The play Everyman is a perfect representation of public literature from the Renaissance period. The anonymous author reveals through the morality play that 'everyman' should be prepared for judgment at any time because, "Suddenly, [Death] come[s]." (Scene 1, Line 81) This, as with all allegorical works of that period, was constructed under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church to strike fear in to the hearts of men and, in doing so, have power over them. The church succeeded by censoring all works and designing them to fit their purpose.
The structure of literary works of the Renaissance period was designed for easy comprehension for the masses. The average person of the Renaissance did not know how to read and had not had any proper education. For easy interpretation, characters in plays and oral stories were named allegorically after what they symbolized. For example, in Everyman, the main character's name is 'Everyman', so that every peasant watching could understand that the main character represented every single man, woman and child on Earth- specifically their own person. Death is also aptly named, as well as Everyman's friend 'Fellowship', his family 'Kin' and 'Cousin', as well as 'Worldly Goods' and 'Good Deeds'. This same technique is used in Pilgrim's Progress to make it unmistakable that the story is aimed at the reader as a moral judgment and not as an interpretive work. This guarantees that every listener will not miss the moral lesson that is intended for them to understand.
Everyman is specifically designed to cause every listener to feel guilt as well as fear. The fact that 'Everyman' discovers that his devotion to 'Worldly Goods' only injures his accounts leads him to state, "I know I am worthy of blam...
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... pave his road to hell, and were in no position to help him or even wanted to. He had no one to accompany him, no true element to brave with him the judgment. His acquaintance 'Good Deeds' had been weakened by his mistreatment, but even as she could barely stand, she offered to be with him and speak for him. These allegorical references solidified in the audiences' imagination that they must take the steps to ensure their salvation, to go to heaven instead of hell. The story emphasizes that the only way to do this is to give away your worldly goods and do good deeds, as they are the only thing you can carry with you to the judgment. In this way, the anonymous author sets up his final thought: Everyman is equal and therefore sinful and must repent; he must give of himself without thought of himself. What better way than to give everything of yourself to the church?
Hence, upon analyzing the story, one can conclude the certain themes that parallel through the pages. Firstly, a theme of unity and trust is present at the end of the play. This is supported by the image of the cathedral, which is a place of unity. Most importantly, the notion of equality among people is the main theme within this story. The narrator starts as a biased, idiot, who dislikes all people that are not like himself. He even at times is rude to his wife. Ironically, it takes a blind man to change the man that can literally see, to rule out the prejudices and to teach him that all men are created equal.
...nique again by saying “how awful is it to be left behind” while all of the other Puritans are feasting and singing of joy with god, the sinner is burning in Hell. (104). He inspires his audience to want to change their ways and acquire salvation.
... of all time, with a protagonist that is plagued with indecision, but spurred by a desire to avenge his father’s death. At the time of the play’s writing, religion was by far the largest influence on the lives of ordinary people, and the protagonist’s defiance of God for most of the play could only end in tragedy.
In the 16th century English morality play “Everyman” who’s author is unknown. Everyman has an encounter with death who reminds him who his maker is and that it is time to make a reckoning of his good and bad deeds. He realizes that salvation lies in his hands, and that it is a personal decision that only he can make. One senses the desperation in the heart of Everyman, having realized that his life was blackened with sin; he strives to change the black he has accumulated in the “book of counts” and change it to a book of white. Everyman feels like he must make atonement for his sin, in order to escape death, for salvation is in the hands of the sinner.
It is not uncommon to see a wide variety of ideas flow in and out in a certain place within an era. Nevertheless, it becomes quite an achievement when the Renaissance experiences a plethora of ideas. This subsequently means countless social norms and fields of study are affected, and the results include an interesting process that takes place almost unnoticeable at times. The perspectives of men change during this time also unknowingly perceiving how the world is seen differently through their eyes. This happens so subtly that man’s view of man alters quite a bit into a more secular view from previous eras.
One of the main themes of the neoclassical age was moderation. Order, control, and reason were necessities of this period. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin 'pen' named Moliere was a well-seasoned, French playwriter of comedies that entertained and taught the same. One of Moliere's notable works, Tartuffe, carried his theme Commedia dell Arte and left lessons on the stage. Moliere uses the tale of Tartuffe to explore the hypocrisy in the church and in individuals spreading false hope. Selfish and decietful motives bring the title character to his well-deserved hubris. In aiming and striking the pride of the church, Moliere's pleasurable masterpiece was banned from stage between 1664-1669. This work being enjoyed by the king and later deemed suitable, returned to theater to educated the masses on religious hypocrisy alongside blind passion.
intended to help reinforce the importance of God and religion people's lives (Everyman). The play
...ards monstrous figures and sympathy towards those who seem to be tortured unjustly. In his perverse education, with instruction from Virgil and the shades, Dante learns to replace mercy with brutality, because sympathy in Hell condones sin and denies divine justice. The ancient philosopher Plato, present in the first level of Hell, argues in The Allegory of the Cave that truth is possible via knowledge of the Form of the Good. Similarly, Dante acquires truth through a gradual understanding of contrapasso and the recognition of divine justice in the afterlife. Ultimately, Dante recognizes that the actions of the earthly fresh are important because the soul lives on afterwards to face the ramifications. By expressing his ideas on morality and righteousness, Dante writes a work worth reading, immortalizes his name, and exalts the beliefs of his Christian audience.
Throughout the epic poem Inferno, Dante the Pilgrim travels into the different circles of Hell told by Dante the Poet. The story examines what a righteous life is by showing us examples of sinful lives. Dante is accompanied by his guide Virgil, who takes him on a journey to examine sin and the effects it has in has in the afterlife to different sinners. Through the stories of Francesca and Paolo, Brunetto Latini, Ulysses and Guido da Montefeltro, we are able to understand that people are self-interested in the way they act and present themselves to others and that those in Hell are there because they have sinned and failed to repent their sins and moral failings.
Throughout the fast-paced lives of people, we are constantly making choices that shape who we are, as well as the world around us; however, one often debates the manner in which one should come to correct moral decisions, and achieve a virtuous existence. Dante has an uncanny ability to represent with such precision, the trials of the everyman’s soul to achieve morality and find unity with God, while setting forth the beauty, humor, and horror of human life. Dante immediately links his own personal experience to that of all of humanity, as he proclaims, “Midway along the journey of our life / I woke to find myself in a dark wood, / for I had wandered off from the straight path” (I.1-3). The dark wood is the sinful life on earth, and the straight path is that of the virtuous life that leads to God. Dante’s everyman, pilgrim character represents all of humanity, and endures much adversity and temptation through squalid conditions in a nightmarish vision of hell, in his search to find the soul’s true path in life. While he stands in peril, Dante wishes that each individual would put themselves in the same position as the aforementioned, as all of mankind knows some form of sin, and also wanders lost in a dark wood. Before achieving moral redemption, an individual must take a hard look at evil both in the world and in himself. Only by confronting inner evil can people achieve self-knowledge, which is the first step toward redemption.
The play, set in the 1600’s during the witch hunt that sought to rid villages of presumed followers and bidders of the devil is a parallel story to the situation in the US in the 1950’s: McCarthyism, seeking the riddance of communist ideologists. Miller sets this story more particularly in a village called Salem, where the theocratic power governed by strict puritan rules require the people to be strong believers and forbid them to sin at risk of ending up in hell. However, the audience notices that despite this strong superficial belief in God, faith is not what truly motivates them, but it is rather money and reputation.
Dante begins The Inferno by embarking on a journey to Hell with his poet guide, Virgil. Along the voyage, the reader gets a taste of the gruesome imagery and depictions of the punishments for the different levels of sinner. Throughout this journey Dante encounters many sinners whom he knew or knew of in the real world, and in the beginning the sinners wanted their name to be spread in the world when Dante got out of Hell. But, as Dante explored further and further into the underworld, the sinners got less and less enthusiastic about themselves, which eventually turned into outright shame among the sinners in the lower depths of hell. Dante uses over the top examples of punishments for sins committed and the differing levels of shame the sinners feel to cause the reader to reevaluate his or her own life in the context of religious wrongdoings. The over the top punishments and shame are needed in this work of art to relay the predominant meaning.
In conclusion, the General Prologue serves as a preview or a useful guide to the tales, which are introduced next. The descriptions about each pilgrim, from their appearances and personal behaviors, give the reader a brief “image” about each pilgrim. This is very useful when the reader proceeds to read the Tales.
Everyman play originated in late 15th century, it was an English morality play by its anonymous author. It is one of the finest play and outside the circles of historical scholars. The emphasis of Everyman focuses on morality of the play which was used by its author so symbolically in its characterization. It is a tribute with the modern audiences on the success of this play with its dramatic structure. It became one of the great plays of all time to be written in its era (late 15th century).
The Pilgrim's Progress is a Puritan story, and Bunyan chose to tell it in the form of an allegory. The characters, the objects and the events are presented in a symbolic way, so that the story conveys a deeper meaning that the actual incident described. A moral lesson is being taught here. The mixture of religious context and dialogue makes it more like a morality play (miracle play) which was very popular at Bunyan's time. The story is written in ordinary prose, the language is simple, colloquial and down-to-earth. This appeals to readers of the lower class, who are poor and not highly educated.