8-4London

//Answer prepared by Annelise G.//
What It Would be like to live in the Elizabethan Era….. 8. The time period during Shakespeare’s era is called the Elizabethan Era. It is called this because Queen Elizabeth took the thrown.

During the Elizabethan Era the city was full of many people and growing rapidly. When looking down into the city you would see unpaved roads, people selling different items on carts, and maybe one or two wealthy people driving in their wagons, which were highly uncomfortable. There were also many markets that occurred. They would be indoor and outdoor selling all different types of items. Hay, grain, sheep, meat, horses, wood would be sold. They also had booths and stalls of merchants, craftspeople, and farmers. City officials oversaw the markets and made sure everything was running smoothly and all weight and measurements were correct. Not only were there markets but there were also malls! The malls were places where English and foreign merchants would sell their items. They would sell perfumes, clothing, hats, accessories, and even wigs! To learn more about the markets and malls look at the book __Life in Elizabethan England the City,__by Kathryn Hinds.

Since it was the Renaissance Era, art, architecture, and music were all booming at the time. Art was evolving into something different. Artist were taking risks and using different methods and ideas to create their pictures. They started to use more oil paints and learned about perspective of pictures. These new ideas help evolve art throughout the era. Architecture changed because they started using more ideas from the ancient Romans and Greeks to create smooth lines and wide windows in the buildings. The name for this style is called Palladian. Music also changed to having more varieties of styles. They could be solemn church hymns or popular ballads. These were all changing and becoming new and improved!

Clothing styles were much different than they are now. They wore big collars, over the top dresses, and extravagant jewelry. The ladies had to hide any body fat by wearing bodices which made it very difficult to breathe. In the book __Life in Elizabethan England__ the author Gail B. Stewart she describes the bodices the women had to wear, “the bodice which was a combination of a girdle and a bra, was the foundation of the Elizabethan look. The bodice’s had to be stiff to be effective; they were stiffened by whale bone, wood, or even bundles of dried reeds.” The bodices or corsets must have been just awful to wear! Many people didn’t have enough money to buy extravagant clothes so they had to wear old raggedy clothing. The queen always looked well dressed and many people loved her style.

There were also many new jobs that people were getting involved in. Some people were acrobats, entertainers, or sometimes people were interested in being a bowler, this is one who makes bow and arrows for archery. There was a huge list of jobs you could do, but a lot of the time it mattered on your social status to see what job you would get. To learn more on the jobs of Elizabethan England go to this webpage “Elizabethan England,” from the website //Elizabethan England.// [].

People were starting to have new things to do in their free time. They would take off of work to watch their kids grow up and get a visit from the queen. A visit from the queen was something huge in a town and they all wanted to try and impress her! Lots of people also started to write and listen to more music. It became much more popular and people actually started to enjoy it. If you wanted to hang out with your friends sometimes you would play card games, chess, backgammon, spinning tops, jacks, and dice. Also, everyone loved the pastime of reading. Many people’s hobbies was reading. Maybe you wanted to get out of your house and go somewhere. You could go to the park, play some archery, walk around the gardens, and some places even had bowling alleys! Maybe you wanted to get dressed up and go see a play! Plays were very popular and growing during the Elizabethan Era and many people enjoyed them. The book __Life in the Elizabethan England the City__ by Kathryn Hinds is a great book to read on recreation and what people enjoyed doing. (27) Works Cited: Alchin, Linda. "Elizabethan England." //Elizabethan Era//. March 20, 2008. 14 Apr 2009  [|http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk]. Hinds, Kathryn. //Life in Elizabethan England the City//. Stewart, Gail. //Life in Elizabethan England//. Farmington Hills, Michigan: The Gale Group Inc.  2003.