Social Classes During The Elizabethan Era Social Hierarchy

The meaning of colors and materials were the main rules set by the Sumptuary laws. Elizabethan England was divided into three social classes. The upper class included the monarch, nobility,

As a result of these social classes, different ranks had designated attire that was regulated by Parliament (“Elizabethan Era”). Sumptuary laws regulated how extravagantly people of the various classes could dress (“Daily Life”). The wealthier classes indulged in meat while the lower classes ate eggs, bread, and dairy (“Daily Life”). None of the classes drank water due to impurity (“Daily Life”). Instead, they drank wine, flat beer, or weak ale (“Daily Life”). In the lower class, families were seen as working units (“Daily Life”). The son usually took after the father’s career (“Daily Life”). Wealthier families had enough money to pay servants to do work for them (“Daily Life”). These servants lived with the family (“Daily Life”).

In the late 16th century of England life was rough. Many families had multiple children, but not enough money to support all of them. Families most likely live on the countryside, trying their hardest to survive on what little they have. The late 16th century was full of contradictions, as well. A woman, Queen Elizabeth, was ruler, but in the family women still had no say. Men ran the house still. The rich would wander around Europe for fun, while the poor stumbled around begging for scraps to survive. Most people couldn’t even read, while the pompous are being treated to the highest forms of education! All

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 three estates in the medieval European times, the first estate, the second estate, and the third estate. The first estate contained of church leaders and kings, basically people with a high status. The second estate contained of the knights, the people who protected the land under the kings and church leaders. Below all was the third estate which contained of the peasants, the lowest working class. This is similar to modern days but the first estate would be CEOs and political leaders, the second estate would be the average working middle class, and the third estate would be the poor people with low jobs.

Marriages were organized in a way in which both families would benefit from the marriage ("Elizabethan Wedding Customs" 1).

In France, the social classes consisted of three estates: First, Second, and Third. The First Estate consisted of the clergy (religious officials), who were considered the highest on the social ladder. They only consisted of .5% of the population yet were the most powerful (Doc. 2). The Second Estate were 1.5% of the population and consisted of nobles who held the top jobs of government, army, and courts (Doc. 2). Finally, The Third Estate were 98% of the population and consisted of the bourgeoisie, or the middle class, and peasants (Doc. 2). When the Estates

At first, Austen reveals the tensions between the working class and the upper class and emphasizes the rigid social structure that existed in nineteenth century London. The rigidity of the social structure can be attributed to the fact that “no class exists for itself but is bound by reciprocated rights and duties to classes above and below” (Kilger 359). Although the classes are separate and very distinct from each other, they still all depend on one another to thrive and succeed. However, this was definitely not the case during the

In the Middle Ages, it was common for powerful nobles to marry heiresses creating vast estates over which they had almost complete power. To stop this happening, Henry “ensured that leading magnates and their sons did not marry heiresses, thus preventing the creation of ‘super-nobles’. This prevented families such as the Stafford’s and the Percy’s from becoming too powerful. He also gave the inheritance of many unmarried women to the Crown. In this way Henry was really successful in limiting the power of nobility.

Families needed their daughters to marry in the same social class or above to insure social prestige.

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.

Wealth served a major role between the classes and placement of citizens within them. The queen or the monarch was the richest and flaunted her wealth with items and luxuries such as jewelry and gold (“The Social Structure in Elizabethan England”). The

The Regency time period was an era of great wealth. Both men and women worked vigorously to become part of the upper class. Marrying for upper class women was the only way to gain a source of income (Hall). Women would even change their way of life to be able to marry into wealth. A truth universally acknowledged, that a single main possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife, said Mrs. Bennett (Hall). In the Regency time period, wealth played a huge role in both men and women’s lives

Over the years, society has created and recreated different ideas of what is considered socially acceptable and what customs to follow on a daily basis. These ideas are constantly changing and renewing themselves, making even last year’s behavioral habits seem crude. For instance, life in Elizabethan England contrasted with how life is now because people acted differently, dressed differently, spoke differently, and in a general, broader sense, they lived differently. Because people grow and change and learn from their previous mistakes, Elizabethan customs are practically obsolete due to their lack of effectiveness or rather the lack of need for them to continue.