8-4GreatChainofBeing

===In 1943, E.M.W. Tillyard wrote an influential book titled The Elizabethan World Picture. His book is about the belief of The Great Chain of Being. According to the website, King Lear, William Shakespeare, “ Tillyard details the way in which Elizabethans viewed their world order.” The Great China of Being is one of the key ideas in the world picture. It worked its way into the literature of the Shakespeare time and into his plays.===

===The Great Chain of Being is an idea saying that everything in the world is linked together in some way or form. It is a complicated and somewhat fluid concept. But put simply, Tillyard's explanation is that everything on earth and in the universe is linked in a particular order; everything has its place. The most heavenly and powerful beings are placed at the top of the chain, seated at the foot of God. The basest and smallest creatures are at the bottom, furthest away from God. The best and easiest way to visualize this is by a ladder.===

===A lot of things about the Great Chain of being are still confusing. But this webpage The Great Chain of Being described it as, “a powerful visual metaphor for a divinely inspired universal hierarchy ranking all forms of higher and lower life.” They’re are many ways to describe and understand the Great Chain of Being, but the easiest way it to visualize it by a ladder. And based on power and social status, the biggest and strongest are at the top, while the smallest and weakest are at the bottom.=== Cites used: Pancras, Samuel. "London." //Shakespeare in Quarto//. Feb. 20th, 1999. British Library Publisher. 21 Apr 2009

. Landmark, Lindsey. "General Characteristics of the Renaissance." //Renaissance//. March 29, 2009. English Department, Brooklyn College.. 21 Apr 2009 .

Lovejoy, Arthur. //The Great Chain of Being; a Study of the History of an Idea.//. first. New York : Harvard University ress, 1997 Print.