In the play Everyman, death is personified and treated as an agent of God that goes to visit the plays protagonist, Everyman. The unknown author of the play uses Death as a character to present a very real truth that all people will meet death. Death is an antagonist in the play and represents physical death. The word "death" grabs people's attention because it is a strong word. It is a loaded, often offensive, intense word and it reflects a reality every human will one day have to realize. The author understands death's implications and uses it to draw the reader in. In the play Everyman, the character Death is presented by the author as an allegorical representation of physical death and the reader finds that Death is under God's control, brings conviction, and will visit everyone.

In Everyman the character Death is viewed as submissive to God's will and under His command. Since the play is a morality play, the characteristics of Death are viewed as the same as a human's physical death. In the Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, the author brings to attention that "[t]he themes in Everyman are strongly reflected in the allegorical characters which populate the work." The play opens up with "[h]ere beginneth a treatise how the High Father of Heaven sendeth Death to summon every creature to come and give an account of their lives in this world, and is in manner of a moral play." In Everyman, Death is merely a carrier and transporter for God. From the beginning of the play, it is known that Death is set beneath God.

God uses Death as His messenger to tell Everyman that his time is up on earth and that he must give an account of his life. From the beginning God is seen in the play as in control and as the lone authority. God sees that Everyman is not living righteously and calls on Death to give Everyman the news of his summoning. During Death and God's brief