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Divine Chain Of Being
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Divine Chain of Being
Valmir, Dominik
Agenda:
1. The Elizabethan era
2. The Divine Chain of Being
3. Connections between plays of William Shakespeare and the mentioned belief
Agenda
Pictures
Elizabethan Era
The Elizabethan era
- during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603)
=> golden age in English history
=> peak of the English renaissance and literature
- new style of theater => William Shakespeare /
Christopher, ´Kit´, Marlowe
=> popular types of plays: historical topics; comedies; tragedies
- people at that time => extremely superstitious
=> affected daily life
- in contrast to previous and following reigns:
period of domestic peace between the English Reformation and the battles between Protestants and Catholics
Elizabethan Era
Divine Chain of Being
- Divine Chain of Being = Great Chain of Being
- belief that God set out a hierarchical order for everything in the universe (unquestionable)
=> Top: God, then angels (spirits with no physical form + immortal)
=> then humans in the middle (made of matter with spiritual soul + mortal)
=> then animals, plants, rocks
=> Bottom: minerals in the earth
- the higher the being is in the chain, the more attributes it has, including all the attributes of the beings below it
Divine Chain of Being
Great Chain of Being
DCoB II
- social order for everybody + God chose where you belonged => unchangeable
- certain subdivisions in these divisions
- ex.: Divine Right of Kings => separation of humans Animals:
=> 1. King/Queen 1. Lion
2. Aristocratic lords
3. Clergy
4. Peasants
=> disobeying = sinful => punishment => helpful for a ruler / monarch
Great Chain of Being
DCoB III
- signs of extreme superstition:
=> everything bad that happened to the people = sign that the wrong person is reigning
ex. => poor harvest => great famine / widespread disease
- origin of theory: Greek philosophers Plato + Aristotle
- developed during middle ages
PICTURES
PICTURES
Connection between W.S plays and DCoB
William Shakespeare
- William Shakespeare believed in a Divine Order
- many plays revolve around this belief
=> used it as a central theme or integral plot point
ex.: Macbeth; Taming of the Shrew; Romeo and Juliet; Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing
Connection between W.S plays and DCoB
Connection
- Shakespeare often overstepped this belief
=> symbol of unnatural happenings
- ahead of time in terms of play writing
=> creations of interesting and unbelievable plots/stories
Comparison to Much Ado About Nothing
- balance between disordered and ordered characters
Disordered:
1. Don John => ex.: challenging his brother's rightful rule
2. Beatrice => ex.: her speech in general + topic about having a man in her life
ADO
Comparison to Much Ado About Nothing
ADO
Ordered:
1. Hero => embodies the common Renaissance woman (patient, demure, shy)
Conclusion:
- many comparisons between certain and very different characters
- in the end => order comes to rule:
Don John's plan thwarted + Beatrice married
TIMELINE
1558
Beginning of E. era
1598/1599
Much Ado About Nothing
1500
TIMELINE
1564
Birth of W. Shakespeare
1616
Death of W. Shakespeare