Student Essay on Elizabethan England and Shakespeare's Plays

Essay about life in Elizabethan England and how Shakespeare's plays both shaped and were shaped by societal pressures during that time.

Elizabethan England is a fascinating historical time period. This time period is immensely different from modern day America. The streets in the Elizabethan time period were filthy. The homes emptied their waste out onto the street, and there were no trash facilities. Women were not allowed to go out on the streets alone unless accompanied by a man. Women didn't have much of a say in how their family was run and who would inherit such things when people passed away. Primogeniture, a system of inheritance that passed all of a family's wealth through the first male child, meant that a woman did not inherit their family's wealth or titles. Also after a woman got married they lost their right to own property and to sign important contracts, (even the queen would have lost her power.....