As times change, that change can be seen through the change in works of art. English literature is no exception. As England went from the Medieval Ages to Renaissance times, the literature underwent drastic changes. The Medieval world placed God at the center of existence, shunting aside man and the natural world, while in Renaissance literature, secular matters took center stage. .
All Medieval literature holds true to its central theme of God. Most notably are Everyman, The Book of Margery Kempe, and A Book of Showings to the Anchoress Julia of Norwich. Everyman is a morality play, in which, the play deals with the coming of Judgment Day. In the play, the character Everyman is suppose to represent everyman in the world. As Everyman's last day comes upon him, he finds that all the traits he called upon to help him through his last ordeal have deserted him. All, that is of course, except Good Deeds. Everyman realizes he will face his Judgment Day with only his Good Deeds when Good Deeds says," Fear not: I will speak for thee,"(Everyman 466). This play embodies one of Christianity's main themes, which is that only through Good Deeds can one obtain salvation. The Book of Margery Kempe is an autobiography of Margery Kempe, a medieval laywoman. In the book, Margery tells of the holy visions she receives and her struggle to do what the visions tell her. In the same aspect, A Book of Showings to the Anchoress Julian of Norwich, tells of how Julian of Norwich receives sixteen holy visions. Both of these books show how critical a role God played in everyday life of people simply because they were so popular. By being that popular, that means that was what the people were most interested in. For instance, one today will more than likely not find a book on the bestseller list that deals solely with religion in the way the two above-mentioned books do. Rather one tends to find books that are more in the nature of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series or books that deal with political issues.
