Daily Life In Elizabethan England example essay topic

There are many aspects of daily life in Elizabethan England. Some important factors in the lives of the Elizabethan people are entertainment, food, and style. These topics were the everyday routines of the Elizabethan people. The Elizabethan people had many ways to entertain themselves. Some forms of entertainment included games, music, and attending the theater. During Elizabethan times games were played such as dicing, backgammon, and a variety of card games.

Most games usually involved gambling and drinking, which took place in taverns. Games that took some athletic ability, for example archery, billiard, badminton, hunting, riding, wrestling, and tennis. Some could only be played by the wealthy (Secara 2). Music was loved by the Elizabethan people.

It was even included in the ringing of the church bells. Dancing, which comes hand in hand with music, was very popular among all classes of society. But the upper class preferred courtly dances while the lower class liked country. Courtly dances 1 were performed by couples and involved intricate footwork, where as country dances were also performed by couples but in square, round, or rectangular sets (Mason 14). Another form of entertainment was attending the theater. Depending on how much you could afford was where you sat.

Usually the lower class would to stand by the stage, which was dirty and unsanitary. But the upper class would sit in the balconies. Young gentlemen of importance can, for extra fee, have their chairs put right up on stage. Women attended but were usually veiled or in masks. There would be a different play everyday and likely held in an inn yard (Secara 2). Food, of course, was another important part of Elizabethan daily life.

People would eat only two meals a day, dinner would be around 11: 00 AM to 12: 00 PM and supper at about 6: 00 PM. You would drink alcohol with your meal, which would always include bread. Elizabethans also had a sweet tooth for gingerbread, fruit pies, and puddings (Ross 1). 2 Style played a big role in Elizabethan life and your place in society. Hairstyles were an important issue for both me and women. They would spend hours waiting in lines for great hair-dos.

Men would sit in barber shops for whole days listening to music and talking to one another. Then the fashion for men's hair was shoulder length, curls, and dyed red. Also there beards would be styled to a point, square, round, oblong, or to a T But the style for women was to dye their hair blonde and sit in the sun for whole days, because they believed that the sun gave their hair a golden hint (N / A 3). In Elizabethan days a women's clothing would show her status in society. Women wanted their waists as small as possible and wore poof y ruffles around their collars and cuffs. But for the men a trend called "slashing", which was achieved by cutting slits in their clothing and having an undergarment of contrasting color showing through.

It was not unusual to see men wearing tights, make-up, or jewelry (Singman 93). 3 As you can see Elizabethan daily life consists of many of the same routines of our daily routines. Of course with the changing of times some things may change and some don't. But always people will be looking for ways to entertain themselves, try new things to eat, and look their best. N / A. Elizabethan England. web (1997) Mason, E. Dorothy.

Music in Elizabethan England. The Trustees of Amherst College Washington, 1958 Ross, David. Elizabethan Life. web (2000) Secara, Maggie. Life in Elizabethan England. web (10 Dec. 2002) Singman, L. Jeffrey. Daily Life in Elizabethan England. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1995.