The chan of being - The correspondences
Tudors inherited from the Middle Ages a series of beliefs on the order and stability of the world (1 pagine formato doc)
It was represented in three forms: a chain, a series of corresponding planes and a cosmic dance.
The chain started from God and finished with the lowest of the inanimate things.
At first there was the lifeless class, vegetative world, animals or men followed. The men were different from animals class because could use the reason. Then there were the angels linked to the men by the reason but freed from lower faculties. The Elizabethans were interested in human nature, in the contrast between passion and understanding.