Elizabethan Caste System

Great Chain of Being
The Elizabethans had a very static and structured social caste system. From rocks to angels and God the Elizabethans in England had a place for them. As seen in the illustration the stairs represent different social classes. At the very top are the spiritual beings of course, because the English in this time period valued religion over all else. In the article the author saw that Shakespearean people had a very organized way to put all objects. First they put spiritual beings with God at the top and human souls at the bottom. After that was living organisms such as humans and plants which is where most attention was payed. From the reading passage it can be seen that as your rank in society increases you start to develop certain characteristics so a king may have some characteristics a peasant doesn’t and therefore is placed on a

higher platform than him.

Who better to have the right to rule over all others than the person highest in the social hierarchy for living creatures and the person closest to the spiritual caste which would be the king or queen and their family. Finally inanimate objects such as rocks, minerals, and dirt were placed at the bottom of the social ladder. The staircase on the illustration looks to be leading to what could be seen as the Kingdom of Heaven, and if you look at the bottom you can see the rocks at the bottom not even on a stair, and multiple steps above that is the lion representing how animals are closer to the Kingdom and God himself than a simple rock. The social system was very much divided in England, and society very much created a social food chain with rankings to determine if you were above or below someone. For instance, in the Elizabethan period if you were a common peasant that put you below the middle class, the lords and ladies of the upper class, the king, and all

of the spiritual caste.
Macbeth has ties to the social hierarchy because the play was written in the Elizabethan period and Shakespeare being a contemporary Elizabethan playwright included themes of social class in the play. Macbeth is trying to become king through killing Duncan and anyone in his way which is the complete opposite of what you would expect from someone supposed to have a divine right to the throne. Someone supposed to be good wouldn’t be murdering their king. If you aren’t meant to be king it would be a horrible offense to become one and ascend your set rank in the social caste. Perhaps if you do seize a rank that you shouldn’t be able to attain there will be consequences almost like karma. Macbeth will pay for his rise to power in some way if he is not meant to be king.