Can you imagine a world filled with death? Where every step you take leads to another forgotten soul. Walking, half-starved, through the dirty streets of a plague ridden town. Seeing the abuse of children, and even women, as if it were a normal occurrence. Life in Elizabethan England was difficult because of poor living conditions, the relationship between parents and children, the plague, and the lack of medical knowledge, which lead to Elizabethan love of the theater.
Poor living conditions made it very hard in Elizabethan times. Ninety-eight percent of the population was uneducated and poor. Their houses were made of wood, had thatched, and contained very little furniture. There was no electricity or insulation so when it got cold, families would huddle together under a blanket to stay warm. Hygiene wasn’t practiced by many in Elizabethan England either. They had no plumbing so their toilets were chamber pots, and when the chamber pot became full, they would be dumped out the window into the streets. The only available water was a community well, which didn’t even contain clean water in which to drink, citizens had to boil it if they didn’t want to get sick. People rarely bathed as well, and even when they did, soap had yet to be invented. They did, however, have a method to hide their smell. They would use something they called, Sweet water, sort of like a perfume, so they wouldn’t smell bad, especially when a parent was getting their children ready to be courted or start courting.
The relationships between parents and children were very strained in Elizabethan England. Children were considered the “property” of their parents, and were expected to obey their parents until they were married. Parents thought of their children only as decorations, workers, or opportunities to become married into a wealthier family. As soon as a child hit puberty they were considered an adult and ready for marriage. If the child ever tried to defy their parent, it would...