Editing English drama (section)

===Morality plays===
The [[morality play]] is a [[genre]] of [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] and [[Tudor period|early Tudor]] theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a [[Morality|moral]] theme.<ref>Richardson and Johnston (1991, 97-98).</ref> Morality plays are a type of [[allegory]] in which the [[protagonist]] is met by [[personification]]s of various [[morality|moral]] attributes who try to prompt him to choose a Godly life over one of evil. The plays were most popular in [[Europe]] during the 15th and 16th centuries. Having grown out of the religiously based [[mystery play]]s of the Middle Ages, they represented a shift towards a more secular base for European theatre.

''The Somonyng of Everyman'' (''The Summoning of Everyman''), usually referred to simply as ''[[Everyman (15th-century play)|Everyman]]'', is a late 15th-century English [[morality play]]. Like [[John Bunyan]]'s 1678 [[Christianity|Christian]] novel ''[[Pilgrim's Progress]]'', ''Everyman'' examines the question of [[Christian salvation]] by use of allegorical characters, and what Man must do to attain it. The premise is that the good and evil deeds of one's life will be tallied by God after death, as in a ledger book. The play is the allegorical accounting of the life of Everyman, who represents all mankind. In the course of the action, Everyman tries to convince other characters to accompany him in the hope of improving his account. All the characters are also allegorical, each personifying an abstract idea such as Fellowship, [material] Goods, and Knowledge. The conflict between good and evil is dramatized by the interactions between characters.