Review: The Elizabethan World Picture by E.M.W. Tillyard

    The Elizabethan World Picture: A study of the idea of order in the age of Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton is a small, dense book that paints a picture of widespread Elizabethan thought pertaining to the universe and humans' rightful place in the universe, as applies to the works of Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton. 

Things well done, and with care

    This book is a compact and well-researched reference source, with thorough explanations of Elizabethan worldview as relates to the natural, the human, and the supernatural. Brief passages from the works of Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton (and other writers of the era) appear indented and frequently in between the descriptions of Elizabethan worldview. The quotations are then explained by Tillyard in the subsequent paragraph. The passages are all cited by author and text in a very helpful index in the back of the book. The chapters generally, with the exception of Chapter Three: Sin, follow a very logical progression, from an overview of how Elizabethans viewed the entire universe to a deep dive into how Elizabethans viewed one class of beings.

    Another merit of this book is its understanding of its own application: the book knows its use and its limits. Thus, it includes sections such as "General Significance" and "Chapter Nine: Epilogue" to remind the reader of the big picture. Why does order matter? How can the Great Chain of Being enrich our understanding of Shakespeare's imagery? If the reader gets lost in every detail Tillyard presents (and there are many of them) and commits to understanding Tillyard's every thought, the reader will never finish the book. 

    This book is an excellent reference source, but not necessarily the most page-turning read. A reader should not expect to read the book in one sitting––though the first read should be chronologically because the chapters are so well-ordered to orient the reader. After the first read (which need not yield a complete understanding of all Tillyard's ideas word-for-word), the book can be used easily for ironing out confusing images the modern reader encounters while reading Shakespeare. We recommend this book as an essential read to gaining a full understanding of Shakespeare's plays dealing with civil strife, including Macbeth, and many of the histories.

Understanding sought is good, but given unsought is better

    The Elizabethan World Picture was published in 1942. The book is extremely well-written in the academic tradition of the era; however, most modern readers will have quite a bit of trouble unpacking Tillyard's language itself. The ideas are not complicated, but understanding his ideas takes time because his phrases are opaque and grammatically complex. In this way, The Elizabethan World Picture is the antithesis of another historical reference source, Shakespeare ALIVE! (our review for which can be found here).

    To supplement the quotations from literary works with historical evidence of Elizabethan worldview, Tillyard includes (often long) passages by thinkers of Shakespeare's era. These paragraphs, though they were explicit and clear in Shakespeare's day, present even more of a challenge than Tillyard's own language to the modern reader. They cement Tillyard's narrative authority, but do not present the reader with any new information––and, thus, can be skimmed over.

Cover of The Elizabethan World Picture:
A study of the idea of order in the age of Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton