Elizabethan Social Classes

Imagine being born into the Elizabethan Era where your social class is already determined for you and you cannot switch classes ever. This is the case during the Shakespearean era. There were six total social classes of Elizabethan England. The social class system listed in order from highest to lowest is; Monarch, Nobility, Gentry, Merchants, Yeomanry, and Laborers. Depending on which class you were in this would affect your living conditions, authority, wealth, work, lifestyle and religion. There were also many cultural differences among the social classes during Elizabethan times.

During this time the social class depended on how much land you owned. Royalty in your Kings and Queens was part of the upper class; the noble lords and vassals followed the

The Elizabethan era, named for Queen Elizabeth who reigned from 1558-1603, was a very relaxed time in England because no wars or conflicts were happening at the time (Davis 231). Many people believe that all people lived wonderful lives in the Elizabethan era, yet most people were poor and lived hard lives. “Undeniably the span of life is shorter in the sixteenth century than it will be in subsequent ages” (Davis 162). Important parts of life in London during the Elizabethan era were social classes, living conditions, recreation, education, and gender inequality.

In the English colonies there were six social classes. From the richest to the poorest, these were the gentry, the middle Class, poor whites, indentured servants, free africans and slaves. The people that made up these classes ranged from the most powerful to those with the least amount of rights, if any.

Specifically, the six social classes during the 16th century in England were Monarchy, Nobility, Gentry,

The social class for the Elizabethan Era was unique because of the different ways it was set up than from today. This social class has a very different type of hierarchy than any other social class that was ever made. Even though this social class was unique, it still needed the opportunity for improving the flaws. Certain levels of hierarchy needed a possibility for demotion for their class to move up in the rankings so they can get treated and respected better. The lower levels of the social classes didn’t have the best ways of living and suffered cruelty. The social class in the Elizabethan Era had a different type of hierarchy than we do today, the social class had the opportunity for improvement, and the possibility of demotion of the social class; therefore the social class could have had a revolution or change in the system.

In the Elizabethan period, women were subordinate to men. They were considered to be ‘inferior' beings who were controlled by their husbands, fathers or any other men in the family. Women were not allowed to hold their own opinions, views or lifestyles. Men had control of everything, some of these included money, politics, work, children, women and home.

There were several classes of whites in the Antebellum South. The first class is what you call your elite or high class which were the wealthy, high society, grower gentry who were land rich. The first class possessed at least 20 or more slaves and accomplished their wealth from the development and sale of the cash crops, cotton and rice. The children of the upper class were often educated by personal tutors or at private schools in South Carolina and abroad. Next, there was the middle class of white people. The middle class consisted of tradesman, merchants, sharecroppers and etc. When the economy stayed steady, it allowed the middle class people to make a living. Their children were taught to read and write, basically learn the

“There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully” (Chopin 129). One can interpret this to mean that parents in the 1800s (and to some extent today) desired a higher marital status for their daughters, so they could be well positioned for a stable life. As discussed in class, social status still exists in modern America which can significantly attract many candidates who want to marry a person for social status but not necessarily for love. These attitudes that continue to dominate America today stem from the aristocratic Old South as a means to achieve control of wealth for the few at the expense of impoverishing the masses.

The Nobles or Lords were the upper and middle class. These were the people who owned the land and were the rulers. It was their responsibility to insure that the peasants and churchmen were protected so that they could live in peace and act as judges to handle domestic disputes. The serfs, peasants, and Yeomen kept the economy going with hard work. Church would now begin to play a huge role during this time. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/615557/United-Kingdom/44830/England-in-the-15th-century

Citizens of America during the eighteenth century were divided into social classes. The upper class (wealthy), the middle class (working class), and the lower class. The wealthy prospered during

Social class distinction remains a common theme throughout Shakespeare's plays. Shakespearean era society possessed a structured hierarchy of social class, based largely on wealth and nobility. This system influenced social interactions among the population and often guided marriage arrangements. Shakespeare’s commentary on social class, in his comedy Twelfth Night, exposes the divide humorously, by displaying ironic interactions between varying social classes. Twelfth Night places a variety of characters from different social classes in close quarters, causing inevitable conflict among classes.

Social Classes in Early Colonies - By the late seventeenth century there were a few upper class mostly younger sons of the lesser gentry some businessmen in the middle class who move for religious and commercial reasons and mostly English laborers; in the Chesapeake these laborers were often indentured while in New England they often arranged their own passage. In both men>women (a little more lax in the early south and women>children; in the south: large plantation owners>small plantation owners> owners w/o land>slaves

In Shakespeare's time, the English lived with a strong sense of social class -- of belonging to a particular group because of occupation, wealth, and ancestry. Elizabethan Society had a very strict social code at the time that Shakespeare was writing his plays. Social class could determine all sorts of things, from what a person could wear to where he could live to what jobs his children could get. Some families moved from one class to another, but most people were born into a particular class and stayed there. There was a chance of being granted a title by the crown. This was uncommon at the time and a relatively new thing for Europe where ancestry always defined nobility.

The social classes had many varying roles which were important to the different classes and their functions in society. Queen Elizabeth was at the top of the social pyramid (“The Social Structure in Elizabethan England”). Being the head of the country, the Queen was the most respected person in England. She had full control and governed everyone. Following the Queen, came the higher middle classes such as the nobility. The nobility were the fighters and knights, which many had died in the War of the Roses. The Queen saw this class as a threat and