Elizabethan Age

1558-1603

London in the E.A.• Largest city in

Europe• Center of trade and

social life because of the Thames

• So many migrants, jobs were scarce

Negative Aspects of London

High Drinking Rate• Beer was cheap, so

people drank a lot of it to escape their problems

• Many deaths by drunkenness

Sickness and Disease3 Main Diseases:

• Bubonic Plague

• Small pox

• Tuberculosis

Lack of Personal and Public Hygiene

• Neither rich nor poor bathed very often

• Common to have bad breath, rotting teeth, constant stomach disorders, and scabs or sores

Pollution• City ditches were used as

toilets• Butchers threw dead

carcasses in the street• Garbage was thrown in

river• Mass graves for the poor

Lack of Medical Knowledge

• Believed in the four humours, the four chief fluids of the human body: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, blood

• They made no connection between illness and the horrible living conditions

Some Major Differences Between the Elizabethan Age

and Now

Schools• Were expensive, so most students

were upper class boys.

• Only girls were from the very high aristocracy

• School Day: 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Six days a week!

Schools (Cont.)• Taught Latin

grammar and classical literature

Clothing• Clothing Acts:

laws that said who could wear what

• People had to dress their social class

Women• No vote, few legal rights, and limited

educational and job opportunities• Girls who could afford education were

given a domestic education instead of an academic one—spinning, cooking, preserving fruit, weaving, and anything that could make the home life more pleasant

Women (Cont.)• Married women lost all control

of their property, even clothing, to their husbands

• When a husband died, the most the woman could inherit was 1/3 of his property

Death• Average life expectancy = 40 years

• 1/5 of children died before the age of 10—too many hazards in their life

Marriage• Age of marriage: males = 28-29Females = 25-26• Reasons for the wait:1. Wanted smaller families2. Wanted to make sure they were

financially ready for a family• Average marriage only lasted about 20

years

Superstitions• Elizabethans were very

superstitious; many had charms and such in their houses

• They relied heavily on astrology and the stars

Elizabethan Ghosts1. Were gruesome—usually

looked as they did when they died

2. Visible only to person they are haunting

3. Came back for a specific mission: proper burial, revenge, or a warning

Entertainment• Would be considered brutal by

today’s standards:

1. Bear baiting

2. Cockfighting 3. Public executions

Elizabethan Theater

“The Theater”1. First public theater2. Opened in 15763. Opened by James Burbage4. Provided an alternate form of entertainment5. Established a regular audience6. Gave rise to better props7. Opened the market for actors and playwrights

(therefore creating much needed jobs)

Caused controversy

with:1. Religious groups (morally)

2. City officials (danger of mob)

3. Business owners (competition)

Acting Group in “The Theater”

• Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later The King’s Men

• Shakespeare was a member and became the principal playwright

External structure of

Elizabethan theaters• Circular

• Open-air• Awning over

gallery seating• Larger theaters

seated approx. 2,000 – 3,000 spectators

Internal structure of

Elizabethan theaters• Stage protruded out

into the audience

• The large dressing area behind the stage was called the tiring house

Internal structure of

Elizabethan theaters• The wealthy patrons

sat on benches in the gallery

• The common people stood around the stage in “the pit”; they were called groundlings

Internal structure of

Elizabethan theaters• The area above the

stage housed machines that could lower people onto the stage – called “heaven”

• A trap door in the stage allowed actors to come up from below – called “hell”

Internal structure of

Elizabethan theaters

Tiring house

gallery

The “pit” & groundlings

stage

“heaven”

The Globe

The Globe• The theaters were closed in the

1590’s because of a plague outbreak. In 1598, the ground landlord of “The Theater” wouldn’t renew the lease because he disapproved of theatrical productions.

• He planned to pull down the Theatre and sell the building materials.

The Globe (Cont.)• The Chamberlain’s Men found a clause in

their former lease giving them the rights to the Theater (the building itself) and the actors dismantled the building themselves, transporting the materials to the other side of the Thames River.

• The new playhouse was called The Globe and became the most famous of London theaters!

Characteristics of Drama in the

Elizabethan Age1. Sets were not elaborate. 2. Clothing was fancy Elizabethan

period dress3. All male actors4. Did use some special effects—

sounds, banners, musicians

Characteristics of Drama in the

Elizabethan Age5. Plays were typically performed in

the early afternoon (around 2pm)

6. Flags were raised at the theater on the day of the play

7. Flyers were distributed to advertise plays

The End