The Elizabethan World Picture

1. The Elizabethan World Picture

2. Politics • The absolute ruler • The King had received his almighty powers directly from God and was therefore only responsible to God. • The middleclass allied with the king and gained power and privileges.

3. The Reformation • Reduction of the power of the church • Land confiscated • Simpler church services • Services conducted in English • New belief in the individual • The rise of humanism >< • Belief in destiny (Providence)

4. Astronomy • The medieval idea of the Earth as the centre of the universe was still dominant. • The Earth was surrounded by spheres, whose movements were all interdependant . • Outside the spheres was the imperial heaven. • The spheres closest to the center were instable and in constant danger of being destroyed. • A feeling of chaos lurking in the corner.

5. The Chain of Being: Classes • The belief that God had placed all of his creations in a hierarchy. • All creations were like links of a chain. • The extremities consisted of God and the inanimate class. • Spirit was balanced by matter. • Man was positioned in the middle of the chain. • Possessed both matter and spirit and consisted of all elements. • Man seen as an outstanding creature • Summed up the whole universe in himself.

6. Reason • Man was distinguished from the animals by his reason. • Reason consisted of will and understanding • Man in conflict between his reason and his passion. • (Middle position of the chain, remember?) • Moving up the chain was impossible – the Fall. • The danger of descending the chain was ever present – by giving in to passion.

7. Reason • Man must know his own nature – identity. • The will was free. • Man must make the right choice, which was that of reason and not passion. • If Man used his will correctly, he was able to do good. • But Man was in constant danger of failing to make the right choice, because of the Fall having dimmed his understanding.

8. The Four Elements and the Stars • Man consisted of four elements, i.e. humour, created in the liver. • Earth – melancholy • Water – phlegm/calmness • Air – blood • Fire – choler/bad-temperedness • The perfect man had the perfect balance of the four elements. • A dominant element would influence the person’s character.

9. The Four Elements and the Stars • The stars could influence the mixture of the humours. • Man unable to understand the stars – the Fall. • Unhappiness an educating force. • The stars were in total control of the existence of creatures found below man in the chain of being. • But man had his free will. • If a man’s will was weak, he might be influenced by the stars.

10. Order • Order within the goups. • Always one superior to the others – the primate. • Among men, the primate was the emperor. • Among the virtues, the ”noblest” was justice. • Shakespeare’s plays are often about what happens when the order is disturbed through men’s actions.

11. The Correspondences • Man summed up the universe – microcosm. • Head controlled body. • The planets controlled the lives of people and events on Earth. • Storms and earthquakes were compared to the stormy passions of man – upsetting the order. • Order in the state = order in the universe – macrocosm. • Queen Elizabeth compared to the primum mobile and the sun – the ruler of the heavens.

12. The BodyPolitic • The body politic compared to microcosm, i.e. man. • Functions of state = functions of the body. • Each limb must work together towards a common end. • Man is used by Shakespeare to illustrate the little kingdom.