What was daily life and culture like in Elizabethan England, and was it a golden age?
Daily life and culture in Elizabethan England: education in the home, schools and universities, leisure activities and pastimes, the growth of the theatre, and the idea of an Elizabethan golden age.
A focused answer to Elizabethan daily life and culture in Edexcel's Early Elizabethan England depth study, covering education in the home, schools and universities, leisure and pastimes, the growth of the theatre, the great houses, and the debate over whether the reign was a golden age.
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What this dot point is asking
This completes Key Topic 3 (Elizabethan society): education, leisure, the rise of the theatre, and the idea of an Elizabethan golden age. You need to know how education and pastimes differed by class and gender, why the theatre boomed, and how far the reign deserves to be called golden. The depth study tests this through Describe two features, Explain why and the 16-mark essay.
Education
Leisure and pastimes
The growth of the theatre
A golden age?
Try this
Q1. Name two purpose-built Elizabethan theatres. [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. The Theatre (1576) and the Globe (others include the Rose and the Curtain).
Q2. Explain why some historians call Elizabethan England a golden age. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Because of the flowering of culture (theatre, poetry and music), the defeat of the Armada, daring exploration and relative stability and prosperity, though for the poor life remained hard, so it was a golden age mainly for the wealthy.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20204 marksDescribe two features of education in Elizabethan England.Show worked answer →
The Paper 2 British depth study "Describe two features" question (4 marks). Reward two distinct features with detail.
Feature one. Education depended on social class and gender. Boys from wealthier families attended grammar schools where they learned Latin, Greek and religion, while most poor children received little or no formal schooling.
Feature two. Girls were rarely formally educated. Most girls were taught household skills at home rather than academic subjects, though some daughters of the nobility had tutors and learned languages and music.
Full marks. Two features, each with one detail. Two marks per feature.
Edexcel 202112 marksExplain why the theatre grew in popularity in Elizabethan England. You may use the following in your answer: purpose-built theatres; royal support. You must also use information of your own.Show worked answer →
The Paper 2 British depth study "Explain why" question (12 marks) with two prompts plus your own knowledge. Reward at least three developed reasons.
Reason one (purpose-built theatres). New permanent playhouses such as The Theatre (1576) and the Globe gave plays a regular home and could hold large audiences, making theatre-going a popular pastime.
Reason two (royal support). Elizabeth and the court enjoyed plays and protected acting companies (patronage), giving the theatre status and protection from Puritans who wanted it banned.
Reason three (own knowledge: entertainment for all classes). Theatres were cheap to enter and appealed to all social groups, from groundlings to nobles, so they drew large, mixed crowds in growing towns like London.
Top band. Use both prompts plus an own point, each developed and tied to the theatre's growth.
Related dot points
- Elizabethan society and the problem of the poor: the social hierarchy, the causes of rising poverty and vagabondage, changing attitudes to the poor (the deserving and undeserving), and the Poor Laws.
A focused answer to Elizabethan society and poverty in Edexcel's Early Elizabethan England depth study, covering the social hierarchy, the causes of rising poverty and vagabondage, changing attitudes to the deserving and undeserving poor, and the development of the Poor Laws.
- Elizabethan exploration and the age of discovery: the reasons for exploration, the factors that made it possible, Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, and the first attempts to colonise Virginia under Raleigh.
A focused answer to Elizabethan exploration in Edexcel's Early Elizabethan England depth study, covering the reasons for and factors behind exploration, Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, and the attempts to colonise Virginia under Raleigh, with their significance.
- Elizabeth's situation on her accession in 1558, the structure of Elizabethan government (court, Privy Council, Parliament and local government), the problems she inherited, and the Religious Settlement of 1559 with the challenges to it.
A focused answer to Key Topic 1 of Edexcel's Early Elizabethan England depth study, covering Elizabeth's situation in 1558, the structure of her government (court, Privy Council and Parliament), the problems she inherited, and the Religious Settlement of 1559 with the Puritan and Catholic challenges to it.
- The deterioration of Anglo-Spanish relations to 1588: commercial and political rivalry, English involvement in the Netherlands from 1585, the role of privateers such as Drake, the reasons for the Spanish Armada, and the reasons for its defeat.
A focused answer to the war with Spain in Edexcel's Early Elizabethan England depth study, covering the causes of the breakdown in Anglo-Spanish relations, English involvement in the Netherlands, privateers such as Drake, the reasons for the Spanish Armada of 1588, and the reasons for its defeat.
- Planning and writing the 16-mark 'How far do you agree' essay across the Edexcel papers, building a balanced, well-supported argument and judgement, and earning the spelling, punctuation and grammar marks.
A focused answer to the Edexcel GCSE History 16-mark essay, explaining how to plan and write a balanced 'How far do you agree' answer with a clear argument and judgement, how to use evidence and stimulus points, and how to earn the SPaG marks.
Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History (1HI0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2016)