Everyman

After a brief prologue asking the audience to listen, God speaks,

lamenting that humans have become too absorbed in material wealth
and riches to follow Him, so He commands Death to go to Everyman and
summon him to heaven to make his reckoning. Death arrives at
Everyman's side to tell him it is time to die and face judgment. Upon
hearing this, Everyman is distressed, so begs for more time. Death denies
this, but will allow Everyman to find a companion for his journey.

Everyman's friend Fellowship promises to go anywhere with him, but

when he hears of the true nature of Everyman's journey, he refuses to go.
Everyman then calls on Kindred and Cousin and asks them to go with him,
but they both refuse. In particular, Cousin explains a fundamental reason
why no people will accompany Everyman: they have their own accounts
to write as well. Afterwards, Everyman asks Goods, who will not come:
God's judgment will be severe because of the selfishness implied in
Goods's presence.

Everyman then turns to Good Deeds, who says she would go with him,
but she is too weak as Everyman has not loved her in his life. Good Deeds
summons her sister Knowledge to accompany them, and together they go
to see Confession. In the presence of Confession, Everyman begs God for
forgiveness and repents his sins, punishing himself with a scourge. After
his scourging, Everyman is absolved of his sins, and as a result, Good
Deeds becomes strong enough to accompany Everyman on his journey
with Death.

Good Deeds then summons Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five Wits to
join them, and they agree to accompany Everyman as he goes to a priest
to take sacrament. After the sacrament, Everyman tells them where his
journey ends, and again they all abandon him – except for Good Deeds.
Even Knowledge cannot accompany him after he leaves his physical body,
but will stay with him until the time of death.
Content at last, Everyman climbs into his grave with Good Deeds at his
side and dies, after which they ascend together into heaven, where they
are welcomed by an Angel. The play closes as the Doctor enters and
explains that in the end, a man will only have his Good Deeds to
accompany him beyond the grave.

A prologue, read by the Messenger asks the audience to give their

attention and announces the purpose of the play, which will show us our
lives as well as our deaths (“our ending”) and how we humans are always
(“all day”) transitory: changing from one state into another.

God speaks next, and immediately launches into a criticism of the way
that “all creatures” are not serving Him properly. People are living
without “dread” (fear) in the world without any thought of heaven or
hell, or the judgment that will eventually come to them. “In worldly riches
is all their mind”, God says. Everyone is living purely for their own
pleasure, but yet they are not at all secure in their lives. God sees
everything decaying, and getting worse “fro year to year” (from year to
year) and so has decided to have a “reckoning of every man’s person”.
Are they guilty or are they godly – should they be going to heaven or hell?

God calls in Death, his “mighty messenger”. People who love wealth and
worldly goods will be struck by Death’s dart and will be sent to dwell in
hell eternally – unless, that is, “Alms be his good friend”. “Alms” means
“good deeds”, and it is an important clue even at this stage that good
deeds can save a sinner from eternal damnation.

God exits, and Death sees Everyman walking along, “finely dressed”.
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 God’s “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.

Fellowship enters, sees that Everyman is looking sad, and immediately

offers to help. When Everyman tells him that he is in “great jeopardy”,
Fellowship pledges not to “forsake [Everyman] to my life’s end / in... good
company”. Everyman describes the journey he is to go on, and Fellowship
tells Everyman that nothing would make him go on such a journey.
Fellowship departs from Everyman “as fast as” he can. Kindred and
Cousin enter, Everyman appeals to them for company, and they similarly
desert him.

Everyman next turns to his “Goods and richesse” to help him, but Goods
only tells him that love of Goods is opposite to love of God. Goods too
forsakes Everyman and exits. Everyman next turns to his Good Deeds, but
she is too weak to accompany him. Good Deeds’ sister Knowledge
accompanies Everyman to Confession, who instructs him to show
penance. Everyman scourges himself to atone for his sin. This allows
Good Deeds to walk.

More friends – Discretion, Strength, Beauty and Five Wits – initially claim
that they too will accompany Everyman on his journey. Knowledge tells
Everyman to go to Priesthood to receive the holy sacrament and extreme
unction. Knowledge then makes a speech about priesthood, while
Everyman exits to go and receive the sacrament. Ит .

As Everyman begins to die, Beauty, Strength, Discretion and Five Wits all
forsake him one after another. Good Deeds speaks up and says that she
will not forsake him. Everyman realizes that it is time for him to be gone
to make his reckoning and pay his spiritual debts. Yet, he says, there is a
lesson to be learned, and speaks the lesson of the play:
 Take example, all ye that this do hear or see

How they that I loved best do forsake me,

Except my Good Deeds that bideth truly.

Commending his soul into the Lord’s hands, Everyman disappears into the
grave with Good Deeds. An Angel appears with Everyman’s Book of
Reckoning to receive the soul as it rises from the grave. A doctor appears
to give the epilogue, in which he tells the hearers to forsake Pride,
Beauty, Five Wits, Strength and Discretion – all of them forsake “every
man” in the end.

Everyman: wealthy man but a sinner Кожен: заможна людина, але

● God sends Death to fetch Everyman
because of his excessive sin and also
because he has forgotten god.
● Everyman requests Death to give
little time to search for his friends for
the final judgment.
● First, he goes to visit Fellowship and
requests to go with him but gets
rejected.
● Then he goes to visit Relatives but
again gets rejected.
● He then goes to visit Goods and
requests her to come with him but she
straightly refuses saying that her place is
Earth and her aim is to lure humans to
commit sin.
● He now goes to Good Deeds for help
but she suggests him to meet
Knowledge who may help him.
● He meets Knowledge but he also
грішник
● Бог посилає Смерть за Кожному
через його надмірний гріх, а
також через те, що він забув бога.
● Кожен просить Смерть дати
мало часу на пошук своїх друзів
для остаточного рішення.
● По-перше, він їде відвідати
Братство і просить поїхати з ним,
але отримує відмову.
● Потім він їде відвідати родичів,
але знову отримує відмову.
● Потім він їде відвідати Товари і
просить її піти з ним, але вона
прямо відмовляється сказати, що
її місце - Земля і її мета - заманити
людей на гріх.
● Зараз він звертається за
допомогою до «Добрих справ»,
але вона пропонує йому
takes him to Confession.
● He visits Confession to know all his
sins. He then repents and laments a lot,
and he gets salvation.
● Good deeds appearing again reveals
to help and then others also come to
help him.
● Everyman dies. Now his journey of
soul-purification starts but gradually
others (Beauty, Strength, Discretion,
Five Wits, Knowledge) leave him
respectively
● Everyone leaves him except Good
Deeds until his final judgment and
requests God to make everyman one of
the members of heaven.
* Moral: All men have to move (go
through) the same judgment and only
the good deeds can help men to get
final judgment (redemption).
зустрітись із Знанням, яке може
йому допомогти.
● Він зустрічає Знання, але він
також веде його до Сповіді.
● Він відвідує Сповідь, щоб знати
всі свої гріхи. Потім він багато
кається і нарікає, і він отримує
порятунок.
● Повторні добрі справи
виявляють допомогу, і тоді інші
також приходять йому допомогти.
● Кожен помирає. Тепер
починається його подорож
очищення душі, але поступово
інші (Краса, Сила, Розсудливість,
П’ять кмітливостей, Знання)
залишають його відповідно
● Усі залишають його, крім
Добрих справ, до остаточного
суду і просять Бога, щоб кожен
зробив когось із членів неба.
* Мораль: всі чоловіки повинні
рухатися (проходити через) одне і
те ж судження, і лише добрі
вчинки можуть допомогти людям
отримати остаточне судження
(викуп).