The Elizabethan World View

The Wheel of Fortune Although the Elizabethan era had a strict hierarchy, success was seen as a fragile thing. Fortune was viewed as a wheel – one minute you might be successful and at the top of the wheel. But it wouldn’t take much for you to fall from the top. Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies deal with characters who find out how fickle fortune is.

Purity of blood Mattered in a society where wealth and status was passed on by blood – often to the eldest son. If your wife was suspected of having an affair, any children you’d had together might not be yours. Therefore it was crucial that women be virgins before marriage, and remain chaste (so only sleep with their husbands) after it. Calling someone a bastard (illegitimate) was a HORRIBLE insult.

The Four Humours People were made up of a combination of humours. Personalities were determined by how these humours were balanced – each humour had certain characteristics. To be perfectly balanced meant all humours were equal, however, most people were thought to be stronger in one humour than the other four. Illness was thought to be caused by humours that were out of balance, so patients were often bled to relieve them of excess humours.

It was a patriarchal society Men were considered superior to women Women were believed to be imperfectly developed men While men were supposed to be hot and dry, women were the opposite – cold and wet. This was why tears were considered effeminate (“girly”) in men. Women were believed to be unreliable, with personalities that were changeable and weak. This was proven by the actions of the very first woman: Eve, who disobeyed God and ate the apple from the Tree of Knowledge.

Society in general viewed bad women as potentially corrupting the good men around them. They were good for one thing – breeding. Apart from acting as domestics helpers and wives and mothers, their roles were very limiting. An opinion from the 16th century: "Women in her greatest perfection was made to serve and obey man."