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Everyman
Bunyan’s seventeenth-century allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress to
INTR
INTRODUCTION
ODUCTION Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Salesman, to Ted
Mosby in the popular television series How I Met Your Mother.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF ANONYMOUS
Though Everyman’s author has not been identified, some
KEY FACTS
scholars have argued that the play is an English translation of a
fifteenth century Dutch morality play. The Dutch play, Elckerlijc • Full Title: The Somonyng of Everyman
(which translates to “Every Man”), has been attributed to Peter • When Written: 15th century
van Diest, a medieval writer from the Low Countries about • Where Written: Unknown
whom little is known.
• When Published: Early 16th century
• Literary Period: Middle Ages/Medieval literature
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• Genre: Morality play
As an allegorical morality play, Everyman relies mainly on
generalized personifications of abstract ideas rather than on • Setting: Earth and heaven
specific events in history, but its emphasis on Catholic • Climax: Everyman dies and surrenders himself to God
sacraments (such as confession) as a path to redemption • Antagonist: Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Goods
reminds readers that the play was written before the
Protestant Reformation, at a time when Europe was largely EXTRA CREDIT
Catholic. In this sense, the play can be understood as a
Roth’s Everyman. Everyman provided the inspiration for Philip
reflection of a more widely held but soon-to-be-challenged
Roth’s novel Everyman, for which Roth was awarded his third
sentiment that the only path to salvation was through the
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 2007.
Church and its clergy. Although the Reformation was not to
begin until 1517, tensions had long existed—and sometimes
flared up—among Christians over allegations of corruption in Everyman in the Big Apple. Playwright Branden Jacobs-
the Church, prompting a set of feuds known as the Great Jenkins’s recent adaptation of Everyman, titled Everybody, was
Schism of Western Christianity, which lasted from 1378–1416. performed at New York City’s Pershing Square Signature
Although plays like Everyman take a sympathetic view of the Center in 2017.
Church, they were not—as some might expect—commissioned
or produced by the Church. Rather, they were often staged by
craft guilds. As one of the earliest forms of English drama,
PL
PLO
OT SUMMARY
morality plays can be said to have paved the way for all later The play opens with a messenger calling for the audience’s
drama, including that produced by such later literary luminaries attention to this “moral play,” which will demonstrate the
as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Ben transitory nature of human life. Next God appears, lamenting
Jonson. the unworthiness of humans, who no longer revere him and
who sinfully indulge in greed and lust. Deciding to make people
RELATED LITERARY WORKS account for their sins, God orders Death to summon Everyman
Everyman is an example of a morality play, an allegorical drama so that he can be judged by his “reckoning,” a ledger of his good
in which morals and vices are personified into characters that and ill deeds. However, when Death approaches Everyman on
lead the protagonist toward a Christian life. Morality plays earth, Everyman is unwilling to die and unprepared for his
were one of the earliest and most popular forms of European reckoning. Clinging to the life he had, Everyman begs Death for
and English drama, and were most popular in the 15th and 16th more time. Death refuses, but he allows Everyman to seek a
centuries. Other examples of morality plays are The Castle of companion for his “pilgrimage,” provided that he can find
Perseverance, Hickscorner, Mankind, and Magnyfycence. The play someone willing to accompany him to the afterlife.
Everyman is also the source of the term “everyman,” which A disconsolate Everyman seeks out his friend Fellowship for
denotes an ordinary person to whom an audience can easily comfort and counsel, and Fellowship appears, promising his
relate. Since the earliest performances of Everyman in the undying loyalty. However, when Fellowship learns that
1500s, many plays, novels, television series, movies, have used accompanying Everyman on the journey means that Fellowship,
everyman characters. Examples range from Christian in John too, will die, he refuses to help his friend. Fellowship leaves, and

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Everyman seeks the help of his relatives Kindred and Cousin into heaven because of his “crystal-clear” reckoning. The play
instead, thinking that blood will be thicker than water. ends with an epilogue from a doctor, who tells the audience
However, while Kindred and Cousin promise to stand by him in that they must make “amends” for their sins before they die and
“wealth and woe,” they also forsake him, as they too are afraid that they can only rely on good deeds to save them from hell.
of death. Alone, Everyman bemoans this abandonment by his
friends and family and wonders whom he can turn to next for
help. He decides to ask for the assistance of his friend Goods, CHARA
CHARACTERS
CTERS
whom he has long loved. Though Goods (like Fellowship,
Kindred, and Cousin) promises to help Everyman, he MAJOR CHARACTERS
immediately reneges on his promise after learning of Ev
Everyman
eryman – Representing all humankind, Everyman begins the
Everyman’s predicament. In addition to refusing to join play entrenched in worldly vices, such as lust and greed.
Everyman, Goods also informs Everyman that he has been However, when God asks Death to visit Everyman and ask him
damaging Everyman’s reckoning all along: because Everyman to prepare a reckoning (an account of his good and bad deeds),
loved Goods so much instead of loving God, Everyman will be Everyman panics and begins asking for help where he has
condemned to hell. typically found it—from his friends, his family, and his wealth.
Shocked by Goods’ treachery, Everyman is in despair, as he is The turning point of Everyman’s character—and of the play
completely alone, with no one willing to help him. He decides to overall—is Everyman’s realization that nobody can help him
seek out Good-Deeds, though she is so weak from Everyman’s besides Good Deeds and Knowledge. Through them, he learns
sin and neglect that she cannot stand. Unlike his other friends, to purge his sins and reject the material world in favor of the
Good-Deeds is willing to help him, but she is too weak to do so. divine.
Though she cannot accompany him in person, she says that her Death – Death is God’s messenger. He informs Everyman that
sister Knowledge can help him to clear his reckoning. he must take a pilgrimage to his grave and be called to account
Knowledge guides Everyman to Confession, who teaches for his actions on earth. Though Death obviously represents
Everyman to repent. To atone for his sins, Everyman prays to death, it’s important to note that, in the Christian worldview of
God, begging for mercy, and he uses a scourge (a whip) for self- the play, death doesn’t represent the end for Everyman, but
mortification. rather the transition of his soul from earth to the afterlife.
As a result, Good-Deeds is healed and she finds Everyman in Good-Deeds – Good-Deeds is the personification of
order to accompany him on his journey. Knowledge then Everyman’s good deeds. She is weak when she is introduced, as
bestows upon Everyman a “garment of sorrow,” which allows Everyman’s sinful behavior has depleted her, but she becomes
Everyman to show contrition. She and Good-Deeds request stronger and stronger as Everyman purges his sins. Good-
the presence of Everyman’s friends Discretion, Strength, Deeds accompanies Everyman on his pilgrimage and she is the
Beauty, Five-wits, who all agree to help Everyman during his only one of his friends who is able to stay with him when he
pilgrimage. At Knowledge’s instruction, Everyman sees a priest meets God, though her sister, Knowledge, comes close.
for the holy sacrament and unction. While the rest of the group Because of this, Good-Deeds is shown to be the most essential
is waiting for Everyman’s return, Five-wits makes a speech of Everyman’s companions—metaphorically, this instructs the
about the superiority of priests, claiming that they are “above audience that doing good deeds is the only behavior that can
angels in degree.” Knowledge reminds him that not all priests get a person into heaven.
are good, but Five-wits argues that one should nevertheless Knowledge – The sister of Good-Deeds, Knowledge guides
honor priesthood. At that point, Everyman returns, having Everyman on his pilgrimage when Good-Deeds is still too weak
undergone the remaining sacraments of last rites, and the to do so. She represents knowledge—not knowledge in general,
group continues on their journey. but the specific the knowledge and teachings of the Catholic
Approaching death, Everyman weakens and decides that it is Church—and she instructs Everyman to repent for his sins and
time for him to make his reckoning. When he tries to climb into take Catholic sacraments. Knowledge and Good-Deeds are the
a grave and asks his companions to join him, Beauty, Strength, only companions to stay with Everyman until his death, which
Discretion, and Five-wits all desert him, making him realize that shows that knowledge is essential for navigating life on earth,
“all earthly things is but vanity.” In contrast, Knowledge agrees but she ultimately leaves him when he dies. This shows,
to stay with him until the moment of his death, and Good- allegorically, that knowledge is unhelpful on Judgment Day.
Deeds promises to make his case as he faces God’s judgment. Fiv
Five-Wits
e-Wits – Five-Wits is the personification of the five wits,
Good-Deeds and Everyman’s soul pass over to the afterlife, and which is another way of saying the five senses of sight, sound,
Knowledge, who is left on stage, remarks that she hears angels touch, taste, and smell. Five-Wits is a companion to Everyman,
singing and that Good-Deeds will make sure that Everyman who regards Five-Wits as his best friend until Five-Wits
goes to heaven. An angel then appears, welcoming Everyman abandons him. This shows that, though the senses are enticing

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and helpful on earth, they have no place in heaven and cannot announces Everyman’s entrance into heaven.
lead to salvation.
Strength – Strength, who represents physical strength,
accompanies Everyman and promises to stand by him.
THEMES
However, she abandons him once she learns that his pilgrimage In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color-
is to end in death. Once again, this illustrates that what is coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes
important on earth is not necessarily important in heaven, and occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have
that even the most steady-seeming things can be fickle. a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in
black and white.
MINOR CHARACTERS
God – God appears in the play only once. Near the beginning, PERSONIFICATION AND MORALITY
he criticizes Everyman’s sinfulness and his ungrateful disregard Everyman, which belongs to the genre of the
of Christ’s sacrifice for humanity, and then orders Death to morality play, is meant to instruct readers in
summon Everyman to God’s judgment. God’s summoning of matters of morality and religion. A common form of
Everyman drives the plot of the play. medieval drama, morality plays often feature a protagonist who
Confession – The personification of confession, he is described represents humankind as well as other characters who
as both a “cleansing river” and a “holy man” who lives in a “house personify abstract ideas such as different virtues and vices. The
of salvation.” He helps purge Everyman of his sins and gives him interaction of such characters demonstrates the possibility of
the gift of penance. human triumph over sin, thus instructing the play’s audience to
Beauty – The personification of beauty (and thus a facet of the lead more moral, godly lives. The moral lessons of Everyman are
material world), Beauty joins Everyman on his pilgrimage but facilitated primarily by the author’s use of allegory and
forsakes him when he asks her to die for him. This shows that personification, which allow the author to encapsulate complex
beauty is fickle and irrelevant in heaven. ideas like death and friendship into simplistic characters, in turn
allowing him to make sweeping and blunt moral arguments
Discretion – One of Everyman’s companions, Discretion
about the concepts the characters represent.
represents the ability to make judgments and choices. He (or
she) abandons Everyman to follow Strength. The most obvious example of this is the character of Everyman
himself. The author uses the character as a symbolic
Fellowship – Personifying friendship, Fellowship is one of
representation of every man, thereby diminishing the diverse
Everyman’s friends. Though Everyman asks for his help on the
nature of humanity in favor of viewing all humanity as tainted
pilgrimage, Fellowship abandons Everyman after learning that
by sin (since, according to Christian theology, all humans are
he will soon die. Willing to help Everyman only for his own
innately sinful as a result of Adam’s and Eve’s fall from grace).
amusement or for the sake of violence, Fellowship enables
The author presents Everyman as sinful by pointing out his
Everyman’s sins.
greed, lust, and lack of Christian piety, effectively reducing all of
Goods – Though long loved by Everyman, Goods—the humanity to one specific kind of person and ignoring the
personification of wealth in the play— abandons Everyman possibility of generosity, virtuousness, and piousness in his
when Everyman asks him to join his pilgrimage. A thief of souls, depiction of mankind. However, casting one character as the
Goods is often destructive and deceitful, leading a thousand personification of all humanity enables the author to make
people to hell for every one that he saves. much broader moral arguments than he would otherwise be
Cousin – Everyman’s cousin, who abandons Everyman in his able. The presentation of Everyman as a sinner doomed for
time of need to save himself and to prepare his own reckoning. damnation allows the author to make a convincing argument
that all people should, like Everyman, behave in a certain way in
Kindred – Everyman’s kindred, who refuses to accompany
order to avoid damnation. It’s notable that Everyman must not
Everyman on his journey after promising to remain loyal to him.
only behave virtuously and generously towards others, but he
Doctor – Delivering the play’s epilogue, the doctor summarizes must turn to the Catholic Church to earn redemption. The
the moral of the story: we can only rely on our good deeds for reward, according to the author, is not only escape from fiery
comfort and salvation, and we must clear our “reckonings” pits of Hell but also the promise of eternal bliss in Heaven.
while we are still alive, lest we suffer eternally in hell.
Other examples of the author’s didactic use of personification
Messenger – Like God, the messenger appears only once at the include the portrayal of Fellowship (or friendship) as an enabler
very beginning of the play, where he calls for the audience’s of Everyman’s sins, Goods (or material wealth) as a stain on his
attention and presents Everyman as a “moral play.” soul that sabotages his relationship with God, and Knowledge
Angel – Appearing only at the end of the play, the angel (or the knowledge of the Catholic Church) as the key to

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salvation. By defining complex ideas like friendship, wealth, and Everyman’s willingness to die at the end of the play is portrayed
knowledge in so narrow a manner, the author paints a picture as an act of piety, and throughout the play, the willingness to die
that suits his moral worldview, in which Catholic teachings and for others is depicted as a rare virtue. Everyman’s
behavior are cast as mankind’s only deliverance from sin and friends—Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Goods, Strength, Five
damnation. In this way, Everyman not only takes a view of Wits, Discretion, and Beauty—all refuse to join him on his
morality as something which can only be attained through the pilgrimage. No one, except for Good Deeds and Everyman, is
Catholic Church, but of people in general as innately sinful and willing to die. However, one complication of the play’s portrayal
dependent on the Church for their salvation. of Everyman’s self-sacrifice as virtuous is the fact that his
sacrifice is motivated by selfishness, by his desire to gain
DEATH admission to Heaven. An important distinction between Good
Deeds and Everyman is that while Good Deeds is willing to die
Although the character Death disappears after
for Everyman’s sake, Everyman embraces death for his own
delivering his message to Everyman, death itself
sake. Since he has already been summoned by Death,
remains one of the play’s primary themes. The
Everyman has no choice in whether he lives or dies. Although
Christian Bible teaches that one of the consequences of the fall
he despairs of his own impending death, he displays no
from grace (that is, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the
compunction when asking his friends to die and possibly go to
Garden of Eden) is that God made humans mortal. Therefore,
Hell with him, bemoaning their abandonment when they refuse
death is simply part of what it means to be human. As the
without seeming to realize that he is asking for the ultimate
character Death proclaims at the beginning of the play, death is
sacrifice. By contrast, Good Deeds is ready and willing to die for
a weapon, one that punishes “every man … that liveth beastly /
Everyman. Portrayed as the ultimate good deed, Good Deeds’s
Out of God’s laws.” Indeed, Everyman’s fear of death stems not
willingness to die for Everyman recalls Christ’s sacrifice. Just as
only from his preference for the material world over Christian
Christ’s self-sacrifice gave mankind a path to salvation, Good
devotion but also from his certainty that he has lived “out of
Deeds’s self-sacrifice gives Everyman a path to salvation. One
God’s laws” and will therefore face eternal damnation after he
might argue, then, that Everyman’s ostensibly contradictory
dies. In other words, for those who lead ungodly lives, loss of
selfish self-sacrifice fits into an allegory of Christian salvation:
life is a minor punishment—since death is just the gateway to
in spite of our sins, humankind has been granted salvation
eternal punishment.
(whether deserved or not) through a savior’s virtuous death.
This notion of death as a gateway is especially significant in
light of the fact that Hell, in the author’s Christian worldview, is
SIN, HUMAN NATURE, AND THE
not the only possible existence in the afterlife. Highlighting the
MATERIAL WORLD
“transitory” and temporary nature of life, Death acts as a
messenger, delivering souls to both heaven and hell. In the The purpose of any morality play is to warn its
world of the play, death is not the end of existence, but merely a audience against sin, and Everyman is no different.
divider between the temporary material world and the eternal At the beginning of the play, Everyman’s life is filled with sin,
afterlife. Whether people end up in heaven or hell is, according which, at first glance, appears to be represented entirely by his
to the play, entirely up to each person. For the righteous, death friends, who serve to enable Everyman’s sins. For example, the
isn’t frightening at all, since it is the gateway to eternal character Fellowship reveals that, while he won’t die for his
happiness in heaven. Death is only to be feared by those who friend, he is more than willing to help him “eat, and drink, and
live in sin. make good cheer, / Or haunt to women, the lusty company,” or
even to “murder, or any man kill.” When Everyman turns to his
A person’s relationship to death can therefore be seen as a
friend Goods for comfort, Goods reveals that he was actually
litmus test for their relationship to God. Whereas in the
been tarnishing Everyman’s soul and distancing him from God.
beginning of the play, Everyman feared and despaired of death,
In these two cases, it is clear that part of what the play is
at the end of the play, he readily climbs into his own grave. This
characterizing as sinful (aside from the most obvious sin of
remarkable transformation in his attitude toward death
murder) is Everyman’s indulgence in the material world. Sin is
correlates with his relationships to sin and Christianity.
associated with worldly pleasures and goods—eating, drinking,
Whereas in the beginning of the play Everyman sinfully
sex, and money. Such materialism results, as Goods tells
privileged material goods and pleasures over good deeds and
Everyman, in the gradual loss of a person’s soul and, eventually,
Christian devotion, by the end of the play, Everyman has, with
damnation. Even Knowledge, Discretion, Strength, Beauty, and
the help of Confession, Good Deeds, and Knowledge, purged
Five-Wits—though not sinful or malicious like Goods or
himself of sin, given his wealth away, and undergone the
Fellowship—ultimately prove to be inadequate in saving
sacraments of last rites. Now a righteous man, Everyman not
Everyman from death because they, too, represent worldly
only does not fear death but embraces it, as it will bring him
values. As Everyman approaches death and his body begins to
closer to God.

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weaken, all of his companions—save for Good-Deeds—are salvation. Although Everyman initially searches for salvation in
unable to accompany Everyman on his “pilgrimage,” which the form of someone to accompany him on his pilgrimage (to
ultimately leads him to heaven. Whether sinful or righteous, death), he eventually begins to question how he can save his
these friends cannot support him during his reckoning, soul from damnation. The answer, he finds, is through the
demonstrating the author’s belief that material things have no Catholic Church and Good Deeds—the only friend that agrees
power to save people from Hell, and that everyone will face to accompany him on his journey to the afterlife. The main
judgment with nothing to defend them but their good deeds. moral message of Everyman is not simply that the path to
The play portrays humanity (with Everyman being the salvation is through the doing of good deeds, but that humanity
personification of humanity) as inherently sinful. Although the does not have the power to save itself. Rather, much like
author uses personification to represent the various things that Everyman, humanity finds salvation through the grace of God.
tempt Everyman into sinfulness (e.g., Goods, Beauty, In fact, this is one of the central tenets of Christianity: that man
Fellowship), Everyman’s sinfulness is nevertheless cannot save himself—he needs a savior. Therefore, the
characterized as being part of his nature. Fellowship and Goods importance of the humility Everyman demonstrates in relying
may represent Everyman’s sins and indulgence in materiality, on Good Deeds to save him from damnation can be taken as
but only insofar as they are enablers or tempters. Everyman’s one of the play’s main moral messages. It is not simply the doing
choices to succumb to such temptation are the reasons for the of good deeds which saves Everyman, but his willingness to
sins in his reckoning. The inherent nature of Everyman’s acknowledge his need for help and his own inadequacy in
sinfulness is emphasized by Death, who explains that “in the saving himself.
world each living creature / For Adam’s sin must die of nature.” Everyman’s salvation by the self-sacrificing character of Good
Death is referring to the idea of “original sin,” which, in Deeds parallels mankind’s salvation by the self-sacrifice of
Christian theology, is the sin inherent in every human being as a Jesus Christ in the Christian Gospel. Like Jesus, Good Deeds is
consequence of Adam’s and Eve’s fall from grace. Adam’s the epitome of selflessness who—unlike Fellowship, Kindred,
sin—disobeying God’s commandment—is the root of the and Goods—is willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of
widespread sinfulness that God laments in the beginning of the Everyman’s salvation. Importantly, Good Deeds does not save
play. Everyman, like Adam, has neglected God and ignored his Everyman because he is deserving of salvation. Rather, his
commandments. Humanity, according to God, is so “drowned in selfishness and sinfulness make him markedly undeserving—and
sin” and fixated on material wealth that they seem to have Good Deeds reminds readers of this when she complains that if
entirely forgotten the sacrifice that Christ made when he died Everyman had “cheered” her, rather than pursuing his own
for their salvation. selfish desires, she wouldn’t be too weak to help him in his
In other words, Everyman is selfish. He has forgotten God, he pilgrimage. Good Deeds only regains strength when Everyman
has not shared his wealth with others, and throughout much of repents for his sins and punishes himself through self-
the play he asks his friends to die for him, even though he flagellation, suggesting once again that Everyman’s
himself is afraid of death. His selfishness is made especially humility—and his ability to acknowledge his sinful nature and
clear in his attempt to rid himself of sin. Everyman eventually accept help from others—are the keys to his salvation.
learns that in order to escape damnation he must not only deny Notably, Everyman does not perform good deeds in the general
his worldly desires but also punish himself for having had those sense that readers might think of today. Although he does
desires. After Knowledge brings Everyman to church, donate half his wealth to charity after the character Good
Confession tells him that he must “receive that scourge of me” Deeds has been healed, what actually revitalizes Good Deeds is
and “chastise” (or punish) his body—that is, he must engage in the series of Catholic sacraments that Everyman participates
self-mortification or self-flagellation. Everyman literally whips in. When Good Deeds is too weak to help Everyman, her sister
himself, “suffer[ing] now strokes and punishing” and declaring Knowledge guides Everyman on his spiritual journey to
that his body is “the sin of the flesh.” Through his act of purification. Along the way, Everyman participates in
flagellating himself in order to purify himself, he demonstrates specifically Catholic sacraments and practices such as penance,
both that he is becoming selfless and that his selfishness—his confession, self-flagellation, extreme unction, and last rites.
pursuit of worldly pleasures and material goods—would have Knowledge is therefore not the personification of knowledge in
been his damnation. general but rather of the knowledge of the holy sacraments and
rituals of the Catholic Church. In this way, the play suggests
SALVATION, HUMILITY, AND THE that salvation is attained not just through humility and doing
CATHOLIC CHURCH good deeds, but through the Catholic Church and its
sacraments. Indeed, Five-Wits even claims that priests are
From the beginning of the play—when Everyman more powerful than angels, and that because priests are crucial
learns that the time of his death has to the seven sacraments, “[they] beareth the keys and thereof
come—Everyman is deeply concerned with the subject of

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hath the cure / For man’s redemption.” Therefore, underlying
the explicit moral of this play—that only good deeds and QUO
QUOTES
TES
reliance on God can save mankind at his reckoning—is a subtler
Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the Dover
and decidedly less universal message: that humanity must rely
Publications edition of Everyman & Other Miracle & Morality
on the Catholic Church for salvation or face eternal damnation.
Plays published in 1995.

SYMBOLS Everyman Quotes

Drowned in sin, they know me not for their God;
Symbols appear in teal text throughout the Summary and
In worldly riches is all their mind,
Analysis sections of this LitChart.
They fear not my rightwiseness, the sharp rod;
My law that I shewed, when I for them died,
RECKONING They forget clean, and shedding of my blood red;
Also referred to as a “book of count” or “counting I hanged between two, it cannot be denied;
book,” the reckoning is the ledger book of all of To get them life I suffered to be dead
Everyman’s good and evil deeds. The premise of the play is that
Everyman must embark on a pilgrimage to the afterlife and Related Characters: God (speaker), Everyman
present his reckoning to God, who will decide whether
Everyman goes to heaven or hell. The reckoning therefore Related Themes:
symbolizes both God’s judgement of Everyman’s soul and
Everyman’s actions, which are what God will judge. In the Page Number: 37
beginning of the play, Everyman, who is consumed with wealth
Explanation and Analysis
and desire, has a reckoning without many good deeds in it.
Everyman’s greed and lust has stained his soul, and thus his At the start of the play, God describes the world as being
reckoning, prompting his frenzied search for a companion to full of sinners who have forsaken him. Specifically, he
accompany him to what he believes will be hell. However, by laments that they have forgotten the sacrifice he made for
the end of the play, Everyman, with the help of Good-Deeds, them when he came to Earth and died for their sins so that
manages to clear his reckoning, thus securing him a favorable they might have eternal life in Heaven (this in reference to
judgement and allowing him to enter heaven. the Christian belief that Jesus died on the cross to save the
souls of mankind). When God says “I hanged between two,”
it’s a direct reference to the story of the crucifixion of
GARMENT OF SORROW Christ, who hung on the cross between two criminals who
The garment of sorrow, given to Everyman by were also crucified.
Knowledge, represents contrition. According to The passage establishes the centrality of the theme of
Knowledge, wearing the garment (or showing contrition) humility and self-sacrifice in the text. God calls for a “general
“getteth forgiveness” and “pleaseth God passing well.” As the reckoning”—in which all sinners will account for their
garment signifies Everyman’s repentance for his sins, it is an sins—because they are selfishly concerned with worldly
integral part of the sacrament of penance, which is one of the goods and have forgotten God’s sacrifice. God’s selfless
last rites in Catholic theology. The sorrow represented by the love is echoed later in the text, both in Good-Deeds’s act of
garment is distinctly different from the sorrow Everyman self-sacrifice to save the soul of Everyman, as well as in
experiences in the first half of the play. Whereas previously, Everyman’s acts of repentance and self-flagellation, which
Everyman’s sorrow was one of despair for his impending require him to behave with humility and deference. In this
departure from the material world and the abandonment of his way, the play portrays humility and self-sacrifice as the
materialistic friends, now his sorrow is one of remorse for his pathway to salvation.
sins and for forsaking God in favor of the material world. In this
way, the garment of sorrow represents not only contrition, but
also Everyman’s transformation from a sinner to a faithful
follower of God, from a person who is focused on the world to
one who is focused on heaven.

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I set not by gold, silver, nor riches,
Ne by pope, emperor, king, duke, ne princess. with. In this passage, Fellowship firmly asserts that he will
For and I would receive gifts great, not accompany Everyman. His denial, while understandable,
All the world I might get; underscores the selfishness of humans, as does Everyman’s
But my custom is clean contrary. request that Fellowship accompany him in death, since that
I give thee no respite: come hence, and not tarry. would entail Fellowship sacrificing his own life. The
repeated refusal of characters like Fellowship to sacrifice
their lives to save Everyman’s life becomes a type of foil for
Related Characters: Death (speaker), Everyman
Jesus’s ultimate act of self-sacrifice to save the souls of
“every man. Furthermore, Fellowship’s assertion that he
Related Themes:
would kill another but not sacrifice himself shows the vice,
Page Number: 39 selfishness, and sinfulness of mankind.

Explanation and Analysis

Despite Everyman’s begging for mercy, Death here asserts That is to thy damnation without lesing,
that no worldly goods can save Everyman now as he is For my love is contrary to the love everlasting.
summoned to the afterlife. The sentiment Death expresses But if thou had me loved moderately during,
in this passage—that material goods carry no currency in As, to the poor give part of me,
death—will be echoed throughout the text, as various Then shouldst thou not in this dolour be,
personifications of worldly goods (e.g., Beauty and even Nor in this great sorrow and care.
Fellowship) abandon Everyman in his time of greatest need.
In this way, Death foreshadows the general reversal of
Related Characters: Goods (speaker), Everyman
values that Everyman undergoes in the play—a reversal in
which everything he most treasured and held dear in life will
Related Themes:
be shown to be worthless, and the spiritual virtues he
neglected will be revealed to carry the utmost importance. Page Number: 47
Thus, the play demonstrates that even in the moment of
death, the sinner can find salvation if they are willing to Explanation and Analysis
examine their life thoroughly and repent. Goods is the personification of worldly or material goods.
He speaks these lines after revealing to Everyman that
Everyman’s lifelong love of Goods has only brought him
Now in good faith, I will not that way. further away from God and has unbalanced his reckoning
But and thou wilt murder, or any man kill, dramatically in favor of damnation. When Goods tells
In that I will help thee with a good will! Everyman that loving Goods is “contrary to the love
… everlasting,” he subtly gestures toward the true nature of
Whether ye have loved me or no, Everyman’s pilgrimage, which is to find a source of lasting
By Saint John, I will not with thee go. value in a world of unreliable friends and vanishing wealth.
The betrayal of Everyman by Goods is in some ways
reminiscent of the Bible story of the man who builds his
Related Characters: Fellowship (speaker), Everyman
house on sinking sand (a metaphor for a man who prizes
worldly riches above spiritual wealth). Goods even goes so
Related Themes:
far as to say directly that if Everyman had been less selfish
Page Number: 43 and donated some of his money, he might not be facing
damnation, reinforcing the play’s central message of the
Explanation and Analysis importance of selflessness and good deeds.
Fellowship is the first character Everyman seeks out after
he receives news of his impending death. Although at first
Fellowship promises to stand by Everyman no matter what
his predicament, he quickly reverses this position when he
learns that Everyman is undertaking a pilgrimage into the
afterlife—and that Everyman wants Fellowship to come

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Yea, sir, I may thank you of all;
If ye had perfectly cheered me, Knowledge brings Everyman to Confession—and later
Your book of account now full ready had be. instructs him to partake in other sacraments—suggests that
Look, the books of your works and deeds eke; her character is the personification not of knowledge
Oh, see how they lie under the feet, generally, but of knowledge of the Church and its
To your soul’s heaviness. sacraments.
It is worth noting that while the play uplifts the virtues of
Related Characters: Good-Deeds (speaker), Everyman humility and selflessness, Everyman’s confession and his
generally repentant attitude do not necessarily
Related Themes: demonstrate selflessness, considering he is clearly acting
out of some form of self-interest, in a last-minute bid to save
Related Symbols: his soul from damnation. Nevertheless, the play suggests
that it’s never too late to repent and redeem oneself in the
Page Number: 49 eyes of God.

Explanation and Analysis

Good-Deeds is too weak to help Everyman or accompany In the name of the Holy Trinity,
him on his pilgrimage because Everyman has neglected My body sore punished shall be:
Good-Deeds for such a long time. Here, Good-Deeds Take this body for the sin of the flesh;
informs Everyman that is he had “perfectly cheered” her Also thou delightest to go gay and fresh,
(presumably by doing good deeds himself), his reckoning And in the way of damnation thou did me bring;
would be “ready,” meaning that he would not be facing the Therefore suffer now strokes and punishing.
threat of eternal damnation as punishment for his sins. Now of penance I will wade the water clear,
Here, as elsewhere, the reckoning is portrayed as a literal To save me from purgatory, that sharp fire.
book containing a list of all Everyman’s deeds. The
implication is clear: the path to Heaven is paved with good
deeds. Therefore, as the play will go on to show, to clear his Related Characters: Everyman (speaker), God
reckoning, Everyman will need the help of Good-Deeds.
Related Themes:

Page Number: 52
I come with Knowledge for my redemption,
Repent with hearty and full contrition; Explanation and Analysis
For I am commanded a pilgrimage to take, Here Everyman engages in self-flagellation (i.e., whipping
And great accounts before God to take, himself) as part of a ritual of demonstrating his repentance
Now, I pray you, Shift, mother of salvation, for his sins. Because he spent his life indulging in pleasures
Help my good deeds for my piteous exclamation. of the body, he now punishes his body, inflicting pain.
Although this practice was common among the pious in the
Middle Ages, it represents a stark vision of what it takes to
Related Characters: Everyman (speaker), Knowledge,
gain salvation and to lead a pious life. However, such self-
Confession
flagellation is reminiscent of the painful death that Christ
Related Themes: endured in sacrificing himself to save the souls of
humanity—and so, yet again, the play seems to be reminding
Page Number: 50 readers of the virtues of selflessness and self-sacrifice.
Although it may seem that such self-harm is a senseless act
Explanation and Analysis of masochism, the play unambiguously presents it as a good
Knowledge—the sister of Good-Deeds—has brought deed that helps Everyman gain admittance to Heaven.
Everyman to Confession as part of his pilgrimage and his
effort to save his soul. By this point in the play, Everyman
has come to realize the gravity of his situation, and seems to
have internalized the fact that nothing can save him but
repenting of his sinful life and asking forgiveness. That

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God will you to salvation bring,
For priesthood exceedeth all other thing; selling papal indulgences as a way of absolving sinners of
To us Holy Scripture they do teach, their sins—a practice which effectively allowed the wealthy
And converteth man from sin heaven to reach; to buy admission to Heaven and generated an important
God hath to them more power given, stream of revenue for the already very powerful Catholic
Than to any angel that is in heaven Church. The sale of indulgences was so controversial,
however, that it was eventually one of the primary reasons
for the Protestant Reformation. This passage suggests that
Related Characters: Five-Wits (speaker), God , Everyman
the author of Everyman may in fact have been opposed to
the sale of indulgences, and it is therefore a rare moment in
Related Themes:
which the play turns a critical eye toward the Church and its
Page Number: 55 conventions. Knowledge points out that Jesus died to
redeem mankind’s sins, but that mankind had not been
Explanation and Analysis made to buy his salvation then—suggesting that it is wrong
In this passage, the character of Five-wits extols the virtues for the Church to try to sell people their salvation in the
of the clergy and lavishes praises on priests, claiming that form of indulgences.
they are more powerful even than angels in Heaven (an
arguably sacrilegious claim since priests are human and
angels are divine). If Five-wits is meant to personify the five Everyman: Take example, all ye that this do hear or see,
senses—and, by extension, the “common sense” of mankind How they that I loved best do forsake me,
collectively—perhaps his speech is meant to be taken with a Except my Good-Deeds that bideth truly.
grain of salt rather than at face value. In other words, this Good-Deeds: All earthly things is but vanity:
passage may be the author’s way of subtly indicating that Beauty, Strength, and Discretion, do man forsake,
people place too much faith in the Church—but it may also Foolish friends and kinsmen, that fair spake,
be a sincere expression of belief that priests are deserving All fleeth save Good-Deeds, and that am I.
of such praise. In any case, Five-wits speech is in keeping
with the overall tenor of the play, which portrays the
Related Characters: Good-Deeds , Everyman (speaker),
institution of the Catholic Church as being integral to
Discretion, Strength, Beauty
Everyman’s—and every man’s—salvation.
Related Themes:

But when Jesus hanged on the cross with great smart Page Number: 58
There he gave, out of his blessed heart,
Explanation and Analysis
The same sacrament in great torment:
He sold them not to us, that Lord Omnipotent. Everyman states the moral of the play most clearly in this
Therefore Saint Peter the apostle doth say passage: all earthly things are “but vanity,” meaning that
That Jesu’s curse hath all they they don’t matter when death comes and people must
Which God their Savior do buy or sell, account for how they lived their lives. Rather, the only thing
Or they for any money do take or tell. that accompanies Everyman into the afterlife are his good
deeds (in the form of the character Good-Deeds). Even the
most seemingly praiseworthy attributes in life—Strength,
Related Characters: Knowledge (speaker), God , Five-Wits
Beauty, and Discretion—vanish in the moment of death. The
play’s message is a deeply moral one, concerned ultimately
Related Themes:
with the goodness of people’s actions as the ultimate
Page Number: 55 measure of their worthiness for salvation. By the end of the
play, Everyman has undergone a transformation from a
Explanation and Analysis sinner to a man who repents of his sins, having realized that
Here, Knowledge articulates a counter-argument to Five- everything he loved most in life was devoid of real and
wits’s argument about the praiseworthiness of the Catholic lasting worth. The process of gaining salvation, therefore,
clergy. By referring repeatedly to money, Knowledge seems depended on Everyman having the humility to confess and
to be pushing back against the widespread practice of repent for his sins, and to recognize that he lacked the
power to save himself.

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SUMMARY AND ANAL

ANALYSIS
YSIS
The color-coded icons under each analysis entry make it easy to track where the themes occur most prominently throughout the
work. Each icon corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.

EVERYMAN
The messenger opens the play, by calling for the audience’s The messenger establishes sin and death as the play’s primary
attention to “The Summoning of Everyman.” He says that the subjects and themes. By creating an early association between sin
play will demonstrate the “transitory” nature of mortal lives and and death, the messenger reminds readers of the Christian
the ostensibly pleasurable but ultimately pernicious effects of viewpoint that Adam and Eve’s original sin is the reason for
sin. The messenger notes that Fellowship, Jollity, Strength, mankind’s mortality, and that, by contrast, leading a Christian life
Pleasure, and Beauty will disappear after death, and that God opens a pathway to eternal life in Heaven. Put in less overtly
will summon Everyman for “a general reckoning.” Then the religious terms, the messenger establishes that the play will center
messenger introduces the present action, asking for the around death as an occasion for reflecting on one’s life.
audience’s attention once again to hear God speak.

God’s speech begins the action of the play. He laments the fact God establishes an opposition between virtuousness and “worldly
that people are “unkind” to him and that they “liv[e] without prosperity” that will appear repeatedly throughout the play, as
dread in worldly prosperity.” By indulging in sin and material characters that represent various worldly goods and pleasures make
wealth, they forget God and the sacrifice he made for humanity appearances to lead Everyman astray from the path of
through Christ’s martyrdom. As people are engaging in all righteousness. God’s sweeping statements about mankind’s
seven of the deadly sins and are becoming worse every year, sinfulness hint at one of the play’s main viewpoints: that mankind is
God decides to “have a reckoning of every man’s person,” inherently sinful. The “reckoning” to which God refers is both a
calling them to account for the sins so that they don’t process of judging people’s souls and a physical ledger of all the sins
degenerate further into uncharitable, cannibalistic beasts. To and good deeds people have committed.
do this, he summons Death.

Death enters, and God orders him to tell Everyman that he Although it initially seems that Death sets out in search of all people
must immediately go on a pilgrimage “in [God’s] name” and who fail to live according to God’s law, he instead finds the
bring with him a “reckoning”—a ledger that lists all the good character Everyman, making clear that Everyman is meant to
and bad deeds Everyman has done, which God will use to symbolize “every one.” He symbolizes all people, which also drives
decide whether Everyman goes to Heaven or Hell. Death home that all people in the view of the play are sinful.
eagerly sets out to fulfill God’s orders, searching the globe for
“every man… that liveth beastly / Out of God’s laws.” Everyman,
who is preoccupied with lust and greed, does not expect
Death’s arrival.

Death approaches Everyman, asking if he has forgotten his The fact that Everyman is surprised by Death’s arrival shows that
maker and informing him that God wants a reckoning from sinful behavior is in part the product of an arrogant mentality that
him. Troubled and unprepared for such a task, Everyman asks death will never come, and that one will never have to account for
the identity of his interlocutor, who reveals that he is Death, one’s behavior, least of all by compiling a list of every good and bad
who spares nobody. deed ever committed.

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Everyman exclaims that Death came when he had least Here, Death alludes to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, in which
expected him, and then he tries to bribe Death with money in the first man and woman defy God’s commandment and are exiled
exchange for his life. However, Death refuses, as material from the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve’s sin represents the
goods mean nothing to him. Everyman then begs Death “for sinfulness that is a part of human nature, and which is (according to
God’s mercy” to give him more time to make his “counting the story) the cause of man’s mortality. Therefore, death and sin are
book” (another name for a reckoning) ready, but Death tells inextricably linked—but eternal life is available to those who are
Everyman that crying and praying won’t help him now. Death righteous and follow God. Death’s reminder that Everyman’s life
then reminds Everyman that all humans must eventually die was never given to him, but merely on loan, reinforces the play’s
because of Adam’s sin. Everyman asks if he will be able to theme of humility, encouraging readers not to arrogantly take their
return to life, but Death says it is impossible and that his life own lives for granted, but to remember that God is all powerful.
was not “given” but merely “lent.” Upset that he must die,
Everyman begs again for God’s mercy and asks Death if he can
bring company on his journey. Death allows it, as long as he can
find willing companions. After again rejecting Everyman’s pleas
to be spared, Death sends him on his way.

At a loss for what to do, Everyman seeks his friend Fellowship Fellowship is the personification of friends and friendship in general.
for comfort, expecting that Fellowship will accompany him on When faced with death, it is only natural that Everyman would first
his journey. When Everyman tells Fellowship that he is in turn to his friends for support—and indeed, when Fellowship first
danger, Fellowship asks Everyman to confide in him, promising appears, he seems like a trustworthy and supportive character.
that as Everyman’s friend, he will try to help. Fellowship insists
that he will not forsake Everyman even if Everyman is going to
Hell and he declares that he is willing to die for his friend.

However, when Everyman reveals that he must soon face Although Fellowship seems at first like a trustworthy and
God’s judgment and would like company on his journey, compassionate character, he is—quite understandably—unable to
Fellowship hesitates, as he knows that the journey will mean his die along with Everyman. This passage underscores Everyman’s
death. He asks Everyman when he would be able to come back, dread of death as well as his selfishness (since he asks his friend to
and Everyman responds, “Never again till the day of doom.” accompany him on a journey he himself does not want to take). It
Fellowship now adamantly refuses to join Everyman. He says also shows that, however dear one’s friends may be in life, people
that, while he wouldn’t take the journey of death even “for the must ultimately face death and account for their sins alone.
father that begat [him],” he is more than willing to help Everyman seems to hope that Fellowship will be able to rescue him
Everyman “eat, and drink, and make good cheer, / Or haunt to from his fate, but Fellowship’s refusal to make the pilgrimage
women.” When Everyman points out that Fellowship is willing illustrates that, as beautiful as friendships may be, they are not the
to accompany him only for his own amusement, Fellowship key to salvation. Moreover, the author suggests that Fellowship
denies this, arguing that he is also ready to help Everyman actually stands in the way of Everyman’s righteousness by helping
“murder, or any man kill.” Everyman pleads with Fellowship, him pursue worldly goods when in fact Everyman would be better
reminding them of their friendship, but Fellowship dismisses served by pursuing spiritual virtues.
this, swearing by Saint John that he won’t change his mind.

Fellowship leaves, and Everyman wonders aloud about who This proverb underscores the selfishness and unreliability of people
could help him. He realizes that friendship cannot help him, in general, presenting a sobering reminder of the difficulty inherent
quoting the proverb “in prosperity men friends may find, / in Everyman’s search to find something of lasting and reliable value
Which in adversity be full unkind.” He decides to seek instead in life before making the journey to death. Forsaken by his friend,
the help of his kinsmen, Kindred and Cousin, who declare that Everyman instead turns to seek the help and companionship of his
they will remain loyal to Everyman in “wealth and woe.” family.
Everyman tells them about his situation—that he was
commanded by a messenger of God to give an account of his
good and evil deeds, and that he is seeking companions for his
journey.

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After learning of Everyman’s fate, Cousin and Kindred are Like Fellowship, Cousin and Kindred also refuse to help Everyman or
unwilling to help him. Cousin makes the excuse that his toe is accompany him on his journey. The unwillingness of various
cramped and that he is not to be trusted, as Cousin “will characters throughout the play to perform the ultimate self-sacrifice
deceive you in your most need.” Because his family has forsaken stands, implicitly, in contrast to the figure of Jesus Christ, who did
him, Everyman believes that he will never be happy again. die to save the soul of mankind. Cousin’s excuse for refusing
Kindred tells Everyman to “make no moan,” and he offers his Everyman’s request is particularly pathetic, underscoring the
“maid” to accompany Everyman. Cousin then gives Everyman unreliability of even the people who are (supposedly) one’s closest
another reason for his refusal: he too has a “reckoning” to and most devoted relations. Friends and family, the play makes
prepare. Soon after, Kindred and Cousin flee the scene. clear, offer no salvation.

Alone again, Everyman laments the loss of Fellowship, Kindred, Goods promises to be able to solve whatever problem Everyman
and Cousin, who have all forsaken him. Wondering to whom he might be facing—but much like Kindred, Cousin, and Fellowship,
should turn next, Everyman decides that, as he has loved Goods seems not to have considered the possibility of death, which
wealth his whole life, he should summon his friend Goods for no amount of money can keep at bay. Everyman’s request that
advice. Goods appears and swears that “[if] ye in the world Goods help him purify his reckoning is likely an allusion to the real-
have trouble or adversity, / That can I help you to remedy world practice, widespread at the time, of buying slips of paper
shortly.” Everyman tells Goods his troubles, asking him to called papal indulgences that supposedly absolved the buyer of
accompany Everyman and to help “purify” his reckoning, as he their sins. The sale of indulgences, while sanctioned by the church,
believes that “money maketh all right that is wrong.” was controversial because it meant that the wealthiest people could
simply buy their salvation. Hence, Everyman believes that Goods
can help him right his wrongs.

Goods, however, “sing[s] another song.” He says that if he Goods’s confession has broad thematic resonance in the text,
accompanied Everyman, Everyman’s situation would be even supporting the idea that sin is associated with the material world
worse than it already is, and he explains that Everyman’s love and its pleasures, which ultimately lead people away from the path
for Goods “made [his reckoning] blotted and blind.” Though of godliness. Everyman’s love of material goods has blinded him to
troubled by Goods’ warning, Everyman still asks Goods to the fact that worldly pursuits such as money are diametrically
come with him. Goods tells him that he is “too brittle” to go on opposed to the pursuit of spiritual goods such as selflessness.
the journey. When Everyman points out that he has loved Everyman’s belief that Goods can help him thus demonstrates how
Goods his whole life, Goods replies that Everyman’s love for hopelessly lost he is in his search for a source of everlasting value.
Goods has been leading him toward damnation, “for my love is
contrary to the love everlasting.”

Goods further explains that if Everyman had loved Goods only Goods’s betrayal of Everyman represents something of a turning
moderately and had “to the poor give[n] part of me,” Everyman point in Everyman’s pilgrimage, since it prompts his realization that
would have been better off. Everyman realizes that he has been he should have loved God if he hoped to have life everlasting—but
deceived, as Goods explains that, contrary to Everyman’s belief that instead he loved something that was all along leading his soul
that he owned Goods, Goods was actually only “lent” to him. down the path to damnation. The passage portrays Everyman as a
Goods reveals that he deceives people to steal their souls. deeply materialistic person, which means by extension that the play
Everyman berates Goods for deceiving him, calling him a portrays people in general as deeply materialistic and vain (since
“traitor to God,” but Goods says that Everyman was responsible Everyman symbolizes all of humanity). The cruelty of Goods
for his own fate. His anger relenting, Everyman recognizes that suggests that worldly goods are mankind’s most sinister distraction
he should have loved God instead of Goods, but nevertheless from virtuousness and other worthy aims.
he asks Goods once again to join him. Laughing at Everyman,
Goods again refuses and leaves.

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Once alone, Everyman laments his situation, pondering whom The suggestion in this passage is that Everyman has spent so much
he can ask to accompany him on his pilgrimage. His friends of his life in sin and the pursuit of worldly goods that he no longer
Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, and Goods “gave [him] words fair,” knows how to devote himself to the performance of good deeds. He
promising to stand by him, but they all deserted him when he admits to feeling some degree of self-hatred, implying that his sense
asked for help. Goods’ treachery was especially painful to of self-worth was so thoroughly entangled with his friends and
Everyman, who becomes so ashamed that he says, “Thus may I possessions that, now that they have forsaken him, his sense of self-
well myself hate.” Everyman decides to seek out Good-Deeds, worth has also forsaken him.
though she is “so weak / That she can neither go nor speak.”

Everyman calls out for Good-Deeds, who “lie[s] cold in the The weakness of Good-Deeds symbolizes the difficulty of turning
ground,” weakened by Everyman’s sins. Everyman begins to ask one’s life around at a moment’s notice. Having spent his life in sin,
her for help, but Good-Deeds already knows that Everyman Everyman finds that he is unable to summon the help of Good-
has been summoned before God to account for his actions. Deeds in the moment when it would most serve his own interests. In
Everyman asks Good-Deeds to accompany him, and she says this sense, the play shows that anybody would likely repent of their
that she would, but that she cannot stand up. When Everyman sins when faced with the prospect of eternal damnation, but that
asks what happened to her, Good-Deeds tells him that she is this alone is not enough to redeem a person’s soul in the eyes of
too weak because he neglected her and that if he had “perfectly God. However, the fact that Good-Deeds is willing to help
cheered” her, his “book of account” would have been ready. Everyman—even if she’s unable—immediately sets her apart from
When Everyman asks Good-Deeds to help him “make the cast of other characters that have appeared thus far in the play.
reckoning,” she tells him again that she is not able to do so, but
that she has a sister, Knowledge, who can help him “make that
dreadful reckoning.”

Good-Deeds’s sister Knowledge appears, offering herself as The fact that Knowledge is the sister of Good-Deeds suggests that
Everyman’s guide. Happy that something good has finally she, too—unlike Fellowship, Kindred, and Goods—will be willing and
happened, Everyman thanks “God my Creator.” Good-Deeds able to help Everyman in his pilgrimage. Because Knowledge’s first
tells Everyman that once he “heal[s] thee of thy smart” and act is to take Everyman to see Confession, it is likely that the name
returns to Good-Deeds with his reckoning, they will go to “the “Knowledge” refers specifically to knowledge of God, the scripture,
blessed Trinity” to be judged together. Everyman thanks Good- and the holy sacraments of the Catholic religion rather than to
Deeds and leaves with Knowledge, who tells him that they knowledge more generally.
must visit Confession, “that cleansing river.”

Everyman asks where “that holy man, Confession” lives, and That Confession lives in the house of salvation strongly suggests
Knowledge replies, “In the house of salvation.” Knowledge that confession and the other sacraments of Catholicism are
instructs Everyman to kneel before Confession and to ask him foundational to the salvation of one’s soul—even more so than the
for mercy, as Confession “is in good conceit with God almighty.” doing of good deeds. This is in keeping with the play’s general
Everyman does so, asking Confession to wash away his sins and treatment of morality and salvation as being intimately associated
explaining that he has been summoned by God to present his with the institution of the Catholic Church.
reckoning.

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Confession, who already knows of Everyman’s predicament, Confession lays out a plan for Everyman to win salvation. Notably,
agrees to help because he came with Knowledge. He gives he tells Everyman that the process will be painful, which reflects a
Everyman “a precious jewel… / Called penance, wise voider of more broadly-held attitude that mortification and even flagellation
adversity.” According to Confession, penance, combined with (whipping) of the body were necessary because the flesh and its
abstinence and service to God, will purify Everyman. pleasures are inherently corrupt, and so harming one’s own body
Confession then tells Everyman that Everyman will “receive was a way of denying the flesh in favor of one’s soul. The idea that
that scourge of me.” Confession warns that it will be painful, but confessing to one’s sins and repenting are necessary to salvation
that Everyman must persevere and remember that the Savior also fits with the overarching theme of humility in the text. Not only
suffered such pain for him. Confession tells Knowledge to stay is Everyman not capable of saving his own soul, but indeed his only
with Everyman as he continues his pilgrimage and assures path to salvation is by acknowledging as much.
Everyman that he will be saved by God’s mercy.

Everyman thanks God and sets out to begin his penance with The self-flagellation (or whipping) that occurs in this passage may
Knowledge by his side. He prays to God for forgiveness, seem jarring to modern readers, but was in fact quite common as a
reminding the audience of Adam’s sin and of God’s mercy means of demonstrating repentance for one’s sins in the Middle
through Christ. In his prayers, he addresses God with Ages. Here, the pain endured by Everyman is meant to counteract or
numerous epithets such as “way of rightwiseness” and “mirror pay for the worldly pleasures he pursued and experienced in life. By
of joy.” He also prays to Mary, asking her to pray to God on his modern standards, this presents a markedly austere view of what it
behalf. He then tells Knowledge to “give [him] the scourge of would take for the average person to redeem themselves in the eyes
penance” so that he will be released from the bondage of his of God. The willingness to subject oneself to physical pain is another
own sin. Knowledge assures him that he is on the right path to symbol of the humility that the play presents as the key to winning
making his reckoning, and Everyman proceeds to punish his salvation.
body “in the name of the Holy Trinity.” He explains that, since
his pursuit of bodily pleasures led him to damnation, his
suffering of “strokes and punishing” will save him.

Suddenly Good-Deeds appears and announces that she has By stating that Everyman will receive eternal glory, Good-Deeds
been healed and is now able to accompany Everyman on his implies that the simple acts of repentance, prayer, and self-
pilgrimage. When Knowledge tells Everyman to be happy, as flagellation effectively saved his soul. Good-Deeds is now healthy
Good-Deeds is “whole and sound” and able to join them, and able to accompany Everyman on his journey to the afterlife,
Everyman responds that his “heart is light, and shall be once again suggesting that the Catholic Church and its sacraments
evermore.” Good-Deeds tells him that he will receive “eternal are the pathway to morality and salvation.
glory” and that she will always stand by him. Everyman
welcomes her, weeping at the love in her voice.

Knowledge again tells Everyman to be happy, as he will go to The garment of sorrow is a symbol not simply of Everyman’s
heaven. She gives him a “garment of sorrow” to wear before repentant attitude, but also of the austere view that the play takes
God and tells him that such contrition “pleaseth God passing of morality more generally as a matter of denying any and all earthly
well.” As Everyman now has “true contrition,” and as Good- pleasures—and even happiness. Knowledge implies that it flatters
Deeds has his reckoning in hand, Everyman is ready to God to see his creation acting with humility and contrition. The
continue his journey with his two companions. However, Good- characters of Discretion, Strength, and Beauty represent virtues
Deeds says that in order to move forward, he must be joined by that are secondary to Good-Deeds and Knowledge but who
Discretion, Strength, and Beauty. Knowledge adds that he must nonetheless accompany Everyman on his journey.
also seek the advice of his Five-wits.

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Beauty appears with Discretion, Strength, and Five-wits, ready Interestingly, strength and beauty are two virtues which can
to assist Everyman. At Good-Deeds’ request, they all agree to describe the body as well as the soul. This is notable because up
join Everyman on his pilgrimage, causing Everyman to thank until this point of the play, anything associated with the body or the
God. Strength vows to fight for him in battle, while Five-wits, material world has been roundly condemned. Yet here it remains
Beauty, and Strength assure him of their loyalty, regardless of ambiguous whether strength and beauty refer to physical or
what happens next. Everyman prays that God will send them to spiritual characteristics, adding nuance to the play’s otherwise
heaven, and tells them that after he dies, most of his money is dismissive treatment of physical virtues.
to go to charity. Knowledge then instructs Everyman to go to a
priest for the holy sacrament and unction, while the rest of the
group waits for him to come back.

At this point, Five-wits makes a speech about priests, telling Five-wits’s claim that priests are more powerful than angels would
Everyman that priests have greater authority than any political be seen by many today as heretical. Indeed, this kind of
ruler because they are commissioned by God. According to thinking—which places greater authority on the Church than on
Five-wits, priests’ knowledge of the sacraments allows them actual divine beings—is part of what would eventually lead to the
exclusive access to “the key and…the cure / For man’s Protestant Reformation that began in 1517. Passages like these
redemption.” He then lists out the seven sacraments: baptism, (which emphasize the importance of the sacraments and the
confirmation, the Eucharist, marriage, unction, and penance. priesthood) make it reasonable for even the most well-informed
Five-wits declares that priesthood “exceedeth all other thing” reader to assume that this morality play—and other plays like
because priests teach laymen scripture and purge them of sin, it—must have been commissioned by the Catholic Church, but
allowing them to go to heaven. He claims that priests are more scholars maintain that they were not. This is worth noting because
powerful than angels, because they have the power to it demonstrates how widespread was the belief that the institution
transform bread and wine into the very flesh and blood of God. of the Catholic Church was the only path to salvation.
He praises priests as the only “remedy” that “cureth sin deadly,”
declaring that they are “above angels in degree.” Everyman then
leaves.

Knowledge continues the discussion on priesthood but The discussion between Five-wits and Knowledge is an interesting
qualifies Five-wits’ statements, saying that this is true only if nod to tensions that existed in Europe at the time Everyman was
the priests are good. He points out that Jesus gave humanity written about the power and corruption of the clergy. In a text that
“the same sacrament” as given by good priests, but did so “in is otherwise deeply sympathetic toward the Church, here
great torment,” by sacrificing his own life. He also points to the Knowledge presents an important qualification to Five-wits’s
fact that there are “sinful priests” who lead lives of lechery and argument, suggesting that the Church is in fact fallible and that not
are poor examples to sinners. Five-wits counters, saying that he all priests should be regarded with complete reverence.
has faith that they won’t encounter any of these sinful priests
and that they should choose to honor priesthood. He cuts short
the discussion when he sees Everyman, who “hath made true
satisfaction,” approaching.

Everyman returns, saying that he has received the Eucharist The Euchartist and unction are two of the seven Catholic
and unction. He takes out a cross, asking his six companions to sacraments. That Everyman does all these things in the hours before
place their hand on it and to follow him. Strength, Discretion, his death does not seem to undermine their significance in the eyes
and Knowledge promise to never leave him. As they continue of the author or of God, despite the fact that Everyman is clearly
on their journey, Everyman feels faint and cannot stand. He (though perhaps not solely) motivated by self-interest — he does
tells his companions, “Let us not turn again to this land, / Not these things in a last-minute bid to save his own soul from
for all the world’s gold,” and he says he must climb into the damnation.
earth—that is, a grave—to rest.

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Beauty, shocked that Everyman is expecting her to die, decides The departures of Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five-wits
to leave, refusing to look back, not even for “all the gold in confirm the play’s general attitude toward worldly goods. In death,
[Everyman’s] chest.” Everyman asks aloud whom he can trust, Everyman cannot depend on these four personifications anymore
lamenting that Beauty promised with to live and die with him. than he could depend on Fellowship, Goods, or Kindred. The
Strength, too, decides to leave, regretting her decision to suggestion here is that beauty and strength are often confused for
accompany Everyman in the first place. When Everyman points spiritual goods, but they don’t accompany people into death. Even
out that Strength promised to stay with him, Strength says she Discretion—seemingly a virtue—vanishes, implying that human
doesn’t care and leaves. Everyman notes how he thought judgement is too fallible to be relied on, and that even it cannot save
Strength to be “surer,” but now he realizes that one should not a person’s soul. The disappearance of Five-wits, who arguably
put trust in one’s strength. Discretion also leaves, despite represents common sense, signifies the same thing, and once again
Everyman’s pleas, as she must always follow Strength. bolsters the play’s emphasis on humility and the ultimate value of
Everyman laments that his friends deserted him as soon as he spiritual things over anything associated with the material world or
was close to death and he says that “all thing faileth, save God human body.
alone.” At this point, Five-wits says farewell, leaving Everyman
in tears, as Five-wits was his best friend.

Everyman cries out to Jesus, saying that everyone has forsaken This is the play’s most direct and overt condemnation of “earthly
him, but Good-Deeds corrects him, promising to stay with him. things” as transient and unreliable. Here, Good-deeds drives home
Everyman thanks her and realizes that Beauty, Strength, the main moral message of the play: that morality and salvation
Discretion, and Five-wits were not true friends to him, as consist in good deeds alone, while all other earthly pursuits and
Good-Deeds is. He asks Knowledge if she too will forsake him, pleasures ultimately perish or fade in death. Of course, what
and she replies that she will stay with him a while longer, but complicates this message is the play’s emphasis on the sacraments
only until the moment he dies. Everyman thanks her and of the Catholic Church—which one could argue is itself composed of
realizes that he is approaching death and that he must soon a human and therefore corruptible clergy—as a pathway to
make his reckoning. He speaks directly to the audience, asking salvation. Indeed, the Catholic Church struggled internally with
them to view him as an example of “How they that I loved best corruption in the Middle Ages much as it does today, but was still
do forsake me, / Except my Good-Deeds that bideth truly.” widely recognized as the highest authority on matters of the soul
Good-Deeds chimes in, saying that “All earthly things is but and morality. Although Good-Deeds will accompany Everyman into
vanity” and pointing out how everyone—Beauty, Strength, the afterlife, even Knowledge will depart in the moment of death.
Discretion, and Everyman’s “friends and kinsmen”—except for
Good-Deeds abandoned Everyman. Dying, Everyman cries out
to God for mercy, putting the fate of his soul in God’s hands.

As the souls of Everyman and Good-Deeds leave their bodies, That the angel proclaims Everyman to be of “singular virtue” would
Knowledge remains on earth. She remarks that Everyman suggest that the play actually takes a much less pessimistic view of
“suffered that we all shall endure” and that her sister Good- mankind’s innate morality than it first seemed. If it truly is the case
Deeds will ensure his salvation. Knowledge thinks she hears that a man who lived his life in sin but repented at the last moment
the singing of angels. Soon, an angel appears on stage, can gain salvation for his soul, then the play seems to suggest that it
welcoming Everyman’s soul into heaven because of his is far from beyond the reach of the average person to attain
“singular virtue” and “crystal-clear” reckoning. The angel “singular virtue” for him- or herself.
declares that Everyman will live happily in heaven until
judgment day.

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A doctor appears, addressing the audience directly with an If there was any possibility that the play’s overt moral message has
epilogue. He instructs us to “forsake pride” and reminds us that not reached readers by this point in the play, the doctor’s concluding
Beauty, Five-wits, Strength, and Discretion all abandon speech ensures that readers understand Everyman’s story is a
Everyman, and that when we are judged by God, we are alone, warning to them. In other words, the play encourages its readers to
save for Good-Deeds. He warns us that we must make realign their priorities before it is too late and death comes calling.
“amends” before death, in order to gain God’s mercy and to In this way, the play serves not only as a moral and religious
clear our reckoning. If not, the doctor tells us, we will suffer in reminder to forego earthly goods in favor of redemption, but also
hell, but if our reckoning is “whole and sound,” we will be serves as a memento mori, or a reminder that death will come for
“crowned” in heaven until the resurrection, when our bodies them, too, someday—perhaps when they least expect it.
and souls will be reunited.

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To cite any of the quotes from Everyman covered in the Quotes

HOW T
TO
O CITE section of this LitChart:
To cite this LitChart: MLA
MLA Anonymous. Everyman. Dover Publications. 1995.
Lee, Sophia. "Everyman." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 30 Nov 2017. CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Web. 21 Apr 2020.
Anonymous. Everyman. New York: Dover Publications. 1995.
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Lee, Sophia. "Everyman." LitCharts LLC, November 30, 2017.
Retrieved April 21, 2020. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/everyman.

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