context and literacy tradition Flashcards
the divine right of kings
this doctrine implies that the king deserves his right to rule directly from the will of god. any attempt to depose the king may be based as treason.
the great chain of being
Jacobean believed that god set out an order fro everything in the universe. every animate or inanimate thing had its place, from flowers and rocks, to animals and humans, and to god ad the angles who assumed their lofty position at the top. Shakespeare’s plays were heavily influenced by this notion.
women
in Jacobean times, women had very little power. they belonged to their fathers until they were old enough to be married, some girls wee as young as twelve when they were married. others could have been betrothed even younger, in an attempt to bind families together. to a certain extent, lady Macbeth subverts the gender roes.
the gunpowder plot
the infamous gun powder plot of 1605 - spearheaded by guy fakes- was an attempt to depose James I from the throne after he had ordered all Catholic priests to leave England. the plot was foiled after guards spotted Fawkes in the cellars of the house of parliament, moments before lighting the fuse. both James parents ha been killed in politically motivated murders.
James I
a fan of Shakespeare theater, James I was king of England from 1603 to 1625. he famously wrote a book on witchcraft, named Daemonologie.
religion
almost all Jacobean were Christians. Catholics believed a priest to be the link between god and the people, whereas protestants believed god could be found without a priest.
ghosts
the interest in ghosts increased in the Elizabethan and Jacobean period. people believed ghosts died in awful, violent circumstances. although ghosts appeared in most places, they believed that every village had one, they were typically associated with castles.
superstition and witchcraft
a Shakespearean audience would have believed in witches, so their appearance would not have been a shock, though they would have been fearful of them.
social class
society was divided into rigid class system. the nobility topped the hierarchy, with the middle class workers such as craftsmen and merchants next in line- Shakespeare was in this class, given his farther was a glove maker. the parish took responsibility for the lower classes and sent them to a poor house if they were able bodied.
