Transcript The Elizabethan Great Chain of Being

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

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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
God
(Intelligence)
Angels
(Pure Being)
Spheres
Man
Animals
Plants
Stones
(Order)
(Reason)
(Motion, Sense)
(Growth)
(Mere Existence)
Angels
Spheres
Seraphim
Cherubim
Thrones
Dominations
Virtues
Powers
Principalities
Archangels
Angels
Primum Mobile
Stars
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
Sun
Venus
Mercury
Moon
Elizabethan World Picture
Man
Family
Emperor
King
Nobles/Churchmen
Professions/Soldiers
Trades
Beggars
Fool
Father
Mother
Eldest Brother
.
.
.
Youngest Sister
Elizabethan World Picture
Animals
Animals(cont)
4-Leg
Fish
Lion
Dolphin/Whale
Fox
Insects
Wolf
.
.
.
mole
Bees
Ants
.
.
.
2-Leg
worms
Falcon
Inert Animals
Oysters, etc.
Elizabethan World Picture
Plants
Stones
Fruits
Liquids
Metals
Apples
Flowers
Gold
Rose
Silver
Trees
.
Oak
Vines
Herbs
Weeds
.
.
Lead
Stones
Elizabethan World Picture
Body
Psychological
Head
Reason, Will
Eye
________________
Arm
Trunk
________________
Leg
Foot
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
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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.
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Witches were considered to be the agents of Satan, doing
his business.
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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)