Romeo and Juliet may be the most famous pair of "star-crossed lovers" but other

Shakespearean characters also reflect the influence of the stars. In Henry VI Part 2, as the
Duke of Suffolk is about to be murdered on shipboard, he recalls, "A cunning man did
calculate my birth And told me that by water I should die." And sometimes astrology has less
tragic consequences: when Benedick is having trouble composing a love poem to Beatrice
in Much Ado About Nothing, he consoles himself with the knowledge that "I was not born
under a rhyming planet, nor I cannot woo in festival terms." Julia, in The Two Gentlemen of
Verona, puts all her faith in astrology, confident that her particular gentleman of Verona will
be as faithful as she, since "truer stars did govern Proteus' birth."
Consulting the starscourtesy of the local stargazer in a village or a fancier private
practitioner in Londonhelped confused Elizabethans determine what specific course of
action to take. An astrologer who knew the position of the stars and planets at the exact
moment a crucial question was asked could then provide answers to all sorts of personal
querieswhen to get married, when to look for a job, and even that rare dilemma of when to
take a bath (never, was the usual answer!). Failing to act at the moment dictated by the
heavens was invariably catastrophic. As Prospero acknowledges in The Tempest, "my zenith
doth depend upon A most auspicious star, whose influence If now I court not, but omit, my
fortunes Will ever after droop."
Many of Queen Elizabeth's courtiers shared Duke Prospero's affinity for stargazing; it had a
huge following at Court. High-ranking government officials and famous men were avid
enthusiasts, among them Sir Walter Raleigh and the queen's favorite, the Earl of Essex. Lord
Burleigh, Elizabeth's right-hand minister, even invested some money in a corporation run by
an astrologer/alchemist who promised to turn iron into copper, at huge profits to the
investors. And the Earl of Leicester conferred at length with the well-known astrologer John
Dee to ascertain the most auspicious dayand hourfor Queen Elizabeth's coronation.
Elizabeth herself, however, did not share her courtiers' enthusiasm; her own skepticism
of astrology was well known and, like everything else about her, celebrated. She astonished

Romeo and Juliet may be the most famous pair of "star-crossed lovers" but other
Shakespearean characters also reflect the influence of the stars. In Henry VI Part 2, as the
Duke of Suffolk is about to be murdered on shipboard, he recalls, "A cunning man did
calculate my birth And told me that by water I should die." And sometimes astrology has less
tragic consequences: when Benedick is having trouble composing a love poem to Beatrice
in Much Ado About Nothing, he consoles himself with the knowledge that "I was not born
under a rhyming planet, nor I cannot woo in festival terms." Julia, in The Two Gentlemen of
Verona, puts all her faith in astrology, confident that her particular gentleman of Verona will
be as faithful as she, since "truer stars did govern Proteus' birth."
Consulting the starscourtesy of the local stargazer in a village or a fancier private
practitioner in Londonhelped confused Elizabethans determine what specific course of
action to take. An astrologer who knew the position of the stars and planets at the exact
moment a crucial question was asked could then provide answers to all sorts of personal
querieswhen to get married, when to look for a job, and even that rare dilemma of when to
take a bath (never, was the usual answer!). Failing to act at the moment dictated by the
heavens was invariably catastrophic. As Prospero acknowledges in The Tempest, "my zenith
doth depend upon A most auspicious star, whose influence If now I court not, but omit, my
fortunes Will ever after droop."
Many of Queen Elizabeth's courtiers shared Duke Prospero's affinity for stargazing; it had a
huge following at Court. High-ranking government officials and famous men were avid
enthusiasts, among them Sir Walter Raleigh and the queen's favorite, the Earl of Essex. Lord
Burleigh, Elizabeth's right-hand minister, even invested some money in a corporation run by
an astrologer/alchemist who promised to turn iron into copper, at huge profits to the
investors. And the Earl of Leicester conferred at length with the well-known astrologer John
Dee to ascertain the most auspicious dayand hourfor Queen Elizabeth's coronation.
Elizabeth herself, however, did not share her courtiers' enthusiasm; her own skepticism
of astrology was well known and, like everything else about her, celebrated. She astonished