What makes a female character feminine? Are they described as pretty, intelligent, or giving? The society to we live in says “yes” to this question. Female characters are usually written in a sexual light. They might be characterized as beautiful or slutty. We are all familiar with the female character that is smart, but is often overlooked. We naturally view women as giving because of their motherly instincts. All of these feminine traits I have mentioned are portrayed in Everyman. In this website I’m going to discuss the three feminine characters Good-Deeds, Knowledge and Beauty.
The character Good-Deeds in the play Everyman is the character that sticks with Everyman through his toughest times. When we as readers first encounter Good-Deeds, she is crippled on the floor because of Everyman’s sinful nature. Everyman says, “till that I go to my Good-Deed. But alas, she is so weak that she can neither go nor speak” (Everyman 569, line 481-483). Good-Deeds can’t physically help Everyman because he hasn’t really done any good deeds in his life time. Why would the author make Good-Deeds a female character? From a reader oriented stand point the unknown author might have made Good-Deeds a female because of her willingness to stay. In a patriarchal society women had to stay with men. Good-Deeds never faltered despite her physical capabilities. Also, women are naturally giving as perceived by our society. Society displays women this way because of their motherly nature. Good-Deeds also just wanted to help Everyman and his situation, but couldn’t, so she told him about her sister, Knowledge.
The first time we hear of Knowledge she says to Everyman, “ I will go with thee and be thy guide, in thy most need to go by thy side” (Everyman 570, line 522-523). Knowledge has a solution to Everyman’s situation, so she guides Everyman to confession. She tells him that he needs to repent for all of his sins, so he can relinquish his good deeds. The unknown author portrays Knowledge as a female character through her intellect. There is a common stereotype that women are more knowledgeable when it comes to emotion. Women are more empathetically intelligible. Knowledge is also the character that brings Everyman to repent, meaning she is more apt to being religious. Knowledge opened up Everyman’s eyes to wrong doings. She showed that, “Knowledge comes from outside Everyman, that she is unexpected, that her entrance is not prepared for–all suggest that Everyman has finally received the grace which he also needs to make his penitence effective, the grace which had always been available but which in his blindness he had been unable to perceive” (Jambeck). Knowledge shows Everyman God’s grace, but that can be easily miss guided by worldly standards. In the past Knowledge could only take a women so far. In a patriarchal society women could be raised to a higher status if they were beautiful; beauty can provide one with a better life on earth, but it won’t matter how beautiful one is on judgment day.
A common stereotype of women in medieval written works and others is that they are beautiful. The character Beauty in the play Everyman, states at first that she will go with Everyman to his judgement day. When it comes down to it Beauty does not follow through and says, “peace, I am deaf—I look not behind me, not and thou wouldest give me all the gold in thy chest” (Everyman 577 line 802-803). Due to Beauty’s abrupt departure Everyman is confused and He says “Alas where to may I trust? Beauty goeth fast away fro me—she promised with me to live and die!” (Everyman 577, line 804-806). In the end, beauty is not the thing that is going to help one on their judgment day. Often, beauty is perceived as a female attribute, especially in the play Everyman and in our society as a whole. Common adjectives to describe women are sexy, beautiful, pretty, and gorgeous. These adjectives are not usually used to describe men. In this time period women were often placed in the home. Women were placed on a pedestal seen of sexual desires. Beauty can’t get one very far, at least it doesn’t matter when going to heaven.
The patrairchal socity in which this text was written furthers the stereotypical traits given to females. The stereotype of beautiful the females; this trait/characteristic in itself is a blessing and a curse. Females are intelligent, but often not heard. Females are giving, because they have to be. Females have to be faithful to their man all the way to death; even if they have been neglected or abused. For further reading on this topic, the next website will analyze the text Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.
Works Cited
Jambeck, Thomas J. “Everyman and the Implications of Bernardine Humanism in the Character ‘Knowledge.’.” Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, edited by Michael L. LaBlanc, vol. 87, Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1420050687/LitRC?u=s8474154&sid=LitRC&xid=096f fd80. Accessed 27 Oct. 2019. Originally published in Medievalia et Humanistica, vol. 8, 1977, pp. 103-123.
Everyman. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, The Sixteenth Century The Early Seventeenth Century. Simpson, James, et al. 10th ed., W.W. Norton, 2018.