Paper Topic:

`Everyman` and `Gilgamesh`

The Theme of Death in Different Literary Works

The theme of death in literature has not loose its popularity through the centuries . In the ancient epic Gilgamesh this theme is used in to explain the origins of the world , in the morality play Everyman , written during the Middle ages , the theme of death is used in to pass moral and spiritual message . Modern authors used this theme in many meanings but still the theme of death is closely connected with the search of the meaning of life

Everyman is a morality play

written at the end of the 15th century . It centers on the important questions of love , friendship , life , death and retribution . Everyman , the main character of the play has to answer for all his deeds under the face of death , who comes to the Earth to judge him by the call of God . The Death is one of the main characters of the play . It is an allegorical character , which appears as a human being

The theme of death goes like a red line through the entire play and makes the audience pay special attention to the importance of the issues described . The Death in the play becomes a reminder about the necessity to pay for all good and bad deeds committed by Everyman during his life Luckily , Everyman has an opportunity to reestimate his life and correct his mistakes . The death reminds him about the real system of values and he sees true intentions of other people and true meaning of different things . The death becomes a reminder for Everyman and he finds courage and wisdom not to get scared in the face of death but to correct his faults and get to paradise . Everyman changes his perception of death through the play . In the first scene he is afraid of death and thinks that he has a lot of things to do but by the end of the play he leaves this land with the light heart and goes to heaven . Inner transformation which occurs with the protagonist , becomes possible because he rethinks his life in the face of the Death

Gilgamesh is the oldest epic in literature . It comes to us from Ancient Sumeria , the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers , the territory called Mesopotamia . The date when this great historical work was written varies from 3000 to 2500 BC

It is written in the past time and describes the life and great deeds of Gilgamesh who was a historical king of Uruk in Babylonia . Gilgamesh was a leader and protector of his people . He cares about his people , knows no fear and hesitation , but the human part of Gilgamesh makes him mortal . Accompanied by his true friend Enkidu Gilgamesh fights the most scarring monster Humbaba which terrified all his land and brought a lot of grief to its people . Before the battle Gilgamesh try to encourage each other in to hide their fear of death : All living creatures born of...

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