Shakespeare

1
Shakespeares World

• A guide to life in
• Elizabethan times

2
Magic and Superstition

• Fairies, magic, witches, spells, prophecies, and
  superstition were all a part of the Elizabethan
  view of life.
• Often, these beliefs were as important to them as
  the teachings of the church.
• Fairies etc were thought to lead people to the
  devil.

3
Magic and Superstition

• Women that did not fit in to society for any
  reason were branded as witches. They were accused
  of working for the devil and often burned at the
  stake or drowned.
• People believed that witches could
• See into the future
• Curse people
• Bring plague and disease
• Cause natural disasters (flood etc)
• Cause death

4
Magic and Superstition

• Elizabethans were believers in astrology and the
  stars because they saw the human body as being a
  representation of the universe. Therefore, the
  stars and signs of the zodiac were linked to
  them.
• People believed that the stars could foretell
  their future (as some people do today with star
  signs.)

5
The Humours

• There were said to be four humours to the human
  body that could influence your mood.
• These humours were linked to the four elements.

6
The Humours

• FIRE Melancholy (black bile) melancholic. A
  gloomy state of mind, depressed, dejected.
• WATER Phlegm phlegmatic (sluggishness and
  apathy, or calmness and composure)
• AIR Blood sanguine (cheerful, optimistic,
  hopeful, confident)
• EARTH Choler (yellow bile) choleric
  (irritable, easily angered)

7
Church and Religion

• Very religious people in Elizabethan times. They
  believed strongly in the power of God, and Gods
  almighty rule over the universe.
• The dominant Church of England was Roman
  Catholic but some people were unhappy with the
  church and felt that it was corrupt.
• The Reformation took place where the unhappy
  group (Puritans) separated from the Catholic
  Church and formed their own church, called the
  Protestant Church.

8
Church and Religion

• Puritans and Catholics fought in the name of
  religion. The Puritans wanted to cleanse (or
  purify) the remaining Catholic elements in
  England.
• Puritans believed that many things were the work
  of the devil (sinful)
• Fine clothes
• Drinking
• Gambling
• Watching plays
• By the time Shakespeares plays were being
  performed, they had relaxed slightly.

9
The Chain of Being

• Elizabethan people believed strongly in a chain
  of being. This gave order to their universe as
  everything had its own place.

10
The Chain of Being

• God
• Moon
• King
• Church
• Princes
• Nobles
• Man
• Lion
• Other Animals
• Oak Rose
• Other Plants
• Gold
• Other Minerals

11
The Chain of Being

• The heavens themselves, the planets and their
  centre,
• Observe degree, priority and place,
• Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,
• Office and custom, in all line of order.
• (Troilus and Cressida)