Everyman

For other uses, see Everyman (disambiguation).

In literature and drama, the term everyman has come to mean an ordinary individual^[1][2], 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, immoral, or demonstrative purposes.

Uses

The everyman character 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.

Alternatively, an Everyman occupies the role of protagonist without being a 'hero' and without necessarily being a round character or a dynamic character. In this scenario, the Everyman is developed like a secondary character, but the character's near omnipresence within the narrative shifts the focus from character development to events and story lines surrounding the character. 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.

Examples

• Christian in Pilgrims Progress
• Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest^[3]
• Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• Ted Mosby in the comedy series How I Met Your Mother^[4][5]
• Jim Halpert/Tim Canterbury in the TV series The Office
• The narrator of the novel Fight Club and the film adaptation
• Mick Travis in O Lucky Man!
• Rhys Williams in Torchwood ^[6]
• Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four
• Winston Zeddemore in Ghostbusters
• Stan Marsh in South Park
• Xander Harris in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Homer Simpson in The Simpsons
• Theo Faron in "Children of Men"

See also

• Average Joe
• Everyman's right
• The man on the Clapham omnibus
• Reasonable person
• Common man
• John Q. Public

References

1. ^ "WordNet Search - 3.0". Princeton University. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=everyman. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
2. ^ "Everyman - Definition and More From the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary". Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/everyman. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
3. ^ Cohan, Steven (1997). Masked men: masculinity and the movies in the fifties. Indiana University Press. p. 20. 
4. ^ Ball, Chris. "New on DVD: 'Shrink,' 'Management,' 'The Patty Duke Show' and more". 26 September 2009.
5. ^ Adkins, Leslie. "AS SEEN ON: My new addiction: 'How I Met Your Mother'". 13 May 2009.
6. ^ "Rhys Williams". BBC Torchwood: Children of Earth official site. http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/characters/rhys_williams.shtml. |accessdate=20 January 2011

Related information

This article about a fictional character is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Stock characters Fictional character stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную? Elvy Sukaesih Cribyn Look at other dictionaries: Everyman — (engl., spr. éwwerĭ män, »Jedweder«), englische Moralität, aufgebaut auf der indischen Parabel von den Freunden in der Not. Der Mensch, den der Tod antritt, wird verlassen von Kameraden, Familie, Hab und Gut; nur die guten Werke, die er geübt,… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon Everyman —   [ evrɪmæn], Titel der bekanntesten englischen Moralität aus dem Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts, Jedermann …   Universal-Lexikon everyman — name of the leading character in a popular 15c. morality play; from EVERY (Cf. every) + MAN (Cf. man) (n.) …   Etymology dictionary Everyman — ► NOUN ▪ an ordinary or typical human being …   English terms dictionary Everyman — [ev′rē man΄] n. [often e ] a person or fictional character regarded as representing the human race or the common person …   English World dictionary Everyman — (ca. 1485)    Generally conceded to be the finest example of the type of late medieval drama known as a MORALITY PLAY, Everyman (or, more properly, The Summoning of Everyman) was produced between 1485 and 1500. As is the case with all moralities …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature Everyman — Première page d une édition imprimée d Everyman, vers 1500 Everyman (The Somonyng of Everyman, ou La Semonce de Tout Homme) est une pièce de théâtre en moyen anglais composée à la fin du XVe siècle et dont l auteur est inconnu. Il s agit d une… …   Wikipédia en Français everyman — [[t]e̱vrimæn[/t]] N SING Everyman is used to refer to people in general. If you say, for example, that a character in a film or book is an everyman, you mean that the character has experiences and emotions that are like those of any ordinary… …   English dictionary everyman — noun Usage: often capitalized Etymology: Everyman, allegorical character in The Summoning of Everyman, 15th century English morality play Date: 1906 the typical or ordinary person …   New Collegiate Dictionary Everyman — /ev ree man /, n. 1. (italics) a 15th century English morality play. 2. (usually l.c.) an ordinary person; the typical or average person. pron. 3. everybody; everyone. [EVERY + MAN1] * * * ▪ English morality play       an English morality play of …   Universalium 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”