Fear in Morality Plays and Hope in Mystery PlaysBoth the morality plays and the mystery plays contained important messages that the church hoped to teach the people. One of the most famous mystery comedies was The Second Shepherds' Play, while the most infamous morality play was Everyman. Both plays refer to ordinary people, but The Second Shepherds' Play focuses more on involving people in the story, while Everyman's intention is to encourage people to prepare for the afterlife. Overall, Everyman has a darker, more urgent tone to get people to change, while The Second Shepherds' Play is more uplifting. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The character of Everyman is relatable as he strives to live for material and earthly pleasures. He admits this, when it may be too late (Everyman, Author Unknown 309-308). However, a flawed character is used so that the audience can have someone to relate to. Everyman also comments on how he had no warning that death was coming soon (Author Unknown 302). The public can learn from Everyman's mistake. Death does not choose you whether you are rich or poor, healthy or sick, nor does it come with a warning. Death only does what it is told. This is seen in the beginning when God commands death to take every man on his journey to death (Author Unknown 300-301). This is a warning to the public that they never know when to expect death, so they should prepare while they have the chance. Each man's name can also be seen as symbolism. Everyman has a pun in the first lines of the show. God states: “Everyone thus lives according to his own pleasure” (Author Unknown 300). From this statement we can not only conclude that the character everyone lives for himself, but that everyone lives for himself. This idea is further explored in an article that also studies social criticism in Everyman. “As these generalizations about humanity take shape and voice in Everyman's character, signs immediately begin to appear that excessive concern with wealth is indeed his chief moral failing” (Harper and Mize, Material Economy, Social Economy and Social Critique in Everyman 266 ). Everyman literally and figuratively represents every man (and every woman) on earth. Meanwhile, The Second Shepherds' Play opens with all the shepherds (ordinary people) complaining about various problems. Coll complains about the weather and his low social status, Gib complains about the weather and his wife, and Daw complains about the weather and his low pay (The Second Shepherd's Play, The Wakefield Master 266-271). Complaints allow the audience to have main characters to relate to, which makes them more likely to listen. The idea of ​​recognizable common characters is verified by an analytical essay on The Second Shepherd's Comedy: “Much of the dialogue in the plays, for example, refers to the working conditions of peasants who were experimenting with emergent relationships both with the land . . . and to the animals that were so important to the people involved in the development of the wool trade in England” (Kiser, Sheep and Humans in the Pastoral Ecology of the Towneley First and Second Shepherds' Plays 1). Conclusion Both plays relate characters to the audience, but The Second Shepherds play uses more than one character to do so. Using multiple characters allows the playwright to write about different issues, which results in multiple people relating to the play. These two,.