# Everyman

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{{Short description|Stock character; an ordinary individual}}
{{Other uses}}

[[File:Gary_Cooper_in_High_Noon_1952.JPG|thumb|right|Actor [Gary Cooper](/source/Gary_Cooper) served as an idealized everyman during the "[golden age of Hollywood](/source/golden_age_of_Hollywood)", appearing as the protagonist in movies such as 1952's ''[High Noon](/source/High_Noon)''.<ref name=decency>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-apr-29-ca-57032-story.html|access-date=April 12, 2020|date=April 29, 2001|title=Back When Decency Was Glamorous|periodical=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)|first=Susan|last=King}}</ref><ref name=liberty>{{cite book|title=Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, Volume 2: Since 1863|pages=764|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OX4IAAAAQBAJ|publisher=[Cengage Learning](/source/Cengage_Learning)|isbn=9781133171867|date=2011|first1=John M.|last1=Murrin|first2=Paul E.|last2=Johnson|first3=James M.|last3=McPherson|first4=Alice|last4=Fahs|first5=Gary|last5=Gerstle}}</ref>]]

The '''everyman''' is a [stock character](/source/stock_character) of fiction. An ordinary and [humble](/source/Humility) character,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=everyman|title=WordNet Search - 3.0|publisher=[Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University)|access-date=April 11, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Merriam-Webster">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/everyman|title=Everyman - Definition|dictionary=[Merriam-Webster](/source/Merriam-Webster)|access-date=April 11, 2020}}</ref> the everyman is generally a [protagonist](/source/protagonist) whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them.

==Origin and history==
{{Redirect|Everywoman|other uses}}
[[File:G. Conti La parabola del Buon Samaritano Messina Chiesa della Medaglia Miracolosa Casa di Ospitalità Collereale.jpg|thumb|right|The ''[Parable of the Good Samaritan](/source/Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan)'' features an everyman type character who suffers but receives [compassion](/source/compassion) at the hands of the Samaritan.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://jsr.shanti.virginia.edu/back-issues/volume-11-no-1-august-2012/theatrical-samaritans-performing-others-in-luke-1025-37/|access-date=April 14, 2020|title=Theatrical Samaritans: Performing Others in Luke 10:25-37|first=Howard|last=Pickett|journal=The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning|volume=11|number=1|date=August 2012|doi=10.61335/1551-3432.1146|archive-date=February 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218161846/http://jsr.shanti.virginia.edu/back-issues/volume-11-no-1-august-2012/theatrical-samaritans-performing-others-in-luke-1025-37/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

The term ''everyman'' was used as early as an  [English](/source/England) [morality play](/source/morality_play) from the early 16th century: [''The Summoning of'' ''Everyman''](/source/Everyman_(15th-century_play)).<ref name="Merriam-Webster" /> The play's protagonist is an allegorical character representing an ordinary human who knows he is soon to die; according to literature scholar [Harry Keyishian](/source/Harry_Keyishian) he is portrayed as "prosperous, gregarious, [and] attractive".<ref name=":0">[Harry Keyishian](/source/Harry_Keyishian), [http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/shb.0.0022 "Review of Douglas Morse, dir.,''The Summoning of Everyman'' (Grandfather Films, 2007)"], ''Shakespeare Bulletin'' ([Johns Hopkins U P](/source/Johns_Hopkins_University_Press)), 2008 Fall;'''26'''(3):45–48.</ref> Everyman is the only human character of the play; the others are embodied ideas such as Fellowship, who "symbolizes the transience and limitations of human friendship".<ref name=":0" />

The use of the term ''everyman'' to refer generically to a portrayal of an ordinary or typical person dates to the early 20th century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|dictionary=Oxford English Dictionary|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/65346|title="Everyman, n."|access-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref> The term ''everywoman''<ref>[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/everywoman collinsdictionary.com: everywoman], [https://web.archive.org/web/20210428215241/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/everywoman backup]</ref> originates in the same period, having been used by [George Bernard Shaw](/source/George_Bernard_Shaw) to describe the character Ann Whitefield of his play ''[Man and Superman](/source/Man_and_Superman)''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|dictionary=Oxford English Dictionary|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/249673|title="Everywoman, n."|access-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref>

==Narrative uses==

An everyman is described with the intent that most audience members can readily identify with him. Although the everyman may face the same difficulties that a hero might, archetypal heroes react rapidly and vigorously by manifest action, whereas an everyman typically avoids engagement or reacts ambivalently, until the situation, growing dire, demands effective reaction to avert disaster. Such a "[round](/source/Round_character)", [dynamic character](/source/dynamic_character)—that is, a character showing complexity and development—is generally a protagonist.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Common Character Archetypes|url=https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/uteach/_files/pdf/teaching-from-the-archives/Archetypes%20in%20Drama,%20Notes.pdf|website=[University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts](/source/University_of_Texas_at_Austin_College_of_Liberal_Arts)|publisher=[University of Texas at Austin](/source/University_of_Texas_at_Austin)|access-date=2021-10-24|archive-date=2022-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128025612/https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/uteach/_files/pdf/teaching-from-the-archives/Archetypes%20in%20Drama,%20Notes.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Or if lacking complexity and development—thus a "[flat](/source/flat_character)", [static character](/source/static_character)—then the everyman is a secondary character.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Especially in literature, there is often a narrator, as the written medium enables extensive explication of, for example, previous events, internal details, and mental content. An everyman narrator may be noticed little, whether by other characters or sometimes even by the reader. A narrating everyman, like Ché in the musical ''[Evita](/source/Evita_(musical))'',<ref name="miller">{{cite web|title=Inside ''Evita'' by Scott Miller|url=http://www.newlinetheatre.com/evitachapter.html|last=Miller|first=Scott|website=NewLineTheatre.com|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=July 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731023604/http://www.newlinetheatre.com/evitachapter.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="revival">{{cite news|last=Gans|first=Andrew|date=February 10, 2012|title=In upcoming revival of ''Evita'', Che will be the "everyman", not Che Guevara|periodical=[Playbill](/source/Playbill)|url=https://www.playbill.com/article/in-upcoming-revival-of-evita-che-will-be-the-everyman-not-che-guevara-com-187373|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=August 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810194643/https://www.playbill.com/article/in-upcoming-revival-of-evita-che-will-be-the-everyman-not-che-guevara-com-187373|url-status=live}}</ref> may even address the audience directly.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

==List of examples==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}

* [Leopold Bloom](/source/Leopold_Bloom) of [James Joyce](/source/James_Joyce)'s novel ''[Ulysses](/source/Ulysses_(novel))'' (serialized 1918–1920, published in its entirety in 1922)<ref>{{cite news|magazine=[Paris Review](/source/Paris_Review)|title=Around Bloom in a Day|first=Jonathan|last=Gharraie|url=http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/06/27/around-bloom-in-a-day/|date=June 27, 2011|access-date=April 15, 2020}}</ref>
* [The anonymous narrator](/source/The_Narrator_(Fight_Club)) of [Chuck Palahniuk](/source/Chuck_Palahniuk)'s novel ''[Fight Club](/source/Fight_Club_(novel))'' (1996) and its [movie adaptation](/source/Fight_Club) (1999)<ref>{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=Gavin|title=Inside Out: Gavin Smith Goes One-on-One with David Fincher|journal=[Film Comment](/source/Film_Comment)|date=September–October 1999|volume=35|issue=5|pages=64}}</ref>
* C.C. "Bud" Baxter of [Billy Wilder](/source/Billy_Wilder)'s movie ''[The Apartment](/source/The_Apartment)'' (1960).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eppc.org/publications/the-apartment/|title=The Apartment|first=James|last=Bowman|access-date=April 15, 2020|publisher=[Ethics & Public Policy Center](/source/Ethics_%26_Public_Policy_Center)}}</ref>
* [Emmet Brickowski](/source/Emmet_Brickowski) of [''The Lego Movie''](/source/The_Lego_Movie_(franchise))<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nsnews.com/entertainment/film/the-lego-movie-2-returns-with-a-purpose-1.23627808|title=The Lego Movie 2 returns with a purpose|periodical=North Shore News|first=Julie|last=Crawford|date=February 8, 2019|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=July 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731025255/https://www.nsnews.com/entertainment/film/the-lego-movie-2-returns-with-a-purpose-1.23627808|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [Charlie Brown](/source/Charlie_Brown) of [Charles Schulz](/source/Charles_M._Schulz)'s comic strip ''[Peanuts](/source/Peanuts)''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonparent.com/articles/1610/1610-good-grief-lessons-from-charlie-brown.php|title=Good Grief! Lessons From Charlie Brown|first=Lisa A.|last=Beach|date=October 2016|access-date=April 15, 2020|periodical=Washington Parent|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807093444/https://www.washingtonparent.com/articles/1610/1610-good-grief-lessons-from-charlie-brown.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Ché in [Tim Rice](/source/Tim_Rice) and [Andrew Lloyd Webber](/source/Andrew_Lloyd_Webber)'s musical [''Evita''](/source/Evita_(musical))<ref name=miller/><ref name=revival/>
* Christian of [John Bunyan](/source/John_Bunyan)'s book ''[The Pilgrim's Progress](/source/The_Pilgrim's_Progress)'' (1678).<ref>{{cite book|title=Reading Piers Plowman and The Pilgrim's Progress: Reception and the Protestant Reader|isbn=9780809316533|url=https://archive.org/details/readingpiersplow0000john|url-access=registration|pages=[https://archive.org/details/readingpiersplow0000john/page/n33 20]|first=Barbara A.|last=Johnson|publisher=[SIU Press](/source/SIU_Press)|date=1992}}</ref>
* [Arthur Dent](/source/Arthur_Dent) of [Douglas Adams](/source/Douglas_Adams)' novel ''[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy](/source/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy)''.<ref name=encyclopedia>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of American Popular Fiction|first1=Brian|last1=Jones|first2=Geoff|last2=Hamilton|pages=62–63, 153|year=2010|publisher=[Infobase Publishing](/source/Infobase_Publishing)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JEvyadBdwYQC|isbn=9781438116945}}</ref>
* [Fred Flintstone](/source/Fred_Flintstone) of "[The Flintstones](/source/The_Flintstones)"
* [John Candy](/source/John_Candy)'s various roles, particularly in "[Stripes](/source/Stripes_(film))", "[Summer Rental](/source/Summer_Rental)", "[Planes, Trains, and Automobiles](/source/Planes%2C_Trains%2C_and_Automobiles)", and "[The Great Outdoors](/source/The_Great_Outdoors_(film))", and his starring role on "[Camp Candy](/source/Camp_Candy)"
* [James Gordon](/source/Commissioner_Gordon) in [DC Comics](/source/DC_Comics).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://comicsalliance.com/bizarro-back-issues-gordon-space-murder/|first=John|last=DiBello|title=Bizarro Back Issues: Commissor Gordon vs. the Space Alien (1978)|date=October 24, 2011|website=[ComicsAlliance](/source/ComicsAlliance)|access-date=April 15, 2020}}</ref>
* [Jim Halpert](/source/Jim_Halpert) in [''The Office''](/source/The_Office_(U.S._TV_series))<ref>{{cite web|website=[MSN TV](/source/MSN.com)|access-date=April 15, 2020|title=''The Office'': Co-Workers You'd Love to Have - Jim Halpert (John Krasinski)|url=http://tv.msn.com/tv/series-photos/the-office.5/?photo=d31efda6-baeb-4da0-8104-351586828871&gallery=25053|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019144925/http://tv.msn.com/tv/series-photos/the-office.5/?gallery=25053&photo=d31efda6-baeb-4da0-8104-351586828871|archive-date=October 19, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [Jonathan Harker](/source/Jonathan_Harker) of [Bram Stoker](/source/Bram_Stoker)'s novel ''[Dracula](/source/Dracula)'' (1897).<ref>{{cite book|title=The Vampire Lectures|first=Laurence A.|last=Rickels|year=1999 |pages=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Svi-z0mg-8C|isbn=9781452903934|publisher=[University of Minnesota Press](/source/University_of_Minnesota_Press)}}</ref>
* [George Jetson](/source/George_Jetson) of ''[The Jetsons](/source/The_Jetsons)''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/most-memorable-hanna-barbera-characters/|access-date=April 21, 2020|website=[Screen Rant](/source/Screen_Rant)|title=10 Most Memorable Hanna-Barbera Characters|date=January 24, 2020|first=Paolo|last=Alfar|archive-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630133443/https://screenrant.com/most-memorable-hanna-barbera-characters/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [Homer Simpson](/source/Homer_Simpson) of "[The Simpsons](/source/The_Simpsons)"
* [Philip J. Fry](/source/Philip_J._Fry) of "[Futurama](/source/Futurama)"
* [Will Kane](/source/Will_Kane) of [Fred Zinnemann](/source/Fred_Zinnemann)'s movie ''[High Noon](/source/High_Noon)'' (1952).<ref name=decency/><ref name=liberty/>
* Jacob Kowalski of [J. K. Rowling](/source/J._K._Rowling)'s ''[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them](/source/Fantastic_Beasts_and_Where_to_Find_Them_(film))'' movies.<ref>{{cite news|access-date=April 15, 2020|title=Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them review: Fun but long-winded|periodical=[Sydney Morning Herald](/source/Sydney_Morning_Herald)|first=Paul|last=Byrnes|date=November 16, 2016|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review-fun-but-longwinded-20161115-gsptra.html|archive-date=July 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731102909/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review-fun-but-longwinded-20161115-gsptra.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [Stan Marsh](/source/Stan_Marsh) of ''[South Park](/source/South_Park)''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2474481/the-25-best-south-park-characters-ever-ranked|website=[CinemaBlend](/source/CinemaBlend)|title=The 25 Best South Park Characters Ever, Ranked|access-date=April 16, 2020|first=Hugh|last=Scott|date=June 7, 2019|archive-date=June 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610225721/https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2474481/the-25-best-south-park-characters-ever-ranked|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [Marty McFly](/source/Marty_McFly) of [''Back to the Future''](/source/Back_to_the_Future_(franchise))<ref>{{cite news|url=https://glidemagazine.com/150571/back-future-day-now-cast-today/|access-date=April 15, 2020|date=October 21, 2015|periodical=[Glide](/source/Glide_(magazine))|title=Back to the Future Day: Where Were They Now (The Cast Then and Today)}}</ref>
* [Ted Mosby](/source/Ted_Mosby) of the television series ''[How I Met Your Mother](/source/How_I_Met_Your_Mother)''.<ref>{{cite news|first=Ball|last=Chris|url=http://www.cleveland.com/movies/index.ssf/2009/09/new_on_dvd_shrink_management_t.html|title=New on DVD: 'Shrink,' 'Management,' 'The Patty Duke Show' and more|date=September 26, 2009|access-date=April 15, 2020|periodical=[Cleveland Plain Dealer](/source/Cleveland_Plain_Dealer)|archive-date=July 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710035334/http://www.cleveland.com/movies/index.ssf/2009/09/new_on_dvd_shrink_management_t.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Leslie|last=Adkins|url=http://thedartmouth.com/2009/05/13/arts/seen|periodical=[The Dartmouth](/source/The_Dartmouth)|title=AS SEEN ON: My new addiction: 'How I Met Your Mother'|date=May 13, 2009|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917092145/http://thedartmouth.com/2009/05/13/arts/seen|archive-date=September 17, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [Winston Smith](/source/Winston_Smith_(Nineteen_Eighty-Four)) in [George Orwell](/source/George_Orwell)'s novel ''[Nineteen Eighty-Four](/source/Nineteen_Eighty-Four)'' (1949)<ref>{{cite book|publisher=[Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press)|title=The Cambridge Companion to George Orwell|first=John|last=Rodden|page=9|year=2007|isbn=9780521675079|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x8-fnamQuUkC}}</ref>
* Egbert Souse in [Edward F. Cline](/source/Edward_F._Cline)'s film ''[The Bank Dick](/source/The_Bank_Dick)'' (1940)<ref>{{cite web|title=W.C. Fields Biography|url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/w-c-fields.html|website=[TheBiographyChannel.com](/source/TheBiographyChannel.com)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406054319/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/w-c-fields.html|archive-date=April 6, 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=April 15, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|journal=[Rogue Cinema](/source/Rogue_Cinema)|title=Film Reviews: ''The W.C. Fields Comedy Collection'' Vol. 2 (2007)|first=James L.|last=Neibaur|date=February 28, 2007|url=http://www.roguecinema.com/article952.html|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119075416/http://www.roguecinema.com/article952.html|archive-date=November 19, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{{div col end}}

==See also==
{{wiktionary|everyman}}
<!-- Please keep entries in alphabetical order & add a short description [WP:SEEALSO](/source/WP%3ASEEALSO) -->
*[Average Joe](/source/Average_Joe) – wholly average person
*[Commoner](/source/Commoner) – person neither nobility, royalty, nor priesthood
*''[Elckerlijc](/source/Elckerlijc)'' – Dutch medieval morality play
*[Everyman's right](/source/Everyman's_right) – freedom to roam
*[Joe Bloggs](/source/Joe_Bloggs) – British generic average man
*[John Doe](/source/John_Doe) – generic everyman used in English-speaking countries
*[John Q. Public](/source/John_Q._Public) – generic, hypothetical "common man"
*[Kafkaesque](/source/Kafkaesque) – everyman being overwhelmed by vast, dehumanizing social labyrinth
*[Man on the Bondi tram](/source/Man_on_the_Bondi_tram) – hypothetical reasonable Australian 
*[Person having ordinary skill in the art](/source/Person_having_ordinary_skill_in_the_art)
*[Reasonable person](/source/Reasonable_person) – term helping a jury interpret a law's wording
*[Straight man](/source/Straight_man)
*[T.C. Mits](/source/T.C._Mits) – [acronym](/source/acronym) for "the celebrated man in the street"
*[The man on the Clapham omnibus](/source/The_man_on_the_Clapham_omnibus) – hypothetical reasonable person
*[Zé Povinho](/source/Z%C3%A9_Povinho) – Portuguese everyman

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Stock characters}}

Category:Everyman
Category:Stock characters

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Everyman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.