AO3

• Magic:

  • Widely accepted subject
  • Split into theurgy (good) and geoty (bad)
  • Witch hunting becomes standard practise
  • James I's Daemonologie 1597
  • Law against witchcraft in 1563
• Machiavellian figure:

  • Niccolo Machiavelli (bn 1496) wrote 'The Prince'
  • This was a guide on how to gain and maintain power
  • Personified by a cunning, amoral and opportunistic character
• The Great Chain of Being:

  • A social hierarchy believed to be set out by God
  • The monarch was divinely appointed at the top of this system
  • If this hierarchy was betrayed the world would erupt into chaos
• 'On Cannibals':

  • Montaigne's 1603 essay that illustrates the liberation, perhaps, of not complying to civilisation
• The Noble Savage:

  • An idealised literary concept of uncivilised humanity with an innate goodness (not corrupted by civilisation)
  • "men in a state of nature so not know good and evil but their independence" {Rosseau, founder of the concept}
• The divine right of kings:

  • The idea that the monarch derived from God, not from the appointment of subject
  • Rebellion is therefore the worst political planning, to usurp the king would be to go against God
• Usurpation:

  • The act of taking control of something without having the right to, especially of a position of power (e.g., the throne)
• The gunpowder plot:

  • 1605 failed assassination attempt by Guy Fawkes on King James I
  • driven by religious tension and resulted in the execution of the plotters
• The Tempest was first presented at James I's Daughter's wedding
• Shakespeare's last known solo play - a 'goodbye'