1. Elizabethan Age

2. 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

3. Negative Aspects of London

4. High Drinking Rate
Beer was cheap, so people drank a lot of it to escape their problems
Many deaths by drunkenness

5. Sickness and Disease 3 Main Diseases: Bubonic Plague Small pox
Tuberculosis

6. 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

7. Pollution City ditches were used as toilets
Butchers threw dead carcasses in the street
Garbage was thrown in river
Mass graves for the poor

8. 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

9. Some Major Differences Between the Elizabethan Age and Now

10. 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!

11. Schools (Cont.)
Taught Latin grammar and classical literature

12. Clothing Clothing Acts: laws that said who could wear what
People had to dress their social class

13. 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

14. 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

15. Death Average life expectancy = 40 years
1/5 of children died before the age of 10—too many hazards in their life

16. Marriage Age of marriage: males = 28-29 Females = 25-26
Reasons for the wait:
Wanted smaller families
Wanted to make sure they were financially ready for a family
Average marriage only lasted about 20 years

17. Superstitions
Elizabethans were very superstitious; many had charms and such in their houses
They relied heavily on astrology and the stars

18. Elizabethan Ghosts
Were gruesome—usually looked as they did when they died
Visible only to person they are haunting
Came back for a specific mission: proper burial, revenge, or a warning

19. Entertainment Would be considered brutal by today’s standards:
Bear baiting
Cockfighting
Public executions

20. Elizabethan Theater

21. “The Theater” First public theater Opened in 1576
Opened by James Burbage
Provided an alternate form of entertainment
Established a regular audience
Gave rise to better props
Opened the market for actors and playwrights (therefore creating much needed jobs)

22. Caused controversy with:
Religious groups (morally)
City officials (danger of mob)
Business owners (competition)

23. Acting Group in “The Theater”
Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later The King’s Men
Shakespeare was a member and became the principal playwright

24. External structure of Elizabethan theaters
Circular
Open-air
Awning over gallery seating
Larger theaters seated approx. 2,000 – 3,000 spectators

25. Internal structure of Elizabethan theaters
Stage protruded out into the audience
The large dressing area behind the stage was called the tiring house

26. 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

27. 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”

28. Internal structure of Elizabethan theaters
gallery
“heaven”
Tiring house
The “pit” & groundlings
stage

29. The Globe

30. 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.

31. 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!

32. Characteristics of Drama in the Elizabethan Age
Sets were not elaborate.
Clothing was fancy Elizabethan period dress
All male actors
Did use some special effects—sounds, banners, musicians

33. Characteristics of Drama in the Elizabethan Age
Plays were typically performed in the early afternoon (around 2pm)
Flags were raised at the theater on the day of the play
Flyers were distributed to advertise plays

34. The End