Shakespeare and Elizabethan England

1.Clothing in Elizabethan times:

Difference between rich and poor people's clothing

What fabrics were used?

What were some unusual garments?

What did the garments look like?

2.Weapons in Elizabethan times:

What sort of weapons were used then?

What were they made of?

Who carried them?

What was the deadliest weapon?

3. Language in Elizabethan times:

What did the language sound like?

What words do we no longer use?

What sort of swear words did they use? (Curses)

Were there class differences in the way people spoke?

 4. Profile of Elizabeth I:

Where was she born?

Who were her parents?

How did she come to be queen?

Who were her advisers?

Did she marry anyone?

What was her relationship with Mary?

How long did she reign?

5. Events of the time:

Who were explorers at that time? What did they do?

What was a famous battle in Elizabethan times?

Describe the conflict in the Church at the time.

Who were the enemies of Elizabeth I?

6.Beliefs:

What did they believe?

A person who had an influence on what the Elizabethans believed was a man named Dionysius. Find out about him and his ideas on how the world was ordered.

What were the four humours?

7. Playhouses:

What were the names of some of the playhouses and actors?

How did the playhouses differ from present day theatres?

What was unusual about the actors then?

8. The Family

Describe the family unit, when were they married, what sort of wedding, the wife’s role, the children, schools, family dinners,

9. Life at Court and Life in the Country

Describe the two different ways of life and their living conditions. Describe the different social classes activities in the country and at court.

10. Living in London

Describe what the city was like, maps or pictures and what happened in the city. Describe where the different social classes would have lived. Different areas of London were for different activities – describe.

11.Housing

Describe the different types of housing for rich, middle class and poor. How do these houses differ from our houses today??

12. Food in Elizabethan England

Describe their diets and the different types of food they ate find typical meals for the different classes of society. Find some strange things which they ate which we don’t eat today. Give recipes

13. Games and Pastimes

They played many different games and had different pastimes describe them

14. Schooling in Shakespeare’s Time

Who went to school, what were the schools like, what did they study?

15. Crime and Law

Describe which crimes were committed and the consequences

16. Medicine and Health

What did they use, the black death, no anesthetics and what else didn’t they have?

17. Christmastide in Elizabethan England

Tell us all about this wonderful festival! Relate its origins, forms it took etc

18. Music and Dancing

What sort of music did they listen to, instruments, dancing

19. Shopping in London

There weren’t any malls so where did they go and what did they buy? Show us on a map of London. Describe the various names for things which they bought (the below site services and occupations).

20. Masters and Servants

Who were the masters and who were the servants, describe the different sorts of servants, what did they do and what sort of life did they lead? Would they have gone to the plays?

21. Elizabethan Childhood

What did they do, how did they dress, how were they named – what did they do, who looked after them, compare the rich and poor children’s childhoods.