Research Paper on:
Everyman A Critical Analysis

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Miracle, Mystery, and Morality Plays had been in existence since the fifteenth centre and had developed ever since, however it was after the thirteenth century that they begin to proliferate.  One of these plays is call Everyman, the author is not known, but the imagery and symbolism is strong and the play has survived despite its anonymity. Some critics  have argued that in combination with the morality there is also humour (Tanner 149). From a contemporary perspective it is possible there was some parody within the play, but the  main message appears top be very clear with allegories of death and death and fate. Unlike tow other moral plays "Mankind" and "Youth" the majority of critics to believe that  Everyman is devoid of all humour (Tanner 150). In Everyman each character has a symbolism. It is in the characters that Tanner finds the humour, not in the traditional  scene, but also in irony, as he states; "The humorously stupid character... allows viewers to feel superiority and superiority enable them to feel charitably sympathetic, which, in turn, diminishes  their psychological resistance to the lesson of the play" (Tanner 150). The characters in their representations are elements of what was assumed to make up to the overall  personality of nay man, hence the title everyman, with seventeen characters representing aspects such as beauty and strength. The aid pf the play is to show that although  these are present with a man, they are not the most important part of his make up. The most important aspects are good deeds and knowledge can indicate the potential  of who a person could be. Although these are dated ideas, they are also seen by many critics as being relevant to todays consumerist society, where it is goods rather