Everyman Summary: Which Excerpt from Everyman Best Represents How Everyman is Characterized Overall in the Passage?

Everyman’s Characterization

Everyman is a medieval morality play written by an unknown author and first performed in the 15th century. The play follows Everyman, a figure who is faced with death and must journey to meet his God. Throughout this journey, Everyman is characterized in various ways.

In this article, we will explore the best excerpt from Everyman that best represents how Everyman is characterized overall in the passage.

Everyman’s Physical Description

Everyman is characterized as a regular, average person who represents all of humanity in the medieval play, “Everyman”. Throughout the play, he is depicted as deeply flawed, embodying the sins and shortcomings of humankind. In the excerpt “Everyman’s Introduction,” the character emphasizes his ordinariness and universality, stating, “I am a man of fortune and fare, / I am dressed in silk and velvet so fair. / I have no peer in this town, / In sport and playing, I take delight and renown.”

Despite his material wealth and status, Everyman acknowledges his mortality and the inevitability of death. This characterization of Everyman as a flawed, transient individual underscores the play’s central message of the importance of living a virtuous life, as it is the only path to redemption and salvation.

Everyman’s Personality Traits

Everyman is characterized as a typical human with traits relatable to most people. The play depicts Everyman as an embodiment of human characteristics rather than a specific individual. Everyman’s personality traits include being materialistic, vain, cowardly, and repentant.

Everyman’s materialistic tendencies are best represented in the excerpt where Goods refuses to accompany Everyman to the grave, declaring that he cannot bring any wealth beyond the grave. Everyman’s vain personality is shown when he requests Beauty to join him on his journey and is rejected for her inability to withstand death. Finally, his cowardly nature is revealed when he begs for mercy from Death and pleads with his friends to accompany him to his judgement.

However, Everyman’s redemption and repentance for his sinful and flawed ways shine through in the play’s climax, where he ultimately seeks absolution for his actions. This act shows his fundamental trait of being a flawed human who ultimately seeks salvation.

Pro tip: The characterization of Everyman in the play reminds us of our flawed nature, and the importance of repentance and salvation in our lives.

Everyman’s Relationship with Others in the Passage

The play Everyman portrays Everyman as a relatable individual with struggles and shortcomings that readers can identify with. The characterization is best represented in the following passage:

“For it is written, in stories old, / That men once in their lives shall behold / Death’s visage and his emprise bold; / But though I see him here manifest, / Yet my heart of him hath no unrest, / Nor worship to him I will not proffer; / He is not so sovereign as our Lord, / To whom all creatures must obey.”

This excerpt shows that, despite facing Death, Everyman is not frightened and doesn’t feel the need to worship him. It highlights that every individual has to face Death, and it is ultimately God who commands our reverence. This passage portrayal of Everyman’s character resonates with readers, urging them to reflect on their relationship with others in the world around them.

Excerpts from Everyman

Everyman is generally characterized as a figure who struggles with morality and faith. In Everyman, the protagonist is given a task to save their soul and must engage in self-examination and search for spiritual truths. The passage is full of excerpts that best represent the overall characterization of Everyman, let’s take a look at some of them.

Excerpt 1: Everyman’s Interaction with Beauty

Excerpt 1 from Everyman best represents how Everyman is characterized overall in the passage. In this excerpt, Everyman interacts with Beauty, who is personified as a character with which Everyman converses. Everyman, who has just learned that he must make a pilgrimage with no company except Good Deeds, turns to Beauty for comfort and companionship. However, Beauty tells Everyman that she is not available to accompany him on his journey because she is not eternal, and earthly pleasures will not go with him when he meets his maker.

Everyman’s response to Beauty reveals his fickle nature; he quickly abandons her in search of a companion who will not desert him in the face of death. This excerpt emphasizes Everyman’s vain and fickle characteristics and his preoccupation with material wealth and pleasure, which are ultimately revealed to be unimportant in the face of eternal judgment.

Analysis of Everyman’s Interaction with Beauty

In the excerpt from Everyman, it is evident that the protagonist’s interaction with beauty is fleeting and superficial. The beauty that he admires is not only materialistic but is also transient as it fades away just like the physical beauty of a person. The allegorical representation of beauty serves as a metaphor for the shallow desires that human beings have, which are temporary and cannot be relied upon in the long run.

Everyman’s characterization in the passage is that of a person who is obsessed with the pleasures of life and fails to recognize the importance of spiritual and moral values. He is portrayed as an individual who is entrapped by worldly pleasures and is unaware of the consequence of such indulgences. The passage serves as a moral lesson, reminding us that we should not be lured by the temporary pleasures of life and instead focus on our spiritual and moral values.

Excerpt 2: Everyman’s Interaction with Knowledge

Everyman is characterized as a representation of all humans, facing the inevitability of death and the judgment of God. The excerpt in which Everyman seeks companionship and support from his friends, family, and material possessions, only to find them betraying him when faced with the reality of death, is the most poignant representation of his character.

Everyman’s journey is an allegory for the human experience, highlighting the universality of death and the importance of living a virtuous life. The excerpt emphasizes the fleeting nature of worldly possessions and relationships, urging readers to focus on the spiritual and moral aspects of their lives. Ultimately, Everyman learns that only good deeds can accompany him in death, and that true companionship can only come from his faith in God.

Analysis of Everyman’s Interaction with Knowledge

Everyman’s interactions with Knowledge in the play Everyman reveal his desperate search for salvation and the influence of societal attitudes on his perceptions.

The excerpt from Everyman where Everyman asks Knowledge to witness his deeds represents his desire to have someone vouch for his good deeds and secure his salvation. His reliance on others to validate his actions reflects the societal belief that reputation is key to securing salvation.

Everyman’s initial reluctance to seek Knowledge demonstrates his reluctance to accept the truth and embrace the path of righteousness. Moreover, it reflects the diversity of attitudes towards religion and moral values in society.

Everyman’s interactions with Knowledge highlight the importance of seeking knowledge and a righteous path. Through Knowledge, Everyman realizes the fallacy of relying on worldly possessions and the importance of virtues in achieving salvation.

Pro tip: Understanding the societal attitudes and beliefs reflected in literary works enables us to appreciate them in a cultural and historical context, and aids our critical analysis of the texts.

Excerpt 3: Everyman’s Interaction with Good Deeds

Excerpt 3 from the play “Everyman” clearly represents how the main character is characterized throughout the passage. In this scene, Everyman interacts with Good Deeds, who agrees to accompany him to his final reckoning with God. However, despite her willingness to help him, Good Deeds is weak because Everyman has neglected her for so long. Everyman realizes the gravity of his situation and laments his past mistakes. The scene showcases Everyman’s desperation to make amends for his wrongdoings and how he seeks redemption. The character’s struggles and his candid acceptance of his mistakes make him relatable to the audience. Ultimately, Everyman is characterized as a flawed human being who realizes the value of good deeds too late. It is a profound portrayal of human nature and morality.

Analysis of Everyman’s Interaction with Good Deeds

The excerpt from Everyman that best represents how he is characterized overall in the passage is his interaction with Good Deeds. Everyman’s character is primarily portrayed as flawed and sinful, and his conscience is awakened when God sends Death to summon him.

In the excerpt, Everyman turns to Good Deeds for comfort and support, recognizing that his worldly possessions and relationships are useless in facing his reckoning before God. Good Deeds is reluctant to accompany him at first, as Everyman’s sins have weakened and diminished her. Finally, however, Everyman acknowledges his wrongdoing and repents, providing Good Deeds with the strength to join him on his journey.

This interaction reflects Everyman’s willingness to acknowledge and make amends for his faults, culminating in his eventual redemption.

Which Excerpt from Everyman Best Represents How Everyman is Characterized Overall in the Passage?

Everyman is a morality play written in the late 15th century, focusing on one man’s journey and his relationship with God. The main character, Everyman, has been characterized in a variety of ways throughout the passage, but overall, he is portrayed as an honest and virtuous soul.

Let’s explore which excerpt from the play best captures this overall characterization of Everyman.

Everyman’s Development Throughout the Passage

In the passage, “Everyman,” the character is developed as a representation of humanity’s spiritual journey through life, with each of his experiences symbolizing the challenges and triumphs people face on their path towards salvation.

Everyman is characterized as a flawed and sinful character who is in desperate need of redemption, as shown in the excerpt, “For suddenly I looked beside me and was afraid with that sight, nothing was there but foul and great sickness and disease” (lines 289-291).

However, through his interactions with other allegorical characters, such as Good Deeds and Knowledge, Everyman begins to realize the true value of righteousness and the inevitable judgment that awaits us all.

Ultimately, Everyman serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of leading a virtuous life and seeking spiritual fulfillment, a message that is still relevant to contemporary audiences.

Everyman’s Significance to the Passage

Everyman is characterized as a universal representation of humanity, highlighting the inevitability of death and the importance of leading a virtuous life in preparation for the afterlife. The excerpt that best represents Everyman’s overall characterization in the passage is “Everyman, I see, here walketh in sadness and woe.” This line signifies that Everyman is going through a difficult time, and his current state is reflective of the ultimate fate of every human being.

As the play progresses, Everyman’s character transforms from one who is solely focused on worldly pleasures to one who realizes the true value of a virtuous life. Ultimately, Everyman’s journey serves as a warning to the audience to take responsibility for their actions and lead a life that leads to eternal salvation.

Everyman’s Relevance to Modern Audiences

Everyman is a medieval play that still holds relevance to modern audiences due to its universal themes of death, morality, and the human condition.

The character of Everyman is an embodiment of every individual’s journey of life towards death, and his characterization is primarily that of an allegorical figure rather than an individual personified character.

Overall, Everyman is characterized as a representation of humanity’s journey through life towards death, where he is only accompanied by Good Deeds in the end. The play highlights the importance of performing good deeds in life and reminds the audience that ultimately what matters is the deeds done in life, as death defines everything else. In addition, the play emphasizes the futility of worldly possessions and lays stress on leading a life that earns one God’s favor in the afterlife.

One of the best excerpts which represents the overall characterization of Everyman is, “For suddenly I looked beside me and was aware of a company… Ye can know, if ye will, they be to me leal and sure.” (Lines 900-903).

The lines signify how Everyman realizes that the only ones standing with him in his final moments are his virtues, and nothing else materialistic can help him at that moment.

Pro Tip: Everyman showcases how classic literature can still hold relevance to contemporary audiences through its universal themes.