Everyman

Lore & Background

The term "everyman" first appeared in an early 16th-century English morality play called The Summoning of Everyman. Its protagonist is an allegorical figure representing a regular person facing his own mortality. Scholar Harry Keyishian describes this character as "prosperous, gregarious, [and] attractive." He is the only human in the play; the other characters are abstract concepts like Fellowship, which stands for the fleeting and limited nature of human friendship.

By the early 20th century, "everyman" had come to mean any portrayal of an ordinary or typical person. The word "everywoman" appeared around the same time, first used by George Bernard Shaw for Ann Whitefield in his play Man and Superman.

An everyman is designed so that most audience members can easily relate to him. While he may face the same challenges as a hero, a hero acts quickly and forcefully, whereas an everyman tends to avoid conflict or respond hesitantly. He only takes decisive action when the situation becomes urgent enough to require it. If this character is complex and develops over time—a "round," dynamic figure—he is usually the protagonist. If he lacks complexity and remains static—a "flat" character—he serves as a secondary figure.

Reader's Guide

The everyman's significance lies in its function as a relatable protagonist whose ordinary nature fosters audience identification. Unlike archetypal heroes who act swiftly, the everyman typically avoids engagement or reacts ambivalently, only taking effective action when the situation grows dire. This makes the everyman a 'round', dynamic character when showing complexity and development, or a 'flat', static character when serving as a secondary figure. In literature, an everyman narrator may be noticed little by other characters or even the reader, and may address the audience directly, as Ché does in the musical Evita. The term's legacy extends to related concepts such as the Average Joe, John Doe, and the reasonable person, all reflecting the archetype's enduring role in representing the ordinary individual. The everyman's roots in the early 16th-century morality play The Summoning of Everyman, where the protagonist is the only human character among allegorical figures, underscore its foundational place in storytelling as a vessel for universal human experience.

Roots in the Medieval Stage

The everyman as a literary concept finds its earliest named expression in an early 16th-century English morality play called The Summoning of Everyman. Its protagonist is an allegorical stand-in for an ordinary human being who has come to know that death is imminent. The literature scholar Harry Keyishian described this figure as prosperous, gregarious, and attractive. A striking structural choice in the play is that Everyman is the only character who is actually human; every other figure on stage personifies an abstract concept. Fellowship, for example, exists to dramatize the transience and inherent limits of human friendship. The broader, generic use of "everyman" to mean a portrayal of a typical or ordinary person did not emerge until the early 20th century. That same period also produced the parallel term "everywoman," which George Bernard Shaw applied to Ann Whitefield, a character in his play Man and Superman.

Narrative Function and the Narrator's Voice

In practice, the everyman's role in a story shifts depending on the depth the writer builds into the character. When the everyman displays complexity and growth—what narratology calls a "round" and dynamic character—he typically occupies the protagonist's seat, driving the plot forward. When the character remains static and "flat," lacking interior development, the everyman is more likely to appear in a secondary capacity. Literature, in particular, offers a distinctive niche: the everyman as narrator. Because the written medium permits extensive exposition of prior events, internal states, and mental processes, a narrating everyman can slip into the background so thoroughly that neither other characters nor the reader registers their presence. At the opposite extreme, a narrating everyman like Ché in the musical Evita may shatter the theatrical boundary entirely, turning to address the audience directly. This range—from invisible observer to direct speaker—shows how flexible the everyman's narrative position can be.

The Everyman Set Against the Hero

The everyman is deliberately constructed so that the widest possible audience can recognize themselves in the character. His conduct is benign and humble, qualities that invite identification rather than awe. Yet the everyman may well face the same trials a conventional hero would. The difference lies in the response. Archetypal heroes react swiftly and vigorously, channeling their energy into bold, manifest action. The everyman, by contrast, characteristically avoids direct engagement or responds with ambivalence, lingering in uncertainty. It is only when the situation escalates to a point where inaction guarantees disaster that the everyman is compelled to act effectively. This behavioral arc—the slow, reluctant turn from passivity to decisive action—distinguishes the everyman's journey from the hero's and is precisely what makes the character feel accessible to an audience that does not see itself in larger-than-life protagonists.

The Everyman Beyond the Page

The everyman archetype extends far beyond fiction, threading through law, language, and cultural identity across many nations. In English-speaking legal contexts, the "reasonable person" standard and the hypothetical "man on the Clapham omnibus" serve as everyman benchmarks for juries interpreting statutes. Generic placeholders like John Doe, Joe Bloggs, and the "person having ordinary skill in the art" all echo the same idea of an unremarkable, representative individual. The concept travels across languages and borders: Zé Povinho in Portuguese culture, the "man on the Bondi tram" in Australia, and the Dutch medieval morality play Elckerlijc all point to the same universal figure. Even the Kafkaesque condition—of an everyman overwhelmed by a vast, dehumanizing bureaucratic labyrinth—presupposes the archetype. The acronym T.C. Mits, standing for "the celebrated man in the street," captures the paradox of an ordinary person who becomes, in a sense, the most recognizable character of all.