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The Elizabethan World Picture
In 1942 Eustace M. W. Tillyard published his book "The Elizabethan World Picture" in which he seeks to explore the 'idea of world order' in the minds of illustrious writers such as William Shakespeare. This stands as one of very few works on this, however, grand period of time regarding literature and theatre. Today, the Elizabethan World Picture (or at least that is how we interpret it) is a broad term for the characteristic and different set of beliefs, different givens that dominated Shakespeare and his fellow writers' perception of order.
Every time period has its own set of beliefs, its own way of understanding life and how to live it. These givens vary from time to time so the givens in Shakespeare’s time naturally differ a lot from the givens of our time, but they are the key to properly understanding Shakespeare’s plays since they were basically forming them. We choose to understand the Elizabethan World Picture as the designation under which the givens of the Elizabethan era have all been comprised.
As there are naturally a countless number of different givens relevant to that era, we have chosen to go in depth with a selection of what we conceive to be the more important ones; beginning with the probably most important belief - at least in connection with a perception of 'order': The Great Chain of Being.
The Great Chain of Being
The great chain of being is based on the fact that there is a hierarchical system on earth. Order on earth is based on the hierarchy that rules. To start off, god is above everyone and everything. Right beneath god is the angels. Beneath the angels are the man.God was defined as the one existing outside time and space. He possessed all the normal spiritual abilities of reason, love and imagination that mankind also were believed to have. But beyond that, god had other spiritual abilities which were omnipotence, omniscience and omniprecense. God is the world's authority. The angels below him in the hierachy were spirits purely, they had no physical substance. People thought they had temporary bodies created through particles in the air. The humans were also spiritual creatures but they had their own physical body which was not temporary. Below the human in the chain of being there is also, animals, plants and minerals.
Divine Right of Kings
Another central given of the Elizabethan era is the “Divine Right of Kings”. This given might seem quite strange at first, but we actually still have some laws that strongly resemble it.
The Divine Right of Kings is a both religious and political doctrine of royal and political legitimacy and it basically states that monarchs (and their families) aren’t subject to any authority on this earth and in this life, since they are placed where they are by God himself. In other words, God granted them their right to rule and therefore they should. This also means that if you try to overthrow a king or try to kill him, you are acting against God’s will which will eventually result in a destruction of the perfect order in the universe, your own loss, and/or even dead. An example of things taking a turn for the worse when God’s will is crossed is the assassination of Julius Caesar which ultimately led to the Liberators' civil war.
Regarding the previously mentioned laws that seem based on the very Divine Right of King, we have § 13 of the
Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, which states that the Queen/King of Denmark has immunity (and with him/her their family). If we take a closer look at § 13, we even see a clear and obvious trace of the Divine Rights of Kings in the language:
“The King of Denmark is free from responsibility; his character is sacred.”
First off it is clearly stated that he (she today) is free from responsibility as the belief at that time was, but it also mentions that his character is sacred - or in other words that the king is in connection with God.
As the English monarchs of the Elizabethan era, our king (now queen) is only answering to God; no eartly authority. However, today the royal family’s immunity is up to debate, something it certainly wasn’t in Shakespeare’s time.
The Signs of Zodiac
Another given of the Elizabethan era was “The signs of zodiac”.
The signs of zodiac are a way in astrology to determine how your life will be. When and where you were born is some of the things that play a part in “the signs of zodiac” – so if you are born under a certain sign, your life will be as predicted for the certain sign, it is not something you can change, but simply something you are born into. It is what we today call horoscopes.
The Elizabethans believed in astrology.
The Four Humours
Everything under the moon consists of four elements: air, water, fire and earth.
These 4 elements exist in the human body as counterparts and are called humors:
Air – blood
Fire – yellow bile
Water - phlegm,
Earth - black bile
All humans should have an equal amount of all 4 elements in their body. If they had too much of one of the elements, their mood will change and they could get sick.
Examples:
· If a person is very optimistic it is because he has too much humour of air.
· If a person is angry or aggressive, it is because he has too much humor of fire.
· If a person is phlegmatic, it is because he has too much humor of water.
· If a person is sad or depressed, it is because he has too much humor of earth.
The Wheel of Fortune
The wheel of fortune is a belief that is a bit fatalistic just like the beliefs in the Zodiac and Humours.
Idea is that life is like one great big wheel . That wheel is called Fate or Fortune. Everyone is on the wheel. Like the king and other people in high social class they are on the top of the wheel and the peasants are on the rock bottom.
You can't decide where to be because that is determined at your birth and you will stay there. In some cases you will either go from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top. And you will not know what will happen.
But sometimes fate is called Lady Luck. Like peasants gambling and become rich on Lady Luck. Shakespeare is constantly talking about Dame Fortune and Fate in his plays. It's all the same thing: Just the Wheel of Fortune personified.
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