A copy of the "EVERYMAN and other Miracle and Morality Plays" (Dover Thrift Edition) was found in the treasure chest that was Box #5, wrapped in a trashbag and purple tape. There were papers stapled inside and several pages had handwritten annotations.
The Play[]
Everyman is a medieval play classified as a "Morality Play." It examines the question of Christian salvation by use of allegorical characters, and what Man must do to attain it. The premise is that the good and evil deeds of one's life will be tallied by God after death, as in a ledger book. The play is the allegorical accounting of the life of Everyman, who represents all mankind. All the characters are also allegorical, each personifying an abstract idea such as Fellowship, (material) Goods, Strength and Knowledge. The moral of the play is that all will abandon Everyman on his final journey except Good Deeds and Knowledge, and of the two only Good Deeds will stand beside him at the final judgment.
The edition found in the Treasure Chest had the Corenthal Report dated 12-14-1971 stapled into page 36, and several subsequent pages of the play had been altered with handwritten text.
The Dramatis Personnae of the play has several new characters hand written in: The Voyeur, The Firebrand, and The Guardian.
Quotes[]
At the TOP of the opposite page (p 37) in the header with the title EVERYMAN is the following quote:
[ENTER THE VOYEUR, THE FIREBRAND, AND THE GUARDIAN]
The three characters enter the play only after a message from the Messenger: this play is one of morality and its theme is the transitory nature of life. Before the characters are introduced, the Messenger pronounces, "The story saith - Man, in the beginning, look well, and take good heed to the ending, be you never so gay!" Then enter the main characters while the Messenger still speaks as he warns against sin and notes that all of the Everyman's allies shall forsake him in the end.
At the bottom of the page in the Footer is written:
"THE VOYEUR SHALL WATCH FROM AN EMOTIONAL DISTANCE, INSISTING UPON MAINTAINING THEIR STRENGTH."
At this point, the action has still not begun and this line occurs in the center of God's opening speech, following the admonishment from the Messenger. God complains that the people have become corrupt and lost sight of their higher purpose, unthankful for a loaning of life and body, and he immediately decides to summon Everyman for judgment. Angrily and selfishly they attack each other, God says, even though he had placed hope in the Everyman. Even before the action of the play, the Voyeur watches from an emotional distance, insisting upon maintaining the Everyman's strength. The Voyeur may have the best intuition of what is to come and attempts to rally his friends before they are found by Death.
Page 39 has a line in the Footer which reads:
"THE FIREBRAND SHALL DISREGARD OBVIOUS DANGER AND ASSUME THE ROLE OF FORCE"
This page shows the initial interaction between Death and the Everyman: the Everyman was not expecting him, sees if he can bargain with the unexpected force, and Death refuses. The Everyman laments at the bottom of the page, "Alas, shall I have no longer respite? I may say Death giveth no warning." Even in the face of inescapable death, the Firebrand disregards obvious danger and assumes the role of force.
Page 41 has a line in the Footer which reads:
"THE GUARDIAN SHALL LOSE HIS HEART AND THEN HIS BLOOD AND FIGHT TO LOSE ALL HE LOVES"
On the previous two pages, Death refuses to negotiate with the Everyman but does allow him to bring friends with him to the final judgment. The first place the Everyman turns is to Fellowship, representing general society as compared to the close friends and family which are called upon later. Page 41 ends with the Everyman's line, "Yea, good Fellowship, yes, I am in great jeopardy." At this point the Guardian loses his heart and then his blood: his love and then his kin.
Page 43 has a line in the Footer which reads:
"THE VOYEUR SHALL REMAIN IDLE TO ALL WHO SEE, HOWEVER BUSY HE MAY BE BENEATH"
On the two pages leading to this line, the Everyman asks Fellowship to accompany him on a difficult journey. Fellowship agrees until he learns that the journey is with Death, at which point he not only refuses to accompany the Everyman but also completely forsakes him and leaves him on his own; society does not stand with the Everyman, but rather only pities him and ignores his plight. The final line before page 44 is a plea from the Everyman to give assistance, at which point the footer notes that the Voyeur shall remain idle to all who see, however busy he may be beneath. The Voyeur may well be busy with Fellowship and society, looking for any kind of outside aid and begging for help quietly, although none shall come.
Page 45 has a line in the Footer which reads:
"THE FIREBRAND SHALL LEAD AN OFFENSE AS HE MIGHT, ONLY TO SUCCUMB TO THE WAR WITHIN"
Pages 44 and 45 begin with Everyman being abandoned by Fellowship; he calls out for family and friends, and thus Kindred and Cousin come to stand at Everyman's side, willing to go on almost any journey with him. When they find that Everyman's quest is one into Death, Kindred blatantly refuses to accompany him and Cousin makes excuses. The page ends with the Everyman's family and friends forsaking him. At this point, the Firebrand shall lead an offense as he might, but succumbs to the war within; the abandonment by family and friends may have some influence on this loss of the inner battle.
Page 47 has a line in the Footer which reads:
"THE FIREBRAND SHALL DEFECT AND SELF-IMMOLATE, NO LONGER DEFINING THE TWO WITHIN"
On this page, the Everyman asks physical Goods to accompany him to the final judgment, but Goods refuses and notes that his presence would simply damn the Everyman further for his selfishness. The Everyman complains that he did not know he was wasting his time on Goods; Goods sharply rebukes him and notes that his presence is a taint: "My condition is man's soul to kill; if I save one, a thousand I do spill; weenest thou that I would follow thee? Nay, from this world, not verily." The Everyman's last thought, on the page, indicates that he thought Goods was a friend. The footer then reveals the defection and self-immolation of the Firebrand. On page 48, Goods, the apparent friend, admits to being a stealer of souls and a traitor who laughs that the Everyman would trust him for so long. The Everyman then cries out with sorrow that he is alone and abandoned even by those thought closest to him.
Page 49 has a line in the footer which reads:
"THE GUARDIAN SHALL DEFY A GOD ONLY TO BE DEALT A FATAL BLOW"
On this page, Everyman, searching for allies to advocate for him at the final judgment, approaches Good Deeds to aid him. She wishes that she could, but due to neglect, she cannot stand; she advises him to fall upon her sister Knowledge as an ally, who agrees to help the Everyman and be his guide. At this point the Guardian defies a god and is dealt a fatal blow; on the next page, the Everyman will begin his quest to revive Good Deeds.
Page 51 has a line in the footer which reads:
"THE VOYEUR SHALL SWALLOW JUSTICE’S SWORD"
This line follows the Everyman's journey to Confession, whom Knowledge and Good Deeds tell the Everyman will strengthen Good Deeds for the final judgment: Good Deeds is weak from a life of selfishness and greed. The Everyman ends the page by begging forgiveness from God, confessing his faults. On the next page, the Everyman receives a cloak of contrition, a symbol of sorrow for his past mistakes that will aid in representing his repentance to God. The swallowing of justice's sword comes between the confession on page 51 and the mix of deep sorrow and cleansing on page 52, where Good Deeds is also able to stand and become the Everyman's most loyal ally.
Page 53 has a line in the footer which reads:
"THEIR WORLD SHALL PERISH"
This page features Knowledge and Good Deeds telling the Everyman to call upon Strength, Beauty, Discretion, and Five-wits for his final pilgrimage with Death. The Everyman does this, and these four allies promise to follow him on any journey (a promise they will soon break upon learning the true nature of the journey). The final lines before the end of the page are the promise of Strength: "And I, Strength, will stand by you in distress, though thou in battle would fight on the ground." This same Strength is the one that the Voyeur has advocating maintaining from the beginning.
Page 55 has a line in the footer which reads:
"THEIR WORLD SHALL BURN"
This line follows two pages of discussion between Five-Wit and Knowledge who advocate for Everyman visiting a priest for the last rites or cleansing rituals before he passes on. Knowledge notes, though, that not all priests are equally good, acknowledging impureness and greed among their ranks. Five-Wits replies that Everyman should trust God to keep him away from such tricksters and forces of evil; this statement of faith in priests of cleansing ends the page.
Page 57 has a line in the footer which reads:
"YOU, TOO, ARE ON THIS SAME. SINKING. VESSEL."
This page and the previous one show all of Everyman's allies forsaking him: Strength, Beauty, Discretion, and Five-wits all leave him to his fate. It is implied that the audience, too, are on the same sinking vessel and must abandon the players: nothing the viewers do can alter their fate.
Page 58 has a line in the footer which reads:
"THE GREAT FLOOD SHALL WASH AWAY ALL THE ASH, READYING THE WORLD FOR ANOTHER GREATER, CYCLE"
This page ends with the Everyman offering his soul unto death, taking his Good Deeds along with him. It also notes that Knowledge will follow the Everyman until the very last moment, and only then will forsake him.
Page 59 has a line in the footer which reads:
"[EXIT ALL]"
This page of the book marks the end of the play. The play ends after a final proclamation from a character called the Doctor on the moral of the story, in the Doctor's first and only appearance. The Doctor emphasizes that, when facing death, the only allies the Everyman had were his Good Deeds and his Knowledge, and only his Good Deeds could follow him to the final judgment. Those whose Good Deeds are weak are cast into Hell, and those whose Deeds are strong ascend into Heaven. The addition of [EXIT ALL] implies that all characters, including the Doctor, reset or die with each iteration.
Roles of the Characters[]
Following release of this video, there was much speculation as to who the characters described in the play might be referring to, and what the relevance may be. It is generally accepted that the writing in the book is a description of an ongoing cycle that the cast and The Mining Town Four are reliving.
It generally became accepted that "The Voyeur" was Vince, "The Firebrand" was Evan, and "The Guardian" was Jeff. In the video "Lexi" HABIT refers to Vince as the Guardian, which throws those definitions into disarray. However, it is later shown that HABIT was incorrect or lying; in "All good things", Jeff is confirmed to be the Guardian, and thus Vinny and Evan truly were the Voyeur and Firebrand respectively.
It is implied in later content that the cast will always fulfil these roles in the Iteration Cycle.