God's creations of man in a lyrical dramatization; Noah's cantankerous and hilariously funny wife refusing to leave without her friends; the Massacre of the Innocents Miracle Plays were a popular form of entertainment throughout the Middle Ages, and part of the poetic and dramatic tradition on which Shakespeare drew. Everyman discovers what you can't take with you when you go. He beseeches in turn friends, family (one pleads 'cramp in my toe'), possessions ('I follow no man in such voyages'), and finally falls back on moral and religious values. This is the most comprehensive paperback edition available and includes an introduction and extensive notes.

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Apart from the morality play Everyman, this volume contains a selection of Biblical pageants, some of which ultimately go back to the Latin liturgical drama of the medieval Church. They are no less religious in origin and inspiration than the Church architecture, painting and sculpture of the Middle Ages. Most of them are Corpus Christi pageants of guild pageants, i.e. short plays acted by the trade guilds as episodes of the whole Corpus Christi cycle. They have been chosen for their intrinsic merit from the cycles of York, Chester, Wakefield, Coventry and "N. town", with the addition of a translation of the Cornish Death of Pilate to represent this unique branch of Celtic literature.

Written in Middle English during the Tudor period, "Everyman" is the most famous example of the medieval morality play. Popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th century, morality plays were allegorical dramas in which the protagonists are met with the personifications of personal attributes and tasked with choosing either a good and godly life or evil. "Everyman" is the archetypal morality play, as the main character, Everyman, represents all of mankind. God, frustrated with the wicked and greedy, sends Death to Everyman and summons him to account for his misdeeds and sins. It was believed that God tallied all of one's good and evil deeds in life and then one must provide an accounting before God upon one's death. During Everyman's pilgrimage to God, he meets many characters, such as Fellowship, Good Deeds, and Knowledge. Everyman asks them all to join him in his journey so that he may improve his reckoning before God. In the end, it is only Good Deeds that stays with him before God and helps Everyman find salvation and eternal life. In addition to "Everyman," this volume contains several other morality plays from medieval Europe. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.