The Elizabethan Great Chain of Being Shakespeare’s World View

The Great Chain of Being Shakespeare’s language is different from ours because his thinking was different from ours, especially about nature and the order of the universe.

Elizabethan World View – the basics During Elizabethan times, people believed that everyone and everything was arranged in a certain order – a hierarchy It was this order, known as the Great Chain of Being, that was threatened by new and exciting discoveries in science and astronomy.

According to this idea, everything in the world had its position fixed by God: The Earth was the centre of the universe and the stars moved around it in fixed routes.  In Heaven God ruled over the archangels and angels.  On earth there was order everywhere. Society reflected this order with its fixed classes from the highest to the lowest – kings, churchmen, nobles, merchants, and peasants.  The animals had their own order too, the lion being the “king”.  Plant life and minerals also reflected this order.  Among the trees, the most superior was the oak; among flowers, it was the rose. Among the minerals, gold was the most superior.

The Chain of Being served to create social stability – everyone knew their place on the chain and interacted with the other levels: The people higher up on the chain were responsible to provide for or care/protect those below them The people lower down had a responsibility to obey and serve those above them

The Chain of Being represents the social order of the time. Anything that is outside the chain is considered to be chaos/nothingness/ madness/evil. Therefore, by implication, if the chain is broken the order in the world is broken, and it can descend into chaos. Nothingness, chaos, madness, evil – all of these things are outside the chain and are not considered to be made by God.

Everything within the chain is created by God. Therefore everything within the chain is good. Therefore there is no evil in the chain. As evil doesn’t exist within the chain, it can only enter if the chain is broken. It is essential that you understand the Chain of Being world view in order to understand the play Macbeth

The Divine Right of Kings Any attempt to break the Chain of Being would upset the established order and bring about universal disorder It was believed that the King was divinely chosen by God. As God’s chosen representative on earth, the King was the supreme upholder of order on earth. If his position was violated it would destroy the perfect order in the universe and bring strife and chaos to the world. Any act of treason or treachery against the King was considered indirectly to be a mortal sin against God.  The penalty was death.

Elizabethan World Picture (Pure Being) (Intelligence) (Order) (Reason) (Motion, Sense) (Growth) (Mere Existence) God Angels Spheres Man Animals Plants Stones

Elizabethan World Picture Angels Spheres Seraphim Cherubim Thrones Dominations Virtues Powers Principalities Archangels Angels Primum Mobile Stars Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Elizabethan World Picture

Elizabethan World Picture Man Family Emperor King Nobles/Churchmen Professions/Soldiers Trades Beggars Fool Father Mother Eldest Brother . Youngest Sister Elizabethan World Picture

Elizabethan World Picture Animals Animals(cont) 4-Leg Lion Fox Wolf . mole 2-Leg Falcon Fish Dolphin/Whale Insects Bees Ants . worms Inert Animals Oysters, etc. Elizabethan World Picture

Elizabethan World Picture Plants Stones Fruits Apples Flowers Rose Trees Oak Vines Herbs Weeds Liquids Metals Gold Silver . Lead Stones Elizabethan World Picture

Elizabethan World Picture Body Psychological Head Eye ________________ Arm Trunk Leg Foot Reason, Will Memory, Fancy Five Senses Elizabethan World Picture

Element Humor Fire (hot & dry) (choler)  “choleric” (easily angered) Air (hot & moist) (blood)  “sanguine” (cheerful, confident) Water (cold & moist) (phlegm)  “phlegmatic” (sluggish, apathetic) Earth (cold & dry) (black bile)  “melancholy” (sad, depressed)

Rules: Great Chain of Being Everything has its place God’s love holds it all together When someone tries to get out of line, the whole order is thrown into confusion Belief in the rightness of ORDER Stating what a thing is implies its VALUE Leads to comparison or analogy A King could be called: -God like -Gold -Father of his land -Sun -Head of his kingdom -Eagle -Lion

Macbeth and the Chain of Being world view

The Witches In the opening scenes we are introduced to the characters of the witches. In Shakespeare’s time witches and witchcraft were believed to be evil – they were associated with the dark and death. Witches were considered to be the agents of Satan, doing his business. Witches were believed to be able to see into the future; that they could create storms, hail, thunder and lightning; that they could sink ships; dry up springs; stop the sun and change night into day and day into night.

As the witches are introduced in the opening scene, Shakespeare’s audience are immediately aware that the Chain of Being has been disrupted, as evil is present. Shakespeare uses this as a device to get the audience involved in the play – remember, they believe in the Chain of Being world view, and so the witches are a sign to them that something is wrong. The audience then looks for why the chain has been broken. “When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” (Act 1, scene 1)