Everyman and The Second Shepherds' Play

by Paul Moliken (Senior Editor), Wakefield Master

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary and notes to help the modern reader understand both the vernacular of medieval times and the plays' biblical references. The messenger? Death. The message? God has summoned you to stand before Him and give a reckoning of your life. What do you do? The protagonist of this play, the shocked and distraught Everyman, faces this exact issue. But he is granted a day's grace to gather together anyone who will travel with him and help him at his judgment. As this moral allegory unfolds, however, poor Everyman learns that neither possessions, nor accomplishments, nor character traits will follow him to the grave. He must face his reckoning alone... Perhaps because Everyman's problem is our problem, this play, one of the earliest extant dramas in English, still provokes thought and discussion nearly 700 years after it was written.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Drama, Theatre

88 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death : "I set not by gold, silver, nor riches,
Ne by pope, emperor, king, duke, ne princess.
For and I would receive gifts great,
All the world I might get;
But my custom is clean contrary.
I give thee no respite: come hence, and not tarry."

Two wonderful plays written a long time ago and yet, so incredibly relevant still. Although my biblical knowledge gave me extensive insight to The Second Shepherd's Play, I much preferred Everyman. Just glancing at the list of characters peaked my interested, as it featured Death, Knowledge and Good Deeds among it. I am always intrigued when these (essentially) man-made/man-named concepts are being embodied in plays and stories. Such a difficult thing to do and it somehow gives more meaning to the concept. Maybe because of the way we interact with it.

Death, for instance, is something we know very little about but that makes it more interesting, for me at least, to look at it in multiple ways. Knowledge is incredibly ungraspable at times and seeing it act (in a way) is very interesting and enlightening. All this made me more aware of how nothing is completely good or evil. It is all just somewhere in between and you cannot just rely on one thing in life, especially if that thing is only meant for your own gain.

[Mack]

1300s-1500s
Morality Drama.
Cycle Play.
Mystery Cycle.
Pageant Wagons.

[Jini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read these both for class last semester. The prof warned the class that Everyman was a morality play and I think that's why a lot of the kids - yes, kids - hated it immediately, the consensus being that they felt like they were being preached to. Stupid kids. They know nothing. It certainly wasn't a heavy-handed gospel play, that's for sure. Just a cautionary tale of what happens if. Same thing for Second Shepherds. The prof said he'd always wanted to do this play set in Appalachia with some Deliverance-type music, and the kids jumped at the prospect. Ah, kids with minds of mush going along with whatever's cool. How impressionable can you get?

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read an online version of this text provided by my teacher as part of my Introduction to Drama course, so this is not the same version I'm writing about, but is the same work (speaking specifically about The Second Shepherds' Play). The language was difficult and hard to follow, and I really did not care for it all that terribly much with the time that it took to unravel what was being said, but as a mystery play, it does play a fairly large role in the history of drama. I really can't see myself choosing to read it again unless required for a class, but you never know.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Second Shepherds' Play is quite funny and rather silly and barely pulls off holding the title 'mystery play.' It reminds me that even the medieval church had a sense of humor.

Everyman is profoundly important and the epitome of a morality play. I felt quite sympathetic to poor Everyman (which in turn means sympathetic to myself and every literal man) and was inspired to reassess my priorities.

[Amal Alothman]

I read about it in Wikipedia and got it from iBook will read it this year inshallah

[Kaycee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't crazy about this story. It's been a couple years since I have read it, so maybe I will give it another try. It just wasn't my taste.