A Comparison of Everyman and Christopher Marlowes Doctor...

A Comparison of Everyman and Christopher Marlowes Doctor Faustus Everyman and Doctor Faustus are both Morality Plays, these are specifically plays that existed within the Medieval period. They were popular during this period as they were intended to instruct the audience in the Christian way and attitudes to life. The morality play is essentially an allegory written in dramatic form. In the fourteenth Century, morality plays were mainly based on the seven deadly sins as in everyman with each character representing each sin. Everyman centers around allegory. It focuses on the allegorical representations of moral issues with the inclusion of figures that represent abstractions of the issues that are confronted. Doctor Faustus†¦show more content†¦There is constant references to the beliefs and ideas of the Catholic Church such as confession, penitence and the Virgin Mary this suggests the catholic centered society in which the play existed. It concentrates on the qualities of the catholic religion that are important in the journey to heaven. Everyman is a symbol of the human condition and how it is understood by medieval Catholicism. Whereas in the sixteenth century in which Doctor Faustus was written, saw a shift of Christian ideals. No longer was there only the strict belief in God but also the equal belief in the existence of the devil and the ?work of the devil.? The medieval world placed God at the centre of existence, leaving the individual and the natural world in second place. The emergence of the Renaissance is evident in Doctor Faustus by the clash between the church and the introduction of knowledge through science. The Reformation caused a dramatic change at that particular time, England had converted from predominantly catholic to a protestant country. This shift becomes apparent in Doctor Faustus in the scenes with the Pope. The Renaissance was also a time when the bubonic plague was at its peak of destruction. As a result the plague was a great concern of the theatre, audiences and writers. The plague was a large part of Marlowe?s life and work. Marlowe refers to the plague regularly in Doctor Faustus with examples such as ?AShow MoreRelatedThe difference between medieval and early modern is one of degree rather than strict demarcation. Discuss this idea in the context of any two writers you have read.(Everyman and Dr Faustus)2404 Words   |  10 Pagesages, as a subject shared by both periods yielded so great a diversity of issues. The distinction of the eras makes it evident that some change did occur, but as the period of time between them was not very great, the change must be limited. Everyman and Dr Faustus are respectively medieval and early modern drama texts that share common issues. However, the way in which they handle them varies, and allows an exploration of whether the people and culture of the medieval and early modern period differed