Notes on Elizabethan Society

There are several important differences between ____________ times and our times. First, the _______ did not live in a _________; they were governed by a _____.

Shakespeare’s Englis

hdemocracy quee

n

Queen Elizabeth I

The people were divided into

two classes________________ who had either lots of ______ or an important ___________ -

titled gentlemenmone

yfamily name

Titled Gentleman

- or else they were ________ who owned next to _______ and barely ________.

peasantsnothingsurvive

d

Elizabethan Peasant Couple

There was a very rigid _____ ______. The top social levels for ___________ were as follows:

class

system non-

nobles

•wealthy _________•_______ and clerks•______ craftsmen•journeymen or __________•independent traders•__________

merchantslawyer

smaster apprentices

domestics

This was an extremely _____ __________ society. _______ were expected to _____ soon upon reaching _____-bearing age, and their chief duties were to maintain a ____ and to bear as ____ children (preferably____) as possible – the more children you had the fewer _______ you had to pay to get the work done.

male-dominated

Womenmarry

child

home

manymal

eworkers

A woman’s role at this time was that of ____ and ______. She was supposed to do everything that her _______ _______. She was not _______ to own ________, and _______ her husband could ____ her if she ________.

wife mother

husbandordered

allowed

propertylegally

beatdisobeyed

Even though the English at this time did not treat their women well, and considered women little more than ________, they _____ and _______ their queen. She was one of the few women who were considered _________.

propertylove

dtrusted

important

In __________ society (the lords and ladies) men and women wore ____. They would ______ their wigs and _________. They powdered the wigs because it was the _______.

Elizabethan

wigs powderthemselve

sfashion

However, they powdered themselves because of the ____. In those times they didn’t _____ very often due to ___________ about frequent bathing. People actually believed that bathing could be ______.

bathesuperstitions

harmful

odor

So, to cover the odor, they put on ______ or they would rub sweet ____ into their skin to help hide the odor. As a result of the sweet oils, many people had running _____ on their skin.

powderoils

sores

The _______ of many commoners was based on _________. The chief livestock was _____. There were approximately _____ sheep per person in England.

lifestyle

agriculture sheep

three

People drank ___ instead of _____. Only the very upper classes and royalty drank ____.

alewater

wine

Most villagers were functionally ________. They might be able to recognize a few _______ or _______,

illiterateletters

numbers

but reading and writing were ____ that basically belonged to members of the _______, _______, or ______.

skillsnobility

lawyers clergy

This was also a time of very ________ _______ conditions. Doctors _____ more people than they _____.

primitive

medicalkilled

cured

Infant and child ________ rates were extremely ____. People also lost _____ while they were fairly young since they didn’t _____ them and there were no ______.

mortalityhigh

teeth

brushdentists

Many women died while having babies because doctors had no idea about _____.

germs

Medical texts expressed a deep distrust of ____ ____, believing it could cause __________, ________, and ______. The average life span was about __ years.

fresh fruitmelancholypoisoning illnes

s 35