Shakespeare's World

It goes nearly without saying that Elizabethan England, the society that produced William Shakespeare, was dramatically different than the modern world of today. This is true not only in the most obvious ways-language, technology, living standards, politics-but in the ideas and beliefs that shaped Elizabethans' understanding of themselves and the world around them. Just as audiences 400 years from now will need guidance to understand concepts like "the American dream" or "wokeness," so too does an understanding of the Elizabethan worldview illuminate Shakespeare's plays in new and surprising ways. For decades, Dennis Krausnick (1942-2018), a beloved teacher of classical acting, brought Shakespeare's world and worldview to life for professional actors as Director of Training at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. As part of the company's world-renowned actor-training program-its "Month-Long Intensive"-Dennis created a full-day immersive experience that helped actors experience, understand, and embody the philosophies and beliefs underlying the Elizabethan world. A fascinating and readable distillation of the insights developed by Dennis Krausnick and Shakespeare & Company, Shakespeare's World gives performers and directors an engaging tour of the Elizabethan worldview, unpacking such alien concepts as the four elements, the bodily humors, and "the great chain of being." It includes detailed notes for each Shakespeare play showing how this worldview permeates the text-it will enrich the experience of anyone looking to understand and engage with Shakespeare's writing in a practical, personal, and active way.

Dennis Krausnick was a founding member of Shakespeare & Company, based in Lenox, MA. For 25 years, he was its Director of Training. As a master teacher, he taught at countless theater companies and universities, including NYU, Boston University, MIT, Prague Shakespeare Company, and more. As an actor, Dennis's favorite roles included King Lear, Polonius, and Capulet. He also staged many Shakespeare plays. Dennis passed away in 2018, having spent the last months of his life working on the vision and scope of this book, Shakespeare's World.

Part I: The Elizabethan Worldview 1 The Macrocosm 2 The Four Elements 3 The Great Chain of Being 4 The Humors and the Humoral Types 5 The Microcosm: Us 6 The Correspondences 7 Human Possibilities Part II: Prompts, Puzzles, and Provocations Part III: The Elizabethan Worldview in Practice Acknowledgments Bibliography Index