NOTE: The questions for Act 4 of Antony and Cleopatra are BELOW this post.
For those of you who went to the Friday performance of Everyman, here is an extra-credit opportunity for you. Answer the following questions (all of them), and I can allow you to make up for 2 missed responses, or 2 absences, or if you don't need any of that, I'll add 3 extra points to your final grade. Something to think about...
Q1: How does Everyman seem to share many of the same themes, ideas, and characters of our other medieval works--The Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? How might Chaucer or the Pearl Poet be responding to the same cultural issues as the playwright of Everyman?
Q2: In what ways did the current performance try to modernize a play originally written in a dialect of Middle English in (or around) the 14th century? Do you feel the modernization was effective, or did it detract from the play itself? Be specific here--don't just say "they used modern dress," etc.
Q3: What did you feel the message of the play was. especially considering the entire work was allegorical in nature? How did this performance stress this reading?
Q4: How did the readings in our class prepare you to appreciate and/or understand this work in a way other audience members might not have? How has your scholarship in earlier English literature come to your assistance? (assuming it has, that is...)
Q1: Everyman tackled the fallibility of humanity. Everyman believes he has the perfect life, great friends, and satisfactory material possessions. He lives his life like he is invincible, until God decides to play a game and uses death as the player. Through facing death, Everyman comes to realize he hasn't been as perfect as he thought. He began to change his ways in the end once he saw his flaws. Chaucer responds to this same issue because the characters in his stories always showcase that humans cannot be ideals. Many times the characters only realize this once someone else shows them.
ReplyDeleteQ2: I think the most clear modernization was in the language. There was a heaping pile of adult language used throughout the play and all the actors spoke very plainly. The play utilized flashing lights, dub step style music, and elaborately rave-like party scenes. Everyman carried several credit cards and a wad of cash. There was even a quick mention of "Red Nose Day." He was the epitome of a young, modern man. To be honest, I have never seen or read the play in its original form, so I didn't feel that anything was distracting.
Q3: I felt the message of the play was that every man - and woman - comes to a point where they forget what is important and begin to take life for granted. Everyman was in that position. He had great friends, but he wasn't always the best friend he could be. His family adored him, but he struggled to give them the time of day. He turned his head when he saw tragic news on television and dropped a few dollars in donation boxes every now and then to make himself feel better. We've all done that at one time or another. He was angry at God for what was happening to him. He felt he had been a good man and lived a good life. The play highlighted the struggles of every man on the earth and emphasized that we could all do something to make the world a little better.
Q4: The readings in our class helped me to try my best to avoid literal thinking. I focused on trying to look for allegories, symbols, and metaphors. I asked myself questions as I was watching the play: Why is God a woman? Why does Death wear that little red-flame hat? Did Everyman commit suicide or did he really just fall off his roof?
In high school, my AP class read The Great Gatsby. Like many of the works in British Literature, it was very allegorical and overflowed with symbols. As I watched Everyman the idea of connecting symbols to find the story beneath the story hit me. I am learning to look beyond what I see. Ironically, that is what God wanted Everyman to do in the play. The connections are endless!