Paper 105A: History of English Literature – From 1350 to 1900
“The Elizabethan World Picture: Order, Hierarchy, and the Cosmic Vision”
Table of Content
Abstract
Research Questions
Hypothesis
1.Introduction: The Meaning of the Elizabethan World Picture
2.The Philosophical Foundations of the World Picture
2.1 The Great Chain of Being
2.2 The Principle of Correspondence
2.3 Classical and Christian Synthesis
3.Order and Hierarchy in Elizabethan Society
3.1 The Divine Right and the Great Chain of Being
3.2 Social Stratification and Cosmic Reflection
3.3 The King as the Image of Cosmic Order
3.4 Literature as a Reinforcement of Hierarchy
4.The Cosmic Vision in Elizabethan Literature
4.1 Spenser’s Allegory of Harmony
4.2 The Faerie Queene as a Cosmic Map
4.3 Shakespeare’s Cosmic Drama
4.4 The Moral Dimension of Shakespeare’s Cosmos
5.The Double Vision of the Elizabethans
5.1 Faith and Curiosity: The Roots of Double Vision
5.2 The Humanist Tension: Freedom and Submission
5.3 The Tragic Imagination: Testing the Boundaries of Order
5.4 The Moral Lesson: Knowledge within Boundaries
6.The Intellectual Legacy: From Chain to Monad
6.1 The Transformation of Cosmic Order
6.2 From Chain to Monad: The Leibnizian Continuation
6.3 Enlightenment Rationalism and Moral Order
7.The Moral and Artistic Implications
7.1 Art as Imitation of Divine Order
7.2 The Harmony of the Spheres and Musical Aesthetics
7.3 Poetic Imagination and Moral Allegory
8.Conclusion
9.References
Academic Details:
- Name: Mansi S. Makwana
- Roll No: 21
- Enrollment No: 5108250021
- Sem: 1
- Batch: 2025-2027
- E-mail: mansimakwana307@gmail.com
Assignment Details:
- Paper Name: History of English Literature – From 1350 to 1900
- Paper No: 105
- Paper Code: 22396
- Unit: 1
- Topic: “The Elizabethan World Picture: Order, Hierarchy, and the Cosmic Vision”
-Submitted To: Smt. S. B. Gardi,Department of English,MKBU
- Submitted Date: November 10,2025
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Abstract
The Elizabethan World Picture represents the grand intellectual and moral framework that governed sixteenth-century English thought. It was an ordered and divinely structured vision of the cosmos, sustained by the belief in hierarchy, symmetry, and universal purpose. This conception, famously articulated by E. M. W. Tillyard, was not simply a philosophy of nature but a theological and aesthetic model shaping the entire Elizabethan imagination. Rooted in both classical philosophy and Christian doctrine, it perceived the universe as an interconnected hierarchy—from God and angels down to minerals—each possessing a divinely appointed role in maintaining cosmic harmony. This paper explores how this worldview influenced Elizabethan literature, politics, and morality, focusing especially on Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare. Drawing from critical insights by scholars such as Tillyard (2011), Grierson (1944), Lombardo (1982), Bean (1977), and others, this essay argues that the Elizabethan World Picture not only structured social order but also became a source of poetic unity, moral vision, and aesthetic coherence.
Research Questions
To what extent does this worldview continue to shape the moral and aesthetic patterns of English literature?
Hypothesis
This research hypothesizes that the Elizabethan World Picture, grounded in the belief of a divinely ordered cosmos, provided the moral, political, and aesthetic foundation of Elizabethan thought. It structured not only the social hierarchy but also the moral imagination of writers such as Spenser and Shakespeare. The hypothesis further proposes that the Elizabethan concept of order reflected both stability and anxiety—revealing a tension between divine perfection and human imperfection that became the source of much of the era’s literary creativity.
1. Introduction: The Meaning of the Elizabethan World Picture
The Elizabethan Age (1558–1603) marked one of the most intellectually unified periods in English history. Under Queen Elizabeth I, England experienced a remarkable synthesis of Renaissance humanism, Christian theology, and classical philosophy. As E. M. W. Tillyard observes, “the Elizabethans believed that they lived in a world ordered by divine reason”. Everything in existence
this image is generated with the help of Gemini
had its appointed place in the divine hierarchy, and moral virtue lay in fulfilling one’s ordained role.
This worldview was not merely theoretical but shaped art, politics, and morality. Hardin Craig, in The Elizabethan World and Ours, notes that the Elizabethans “saw harmony as the condition of goodness” (Craig 236). Disorder—whether in nature, politics, or the human soul—signaled moral decay. Literature, particularly drama and epic poetry, became the medium through which this cosmic harmony was dramatized, revealing the inseparability of metaphysics and art.
2. The Philosophical Foundations of the World Picture
2.1 The Great Chain of Being
At the center of Elizabethan cosmology lies the concept of the Great Chain of Being, an ancient model uniting theology and metaphysics. This “chain” extended from God, the purest being, down through angels, humans, animals, plants, and minerals. Each occupied a fixed place in the divine order. Paul A. Lombardo explains that the Chain represented “a moral as well as metaphysical design” intended to maintain universal stability (Lombardo 39).
Disrupting this chain—through pride, ambition, or rebellion—was not simply a social crime but a cosmic sin. Shakespeare’s tragedies vividly reflect this belief: Macbeth’s regicide leads to unnatural omens, storms, and the disintegration of moral order. Similarly, in King Lear, filial rebellion brings about chaos in both nature and society.
2.2 The Principle of Correspondence
The Elizabethan world was governed by correspondences between the macrocosm (the universe) and the microcosm (human life). The body and soul of man mirrored the balance of the cosmos. As Grierson (1944) notes, “the Elizabethans inherited a synthesis in which the order of the soul reflected the order of the heavens” (Grierson 70). This meant that virtue in the human heart contributed to harmony in the universe, while internal discord mirrored cosmic disorder.
2.3 Classical and Christian Synthesis
The philosophical roots of the Elizabethan World Picture combine Platonic and Aristotelian logic with Christian theology. Classical philosophy provided rational order; Christianity infused it with divine purpose. Tillyard (2011) remarks that this fusion “transformed the classical cosmos into a moral hierarchy sustained by the will of God” (Tillyard 12). Thus, the Elizabethan universe was not mechanistic but moral—its laws governed both nature and ethics.
3. Order and Hierarchy in Elizabethan Society
The cosmic order found direct reflection in Elizabethan social and political structures. Society was envisioned as a miniature universe: the king represented God, nobles symbolized angels, and commoners represented the lower elements. The doctrine of the divine right of kings rested on this analogy. Tillyard explains that monarchy was “a mirror of celestial rule,” and rebellion against the king equaled rebellion against heaven (Tillyard 24).
3.1 The Divine Right and the Great Chain of Being
At the heart of Elizabethan political theology lay the belief in the Divine Right of Kings. The monarch was not merely a political figure but a sacred agent chosen by God. This notion echoed the broader idea of the Great Chain of Being, in which every creature and object had a fixed, God-ordained place in the universe. Paul A. Lombardo observes that this hierarchical model “served as a moral architecture for the Elizabethan mind, restricting ambition and preserving harmony” (Lombardo 41).
Thus, to challenge one’s superior was to disturb divine equilibrium. This ideology maintained social order while giving spiritual legitimacy to class distinctions. The obedience of subjects mirrored the obedience of angels to God, sustaining what Tillyard called the “vertical logic of existence” (Tillyard 28).
3.2 Social Stratification and Cosmic Reflection
The Elizabethan world was structured like a descending ladder of dignity and worth. H. B. Parkes (1950) calls this “the double vision of the Elizabethans,” who perceived nature and society as reflections of the same divine pattern (Parkes 406). The nobility embodied temperance and reason, while the lower classes symbolized the more material and instinctive aspects of life.
This system was not purely oppressive—it promised stability and predictability. Even marriage, labor, and gender relations were seen as extensions of cosmic design. György E. Szönyi (2012) demonstrates that “gender roles themselves were mapped onto the Great Chain of Being, with male rationality aligned to higher spheres and female passion linked to the material world” (Szönyi 5).
3.3 The King as the Image of Cosmic Order
Within this framework, the monarch functioned as the microcosmic sun—the radiant center that ensured the smooth motion of all subordinate parts. As Grierson (1944) emphasizes, Elizabethan thought “conceived kingship as the visible sign of divine energy on earth” (Grierson 72). The king’s body was both natural and political, a dual concept that linked earthly governance with celestial perfection.
Shakespeare dramatizes this belief in Richard II, where the king declares,
“Not all the water in the rough rude sea
Can wash the balm off from an anointed king.”
This metaphor not only asserts divine sanctity but also conveys the fear of cosmic collapse should the anointed ruler be dethroned. When Richard II is deposed, the kingdom descends into moral and political chaos—an echo of cosmic disorder.
3.4 Literature as a Reinforcement of Hierarchy
Elizabethan writers frequently reinforced the moral necessity of hierarchy. Benjamin T. Spencer (1941) notes that “the moral and political order were two sides of the same structure” (Spencer 540). Spenser’s The Faerie Queene expresses similar ideals: every knight’s quest corresponds to a moral virtue, and their success restores order in both the individual and the realm. John C. Bean (1977) remarks that Spenser’s allegory “transforms the principle of cosmic order into a literary design of moral proportion” (Bean 70).
The theatre, too, reflected this order. Charlotte Spivack (1969) describes the Elizabethan stage as a “circle and center,” a symbolic replication of the universe’s concentric harmony (Spivack 426). Every tragic fall, from Macbeth’s overreach to Lear’s blindness, dramatized the moral danger of disturbing this hierarchy.
4. The Cosmic Vision in Elizabethan Literature
Elizabethan literature served as the imaginative mirror of the cosmic order. Writers such as Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare transformed the philosophical and theological principles of the Elizabethan World Picture into poetic and dramatic art. Through allegory, symbolism, and tragedy, they revealed how divine hierarchy, moral virtue, and cosmic harmony shaped the human condition.
4.1 Spenser’s Allegory of Harmony
Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590–1596) stands as the poetic embodiment of the Elizabethan World Picture. Each knight represents a moral virtue—holiness, temperance, chastity, justice—reflecting the divine chain of order that links the human soul to the celestial hierarchy.
John C. Bean (1977) notes that “Spenser’s allegory moves from the ethical to the cosmic, expressing the idea that moral order sustains the universe” (Bean 68). The knights’ moral journeys are not mere adventures but spiritual pilgrimages designed to restore the disrupted balance between man and the divine.
Spenser’s poem thus becomes both a moral mirror and a theological treatise. Sin and vice are depicted as forms of disorder, chaos, and imbalance. The triumphs of Redcrosse (Holiness), Guyon (Temperance), and Britomart (Chastity) signify the restoration of moral and cosmic equilibrium. Bean further emphasizes that “Spenser’s progression from temperance to chastity mirrors the soul’s ascent toward divine harmony” (Bean 75).
4.2 The Faerie Queene as a Cosmic Map
Beyond moral allegory, The Faerie Queene serves as a symbolic map of the Elizabethan cosmos. The poem’s landscape, filled with enchanted forests, dragons, and celestial visions, reflects the interconnectedness of the macrocosm and microcosm. Grierson (1944) asserts that “Spenser’s universe is not chaotic fantasy but a disciplined imagination shaped by divine proportion” (Grierson 62).
This fusion of Christian theology and Platonic order made Spenser’s work a reflection of cosmic architecture. Each canto becomes an act of re-creation, restoring harmony between the spiritual and the material realms. The poem’s allegorical structure—linking human virtue to divine law—translates metaphysics into art.
4.3 Shakespeare’s Cosmic Drama
William Shakespeare, the most profound dramatist of the age, explored the Elizabethan World Picture by dramatizing the tension between divine order and human frailty. His plays transform abstract philosophy into living emotion.
In Hamlet, the corruption of the Danish court manifests as disease and decay—“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. This metaphor extends beyond politics to the cosmos itself: moral corruption at the human level infects the natural world. Similarly, in Macbeth, the murder of Duncan—a divinely appointed monarch—unleashes cosmic disorder: “Dark night strangles the travelling lamp”.
Charlotte Spivack (1969) interprets the Elizabethan stage as both “circle and center,” symbolizing the universe itself (Spivack 426). The Globe Theatre’s circular structure, open to the sky, represented the harmony between heaven and earth. Actors performed at the “center of the world,” dramatizing human struggle within the cosmic order. Thus, Shakespeare’s stage became a metaphysical space where moral imbalance reverberated through the heavens.
4.4 The Moral Dimension of Shakespeare’s Cosmos
Shakespeare’s tragedies dramatize not only the collapse of political order but also the moral implications of human ambition. In King Lear, filial rebellion leads to natural storms and madness, embodying the breakdown of cosmic harmony. In Julius Caesar, celestial omens—lightning, comets, and ghosts—reflect the disorder of human pride.
Benjamin T. Spencer (1941) observes that “the moral and political order in Shakespeare’s universe are two aspects of the same cosmic design” (Spencer 540). For Elizabethans, such drama reaffirmed the belief that human ethics and divine law were inseparably intertwined. The stage thus became a moral instrument, reinforcing the Great Chain of Being through the spectacle of human tragedy
5. The Double Vision of the Elizabethans
The Elizabethan worldview was characterized by a unique intellectual tension—a balance between submission to divine order and the assertion of human reason. This “double vision,” as H. B. Parkes (1950) calls it, defined the age’s intellectual and artistic temperament. Elizabethans simultaneously revered cosmic hierarchy and explored the expanding boundaries of human understanding.
5.1 Faith and Curiosity: The Roots of Double Vision
H. B. Parkes describes the Elizabethan mind as having a “double vision”—a reverence for divine authority coupled with an insatiable curiosity for worldly and intellectual discovery (Parkes 402). This fusion arose from the Renaissance humanist movement, which rediscovered classical learning while preserving Christian devotion.
In this intellectual climate, faith and reason were not enemies but complements. The study of nature, language, and the self was viewed as a way to glorify God’s creation. Grierson (1944) observes that Elizabethans “saw no contradiction between theology and philosophy, for both were reflections of the same divine truth” (Grierson 70).
Thus, the Elizabethan worldview harmonized two impulses—obedience to cosmic order and confidence in human intellect.
5.2 The Humanist Tension: Freedom and Submission
The influence of Renaissance humanism introduced a subtle tension within the Elizabethan mind. While divine hierarchy dictated man’s place in the cosmic chain, humanism encouraged exploration, invention, and ambition. This gave rise to what Lombardo (1982) calls “the limits of the Machiavellian cosmos,” where human action began to test the boundaries of divine law (Lombardo 45).
Figures like Doctor Faustus, who seeks forbidden knowledge, and Macbeth, who overreaches for power, exemplify this tension. Their ambition violates the Great Chain of Being, causing cosmic imbalance. Yet, their downfall restores moral order—illustrating that human freedom must ultimately yield to divine harmony.
5.3 The Tragic Imagination: Testing the Boundaries of Order
Shakespeare’s tragedies reflect this dual vision with remarkable depth. In Hamlet, the prince’s intellectual inquiry challenges moral certainty; in Macbeth, the hero’s defiance of divine order leads to both personal ruin and cosmic disorder. As Benjamin T. Spencer (1941) notes, Shakespeare’s vision “fuses theology and psychology into a single moral design” (Spencer 548).
Tragic heroes embody the Renaissance ideal of self-conscious man—the thinker, the rebel, the seeker of truth—whose downfall is both personal and universal. Through their fall, Shakespeare reaffirms the cosmic justice that governs the world picture.
5.4 The Moral Lesson: Knowledge within Boundaries
Elizabethan writers warned against the misuse of reason detached from faith. Parkes (1950) argues that “curiosity ungoverned by reverence becomes the seed of chaos” (Parkes 415). The desire for knowledge was legitimate only when it reinforced divine wisdom.
This principle guided not only literature but also science and philosophy. Even as Copernicus and Galileo began to challenge geocentric order, English thinkers like Francis Bacon insisted that knowledge should serve divine and moral ends. The Elizabethan mind, therefore, sought to reconcile discovery with devotion—progress without pride.
6. The Intellectual Legacy: From Chain to Monad
The intellectual and moral framework of the Elizabethan World Picture did not vanish with the decline of medieval cosmology. Rather, it evolved—its language transformed from theological hierarchy to metaphysical structure. Even after the Scientific Revolution dismantled the Ptolemaic universe, the moral and aesthetic sense of order endured. Thinkers such as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and later moral philosophers reinterpreted hierarchy and harmony through new philosophical models, showing that the Elizabethan ideal continued to shape Western thought.
6.1 The Transformation of Cosmic Order
The Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century reoriented humanity’s view of the cosmos. Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton displaced the earth from the center of creation, shattering the spatial and moral geometry of the Great Chain of Being. Yet, as Hardin Craig (1945) points out in “The Elizabethan World and Ours,” the Elizabethan belief in “a divinely ordered harmony did not perish with its cosmology” (Craig 237).
Instead, the vision adapted. Where earlier thinkers saw God’s hierarchy in spatial terms, later philosophers sought it in rational and moral coherence. The universe was no longer a vertical chain but a harmonious system governed by laws—an intellectual echo of divine order.
6.2 From Chain to Monad: The Leibnizian Continuation
Candice Goad and Susanna Goodin (1997), in “Monadic Hierarchies and the Great Chain of Being,” trace how the Elizabethan ideal of gradation persisted in Gottfried Leibniz’s philosophy. Leibniz’s “monads”—indivisible spiritual substances—were ranked in degrees of perfection, mirroring the hierarchical principle of the Great Chain. As they note, “Hierarchy and gradation survive in metaphysical form” (Goad and Goodin 130).
This transformation marks a shift from external cosmology to internal ontology: the divine order once seen in the heavens now resided within the very structure of thought. The continuity lies in the persistence of a graded, purposeful universe, reflecting the moral logic of Elizabethan harmony.
6.3 Enlightenment Rationalism and Moral Order
The Enlightenment inherited this redefined order, translating divine harmony into rational structure. Thinkers like John Locke and Alexander Pope preserved the Elizabethan conviction that the universe, whether divine or mechanical, was a coherent moral system. Pope’s Essay on Man famously declares, “All nature is but art, unknown to thee; / All chance, direction, which thou canst not see.”
Here, as Craig (1945) notes, the “Elizabethan sense of proportion and justice” becomes the Enlightenment ideal of reason and progress (Craig 238). The chain’s spiritual authority may have dissolved, but its moral discipline continued to inform ethical and political thought.
7. The Moral and Artistic Implications
The Elizabethan World Picture shaped the moral and aesthetic foundations of the age. Art, in all its forms—literature, music, painting, and theatre—was viewed as a reflection of divine harmony. To create beauty was to participate in cosmic order, not to challenge it. As E. M. W. Tillyard (1943) explains, “the Elizabethan artist sought reflection, not invention—harmony, not chaos” (Tillyard 49). Artistic creation thus became a sacred act, reaffirming the interconnectedness of moral virtue, aesthetic balance, and divine truth.
7.1 Art as Imitation of Divine Order
The Elizabethans inherited from classical philosophy the notion that art mirrors a higher reality. Plato’s idea of imitation (mimesis) and Aristotle’s emphasis on order and proportion merged with Christian cosmology, giving birth to an aesthetic that united truth, beauty, and goodness.
Tillyard (1943) observes that Elizabethan art was not the product of individual genius but a reflection of universal pattern: “the artist’s work was valuable only insofar as it mirrored divine harmony” (49). Hence, creativity was not rebellion but revelation—the uncovering of the divine rhythm underlying all existence.
7.2 The Harmony of the Spheres and Musical Aesthetics
Music was regarded as the purest embodiment of cosmic order. The concept of the music of the spheres—originating in Pythagorean and Platonic thought—suggested that the movements of celestial bodies produced a divine harmony inaudible to human ears but mirrored in earthly music.
As Benjamin Spencer (1941) notes, “To the Elizabethan mind, musical proportion was not merely an aesthetic principle but a moral one” (Spencer 541). Composers like Thomas Tallis and William Byrd sought to capture this celestial perfection through polyphonic balance and mathematical precision. The result was an art form where moral and musical harmony were indistinguishable.
7.3 Poetic Imagination and Moral Allegory
In literature, the principle of order found expression through allegory and structure. Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590–1596) exemplifies this synthesis. Each canto is designed as a moral journey, leading the soul toward divine understanding. John C. Bean (1977) writes that “Spenser’s allegory moves from the ethical to the cosmic, expressing the idea that moral order sustains the universe” (Bean 68).
Similarly, Shakespeare’s plays dramatize the collapse and restoration of order—moral, social, and cosmic. Tragedy purges disorder through catharsis, reaffirming harmony as the ultimate truth. Thus, art becomes a moral force, guiding humanity toward divine balance.
8. Conclusion
The Elizabethan World Picture remains one of the most comprehensive cosmological systems in Western intellectual history. It united theology, politics, and aesthetics within a single moral framework. The Great Chain of Being offered both explanation and consolation—placing humanity within an ordered and meaningful universe.
Through writers like Spenser and Shakespeare, this vision found profound artistic expression. Their works dramatize not blind submission to hierarchy, but the eternal human effort to reconcile divine order with moral freedom. Even as modern science and philosophy challenged its foundations, the Elizabethan belief in harmony and proportion continued to inform English thought.
As Tillyard concludes, “the Elizabethan world was not chaos but correspondence” (Tillyard 98). In that correspondence lay the enduring power of Elizabethan art—a world where literature became the reflection of the divine, and every being, from angel to stone, had purpose in the great design of creation.
References
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Craig, Hardin. “The Elizabethan World and Ours.” College English, vol. 6, no. 4, 1945, pp. 236–38. https://www.jstor.org/stable/370889. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Goad, Candice, and Susanna Goodin. “Monadic Hierarchies and the Great Chain of Being.” Studia Leibnitiana, vol. 29, no. 2, 1997, pp. 129–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40694321. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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Parkes, H. B. “Nature’s Diverse Laws: The Double Vision of the Elizabethans.” The Sewanee Review, vol. 58, no. 3, 1950, pp. 402–18. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27538006. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Spencer, Benjamin T. “This Elizabethan Shakespeare.” The Sewanee Review, vol. 49, no. 4, 1941, pp. 536–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27535836. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Spivack, Charlotte. “The Elizabethan Theatre: Circle and Center.” The Centennial Review, vol. 13, no. 4, 1969, pp. 424–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23737722. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Szönyi, György E. “Contending with the Fretful Element: Shakespeare and the (Gendered) Great Chain of Being.” Gender Studies, vol. 11, no. 1, West University of Timișoara, 2012, pp. 1–22. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10320-012-0025-6. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Tillyard, E. M. W. The Elizabethan World Picture. 1st ed., Routledge, 2011. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351304320.
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