This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Everyman is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) |
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (April 2008) |
In literature and drama, the term everyman has come to mean an ordinary individual, with whom the audience or reader is supposed to be able to identify easily, and who is often placed in extraordinary circumstances. The name derives from a 15th century English morality play called Everyman.
The contemporary everyman differs greatly from his (or her) medieval counterpart in many respects. While the medieval everyman was devoid of definite marks of individuality to create a universality in the moral message of the play, the contemporary storyteller may use an everyman for amoral or, to some ways of thinking, immoral purposes.
Uses
In adventure stories, the protagonist is often the idealized competent man who possesses charm, wit, charisma, exceptional intelligence, sex appeal, athletic and fighting ability, and a multitude of talents that help him through his adventures. Such characters are expected to and usually do emerge as victors from every scenario they encounter. The everyman character, however, is constructed so that the audience can imagine itself in the same situation without having to possess knowledge, skills, or abilities outside everyday experience. Such characters react realistically in situations that are often taken for granted with traditional heroes; an everyman character who gets into a fight is likely to hurt his hand if he punches another character.
Alternatively, an Everyman occupies the role of protagonist without being a 'hero' and without the depth which usually defines central characters. In this scenario, the Everyman is developed like a secondary character, but her/his near omnipresence in the story causes the reader or audience to focus on events and story lines surrounding him/her. Some audiences or readers may project themselves into this character, if no dominant characteristic of the Everyman prevents them from doing so. Others may ignore the character and concentrate on the story arc, the visual imagery, the irony or satire, and any other aspect of the story which the orchestrator(s) of the story have focused upon or, indeed, whatever personally interests the reader.[1]
Examples
- Arthur Dent in the comedy series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Ned Land from Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Willy Loman in the play Death of a Salesman
See also
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 19 November 2008, at 20:55.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Everyman".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.