Henry Peacham's The world is ruled & governed by opinion is a poster-sized advertisement from 1641. The image presents three figures: an aristocrat, a jester, and a woman. One reading of Peacham's piece suggests that it is a criticism of social class.
The world is ruled & governed by opinion by Peacham, Henry. London: are to bee sould by Tho: Bankes, at the top of Bridewell Staires, 1641. Wing/P949.5
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Broadside
Teacher Ideas
Marc Onion / St. Benedict's Prep School, Newark, NJ / English
Do you agree with the interpretation provided in the description above? Identify each person in the image in terms of his or her individual power, status, or degree of influence in the image. Is there a character with more freedom or influence than, say, some other character? Are any voices silenced? What do you make of the title of the broadside?
Craig Robertson / South Grand Prairie High School, Grand Prairie, TX / Theater Arts
View this image as a still of a scene from a particular Shakespeare play, for example Twelfth Night or Hamlet . Interchange Shakespeare's characters for the characters in Peacham's image to represent a power relation depicted in Shakespeare's play. Who from Shakespeare's play resemble the positions of the woman perched in the tree, the aristocrat, and the jester?
Kurt Broderson / Mount Abraham Union High School, Bristol, VT / English
Use this image as a frame of a skit. Students must create their own dialogue that articulates a power relation between all of the characters in the image. All characters must speak.
