Everyman, and medieval miracle plays / edited by A.C. Cawley ; with a new preface and bibliography by Anne Rooney.

Includes bibliographical references (pages xxv-xxi).

Miracle Plays were a popular form of entertainment throughout the Middle Ages, and part of the poetic and dramatic tradition on which Shakespeare drew. Apart from "Everyman," and the exceprt representing Cornish drama, the plays in this volume are biblical pageants which are ultimately derived from the Latin liturgical plays of the medieval Church, most of which are Corpus Christi pageants or guild papgeants-- short plays acted by the trade guilds as episodes of the whole Corpus Christi cycle.

"The Somonyng of Everyman," usually referred to simply as "Everyman," is a late 15th-century morality play which uses allegorical characters to examine the question of Christian salvation and what Man must do to attain it. The premise is that the good and evil deeds of one's life will be tallied by God after death, as in a ledger book. The play is the allegorical accounting of the life of Everyman, who represents all mankind. In the course of the action, Everyman tries to convince other characters to accompany him in the hope of improving his account. All the characters are also allegorical, each personifying an abstract idea such as Fellowship, [material] Goods, and Knowledge. The conflict between good and evil is dramatised by the interactions between characters. Everyman eventually realizes that he is essentially alone, and that when you are brought to death and placed before God all you are left with is your own good deeds.

Note on the editor -- Preface to the 1993 edition -- Preface -- Introduction -- Bibliography of works cited in the introduction -- Select bibliography. -- [The plays]: The creation, and the fall of Lucifer / The York Pageant of the Barkers -- The creation of Adam and Eve / The York Pageant of the Cardmakers -- The fall of man / The York Pageant of the Coopers -- Cain and Abel / The N. Town Cycle -- Noah's flood / The Chester Pageant of the Water-Leaders and the Drawers in Dee -- Abraham and Isaac / Brome MS -- The annunciation / The Coventry Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors -- The Wakefield second shepherd's pageant / The Towneley Cycle -- The Wakefield pageant of Herod the Great / The Towneley Cycle -- The woman taken in adultery / The N. Town Cycle -- The crucifixion / The York Pageant of the Pinners and Painters -- The harrowing of hell / The Chester Pageant of the Cooks and Innkeepers -- The resurrection / The York Pageant of the Carpenters -- The judgment / The York Pageant of the Mercers -- [The Somonyng of Everyman] = The moral play of Everyman / Anonymous.