Everyman

For other uses, see Everyman (disambiguation).

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, 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 that transcend human potential. 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

• V in V for Vendetta and the film adaptation of the same name
• Christian in Pilgrims Progress
• Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest
• Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• Ted Mosby in the comedy series How I Met Your Mother
• Stan Marsh in South Park
• Jim Halpert/Tim Canterbury in the TV series The Office
• Leopold Bloom in Ulysses
• The narrator of the novel Fight Club and the film adaptation
• Mick Travis in O Lucky Man!
• Rhys Williams in Torchwood
• Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four
• Theo Faron in Children of Men
• Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass
• Chuck Bartowski in Chuck
• Phillip Fry from Futurama

See also

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