The Elizabethan Age is the time period associated with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and is often considered to be a golden age in English history. It was an age considered to be the height of the English Renaissance, and saw the full flowering of English literature and English poetry. In Elizabethan theater, William Shakespeare, among others, composed and staged plays in a variety of settings that broke away from England's past style of plays.
Life for Women and Girls in Elizabethan England
In Elizabethan times women belonged to their fathers (or their brothers if their father died), and then to their husbands. Women could not own property of their own. This is one of the reasons Queen Elizabeth never married – she did not want to give up her power to a man. The only exceptions were widows – women whose husbands had died. A widow was in charge of her own life and property, but would be likely to marry again to find someone to protect her and to be the legal guardian to her children. Continue reading...
Click on the headings below for more information about women's lives in Elizabethan times:
References
Alchin, L. (2017). Elizabethan marriages and weddings. Elizabethan era. https://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-marriages-and-weddings.htm#:~:text=Marriages%20were%20frequently%20arranged%20so,time%20on%20their%20wedding%20day.
Elizabethi.org. (2022). Elizabethan women: Women in Tudor history. https://www.elizabethi.org/contents/women/#:~:text=Women%2C%20regardless%20of%20social%20position,brother%2C%20depending%20on%20the%20circumstances.
Elizabethan Era. (2020). Elaborate clothing in Elizabethan England. http://elizabethanenglandlife.com/clothing-in-elizabethan-england.html
Elizabethan Era. (2020). Elizabethan era clothing, clothes, costumes: men, women, kids, children. http://elizabethanenglandlife.com/clothing-in-elizabethan-england.html
Elizabethan Era. (2020). Women children in Elizabethan society. http://elizabethanenglandlife.com/clothing-in-elizabethan-england.html
Horrible Histories in Full HD. (2015, January 15). Horrible histories Tudors: Elizabeth I portrait. Historical mastermind : Shakespeare [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/QOaxOTLmlJA
The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre. (2022). Elizabethan women. https://www.phillyshakespeare.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/elizabethan-women.pdf
Picard L. (2016, March 15). The social structure in Elizabethan England. British Library. https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/the-social-structure-in-elizabethan-england
SparkNotes. (2022). Women in Shakespeare's England: Social context. https://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-marriages-and-weddings.htm#:~:text=Marriages%20were%20frequently%20arranged%20so,time%20on%20their%20wedding%20day.
