Allegory in the Middle Ages

by: Chris Milton

Allegory: the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence

http://www.theatrehistory.com/medieval/everyman001.html

We as humans have a vested interest in “getting to the bottom of things.” We have perceived ourselves to appear as beings of higher intelligence and complex thinking, and thus we create, analyze, and overanalyze. Allegorical literature is a prime example of a medium in which we can dig deeper to uncover more profound meanings in plays, poems, and other texts. Allegory comes up over and over in literature from the Middle Ages and medieval literature. Two of the more prominent examples of this type of writing comes in Everyman and The Faerie Queene. Both of these texts use the personification of virtues and events to tell a deeper story than what appears on the surface. Naturally, we are called to distinguish the surface level story from the metaphorical one being told.

Dr. Debora Schwartz of Cal Poly State University defines allegory as “a form of extended metaphor in which objects and persons within a narrative are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself” (Schwartz 1). There are two elements to allegorical story telling: the vehicle and the tenor. The vehicle is the literal meaning of the text, such as when Death is a character given human shape of body and mind in Everyman. The vehicle is what is given to the reader, but it is far from what the author is trying to get at. The tenor is the moral understanding of the text, such as when humanoid hosts represent abstract ideas that branch outside of the given text. The tenor is what the figure or the event stands for outside the narrative and can be applied to our lives as readers of the narrative. The form is effective because it provokes a dual interest. One interest is in the story itself: the characters, the setting, the conflict, and the resolution. What do the characters do? Where the story take place? What situations arise? The other interest is in what the figures and plot represent; what significance do they bear? Why does Spenser choose to personify holiness, chastity, and love? Why does the author of Everyman choose to personify something as abstract as good deeds? What are they trying to accomplish by writing these texts, and what is the audience called to do or understand? The metaphors cannot be meaningless. They must be independent of the actions given on the surface if the story.

Everyman, while being an allegorical play, is also a morality play. It makes sense that the concept of death would be talked about metaphorically since we as humans cannot fathom our own deaths. To summarize shortly, Everyman is called upon by Death to go on a pilgrimage which will inevitably lead to Everyman’s own demise. While daunting, Everyman is allowed to bring whomever he wishes on his quest. He asks several characters, most of which represent abstract concepts, but of course none agree to go with him given the terrifying ending of the quest. Everyman ends up dying with only Good Deeds, the personification of the moral feats Everyman accomplished while alive. In the beginning of the play, God tells death,

“Go thou to Everyman/ And show him in my name/ A pilgrimage he must on him take/ Which he in no wise may escape/ And that he bring with him a sure reckoning/ Without delay or any tarrying” (Everyman 66-71).

https://onepeterfive.com/sister-lucia-final-confrontation-between-the-lord-and-satan-will-be-over-family-and-marriage/

This is an interesting passage because typically a pilgrimage is about going on a journey of life to death. However, in this case God seems to imply that Everyman is going on a journey from dying to death.

The name Everyman is obviously a metaphor for every single human being on earth. Everyman is to represent how all humans behave, and thus how we all live and will all die. The author implies that we as humans care more about our worldly possessions and a holy relationship with God. And further, when it comes time to surrender our lives, we are fearful and try to do anything to escape death. There is an interesting parallel between and Everyman and Leo Tolstoy’s novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich. In Tolstoy’s text, Ivan Ilyich lives his life the way he perceives as socially acceptable and encouraged by high society. But when he is finally confronted by the possibility that he may die, he cannot believe it:

“’Perhaps I did not live as I should have,’ it suddenly occurred to him. ‘But how could that be when I did everything one is supposed to do?’ he replied and immediately dismissed the one solution to the whole enigma of life and death, considering it utterly impossible” (Tolstoy 102).

Ivan Ilyich is another representation of “Everyman.” We live our lives as we are meant to. We go to school because that is what we are supposed to do. We get married and have a family because it is normal. We seek material possession because when we are alive, it is beneficial to us. But when we die, none of that seems to matter, which is paradoxical to Ilyich. Likewise, Everyman struggles to confront death. He tries to bring people with him on his pilgrimage but none agree since they too fear death. In the end, Everyman dies only with Good Deeds. The scene is a metaphor meaning we all die alone with the good, moral things we did while we were alive. No one comes with us but our own actions, and there is no escape from that.