This brief discussion will offer a glimpse of early modern man’s struggle against fate, nature and his place under the heavens. Shakespeare, through his famous character Hamlet, expresses this common dilemma, “What should fellows such as I do crawling between Earth and Heaven?" In this simple question, not only does Hamlet pin point Man’s cosmological location, but he also brings light upon man’s constant struggle between passion and reason. While examining this issue, we will delve into neo-platonic thought, the nature of melancholy and the common correspondences that link man to his universe around him. We will define art and science, along with dissecting order and its relation to good and evil. While we will not have adequate time to cover the famous ecclesiastical debate of how many angels can fit on the head of a pin, we should be able to reach a keen awareness of our world from a 16^th Century perspective. From this vantage it is easy to observe how our actions, even in fencing, should reflect the very universe we are chained within and carry the same weight and judgment.