Everyman

The literary and historical context in which Everyman was composed informs the play in crucial ways. Everyman is a morality play of unknown authorship, preserved in four printed editions published in the period between 1510 and 1535 but believed to have been first produced at the end of the 15th century. Everyman bears significant resemblances to the Flemish play Elekerlijc (“Everyman”), first printed in 1495; scholars have sometimes argued that the Flemish play was produced first and influenced the English play (though the reverse could also be true).

Morality plays, which were popular in England during the Tudor period of the 15th and 16th centuries, employed allegory and personified abstractions to explore predominantly Christian questions (the nature of good and evil, the roles of God and humanity in the universe, repentance and salvation, etc.). There are about 60 surviving examples of morality plays—many of them, like Everyman, of unknown authorship. Other types of religious plays were also popular at the time, including “miracle plays,” which dramatized religious events, and “mystery plays,” which also dramatized religious events (though often in a comical or irreverent manner). Morality plays, however, operate on a different level from miracle plays and mystery plays, reflecting on religious questions using literary devices such as