Elizabethan+World+views

The Great Chain of Being
- Concept that comes from Aristotle and Plato (Greeks) - Is a strict hierarchy of all matter of life - The chain starts from God and then goes down to angels, demons (fallen angels), stars, moon, kings, princes, nobles, men, wild animals, domesticated animals, trees, other plants, precious stones, precious metals, and other minerals - The reason men are about half way down is because flesh is ever changing, but spirit is unchanging and permanent - Another reason men are in the middle is because they are linked to both sides (the spiritual side and the physical side)



The Music of the Spheres
- A belief that the Universe was made up of a number of spheres contained within each other - The outside sphere was the where all the stars were - Inside this were lots of smaller spheres, which carried the sun, the moon, the planets - The Earth was the centre of the Universe - These spheres were said to make musical sounds as they moved - These sounds were in harmony and showed how the whole world works together in harmony

The Zodiac Signs - CLICK the link below to find out about your star sign :)
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- In Shakespeare's day it was believed that everyone's luck and fortune was effected by the zodiac signs - What star you were born under would effect what kind of person you would be and what kind of life to expect - People would often see an astrologer before making big decisions - Astrologers would give their interpretations on peoples dreams, and how things were going to go for people. - By the end of the Elizabethan era, people were becoming a bit sceptical about the future telling aspect of it - The Zodiac signs are mentioned in 6 of Shakespeare's plays

** The Wheel of Fortune **
- Concept in medieval and ancient philosophy - Concept about the nature of fate - The wheel belongs to Fortuna or Dame Fortune depending on the story, a goddess or blindfolded woman who spins it randomly - Depending on the spin, people suffer great misfortunes while other have great successes. - Shows their view on life in that things can be good, and then suddenly go very bad very fast - In Shakespeare's plays, tragedies were seen as a reversal of fortune. A fall from a good place or high position (which comes from the wheel of fortune idea)



The Four Elements
- Strong belief that everything that existed was made from a combination of earth, air, fire and water - These four elements in the body and if one or some of them dominated, they determined the mood of the person