Astrology in Shakespeare’s Day Astrology in Shakespeare’s Day Author Bevan Watson Supervising Editor Melissa Walter Editor Kate McPherson Copy Editor Leah Hamby Senior Encoder Leah Hamby Encoding and Metadata LEMDO Team Copyright Holder (Content) Kate McPherson Copyright Holder (XML and interface) University of Victoria Early Modern England EncyclopediaEMEE

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Early Modern England Encyclopedia

By Bevan Watson, inspired by Michael Best’s Shakespeare’s Life and Times, Internet Shakespeare Editions

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A drawing of four concentric rings with two lines cutting them into quarters. Numbers and labels in Latin fill every area within the rings. John Dee’s handwritten copy of a chart from Johannes Trithemius’s Steganographia. Courtesy of Wikimedia. Public Domain.

In Elizabethan culture and society, astrology and fate were thought to rule over people’s day to day lives. Even the ministers of the new queen, Elizabeth I, asked influential mathematician and astrologer Dr. John Dee to name a good date for her coronation in 1558.

People performed astrological calculations to organize their own lives and sometimes they relied on printed templates. Simon Forman (1552–1611) was a well-known astrologer of the time who attended some of William Shakespeare’s plays. He also kept a set of astrological diaries. Forman created charts to know when his health would improve, when was the best time to send letters to patrons, and how to locate some of his stolen belongings.

Richard Napier (1559–1634) consulted Simon Forman with enquiries about stolen goods and later about melancholy. These interactions inspired Napier to become Forman’s astrological protégé. He was devoted to astrology, alchemy, various forms of magic, and theology. He also developed expertise in the realms of the divine and spiritual, increasing his reputation. The work of people like Forman and Napier helped spread and reaffirm the belief that the stars and planets influenced earthly affairs.

Using astrology was not without controversy, however. Detractors published attacks on astrology that critiqued its reliability as well as its potentially demonic or Satanic connections.

References to Astrology in Shakespeare’s Plays

Shakespeare incorporates astrological elements within many of his plays. In Romeo and Juliet, the pair is referred to as star-crossed lovers in the prologue to inform the audience that interaction between the doomed couple is fated by the stars.

In Julius Caesar, Caesar makes a powerful assertion at the notion he could be killed (3.1.61): But I am constant as the Northern Star. Here, Caesar compares himself with a powerful and everlasting entity in the realm of astrology, the north star, which provides literal and figurative guidance for mortals to navigate the world. The reference to the stars symbolizes Caesar’s self-proclaimed power and authority over death and fate.

Within Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark writes Ophelia a powerful love letter, Doubt thou the stars are fire, /Doubt that the sun doth move, /Doubt truth to be a liar, /But never doubt I love (2.2.116–119). Astrological entities such as the stars and sun were believed by some to be the most significant heavenly forces that dictated people’s fates. Here, Hamlet tells Ophelia that she might doubt the authenticity and powers surrounding these astrological figures, but that their love is something she cannot doubt, implying that it is more powerful than fate itself.

Rebutals of Astrology in Shakespeare’s Plays

Shakespeare also portrays problems with believing that the stars dictate people’s fate or that astrology diminished free will. In Julius Caesar, Cassius claims The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings (1.2.140–141). Here, he wants to deny the star’s role in determining his fate, preferring to claim control of his life through his own free will.

As Katherine Walker, a scholar of early modern England, notes, For every figure on the early modern stage who reads the celestial heavens for causesthere are those who mock such dependence on astrology.

Key Print Sources Dawson, Mark S. Astrology and Human Variation in Early Modern England. The Historical Journal, vol. 56, no. 1, Mar. 2013, pp. 31–53. Cambridge University Press, DOI 10.1017/S0018246X12000374. Gürcü, Özge Özkan. The Interaction of Fate and Free Will in Shakespeare’s <title level="m">Hamlet. ESSE Messenger, vol. 25, no. 2, Winter 2016, pp. 42–51. The ESSE Messenger, https://essenglish.org/messenger/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/03/25-2-W2016.pdf. Kassell, Lauren et al. Richard Napier (1559–1634). A Critical Introduction to the Casebooks of Simon Forman and Richard Napier, 1596–1634, https://casebooks.lib.cam.ac.uk/reading-the-casebooks/who-were-the-practitioners/richard-napier. Kassell, Lauren et al. Simon Forman (1552–1611). A Critical Introduction to the Casebooks of Simon Forman and Richard Napier, 1596–1634, https://casebooks.lib.cam.ac.uk/reading-the-casebooks/who-were-the-practitioners/simon-forman.
Key Online Sources Best, Michael. Stars and Omens. Shakespeare’s Life and Times, Internet Shakespeare Editions, 4 Jan. 2011, https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/plays/julius%20caesar/stars.html. Jokinen, Annina. Dr. John Dee. Luminarium Encyclopedia, 24 Aug. 2009. https://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/johndee.htm. Walker, Katherine. Hating on Star Gazing: Early Modern Astrology and its Critics. Shakespeare & Beyond. Folger Shakespeare Library. 25 Sep. 2020. https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/early-modern-astrology-critics-star-gazing/.
Image Sources John Dee’s handwritten copy of a chart from Johannes Trithemius’s Steganographia. Courtesy of Wikimedia. Public Domain.