and unable to stand since Everyman had never done any
acts of goodness or unselfishness in his life. However, after praying, Everyman
wants to do good works. This is symbolized by Good _____________ rising,
joining Everyman in his journey to the grave, and being his
____________________ when he is called to his ___________ accounting before
God. The principal good work which a Christian can do, the play continually
stresses, is to show ______________ to the poor. Significantly,
_______________ is the last word of the play.

(3) Observing or affirming the Seven Holy _____________________

instituted by Christ (________________, Confirmation of faith, the
______________, Penance, Ordination of priests, _________________, and

Anointment of those close to _______________) will gain one grace and

redemption. In the play, these Seven ______________ Sacraments (lines 722-27)
are counterweights to the Seven ______________ Sins.
(1) worldly; family; Fellowship; Kindred; Goods; faithful; desert.
(2) bodily; strength; Five; physical; mental; grave; Everyman.
(3) Deadly; Greed; Lust; Gluttony; deadly.
(1) faith; God; death; faith; Church; forgiveness; sins; pray.
(2) good; Deeds; weak; Deeds; defender; final; charity; charity.
(3) Sacraments; Baptism; Eucharist; Matrimony; death; Holy;
Deadly.