The Background of Ideas

Shakespeare lived at a time when many beliefs were being sharply questioned. This book describes some of the debates, beginning with a discussion of views of nature inherited from earlier periods, and exploring the ferment of ideas that Shakespeare and his contemporaries read and discussed.

Chapters in this section:

• The Medieval universe
• Order?
• Education
• New knowledge
• Religion
• The supernatural

Further reading on this topic. | How to cite this page