Elizabethan Women

Elizabethan Women

The Role of Elizabethan Women

Wealthy/noble women (education): Elizabethan women from wealthy/noble families were sometimes allowed to be educated. They would have been taught by tutors in their homes, from the age of five or younger. Languages such as Latin, Greek and Italian were taught as well as dance and music. Although there were allowed to have an education, Elizabethan women were not allowed to go to university.

“Lower Class” women: Most Elizabethan women who were classified as “lower-class” would have not had the opportunity to be allowed to have an educated childhood. They would have been expected to learn how to run a household, and be skilled in the roles of being a housewife – such as cooking, washing, cleaning. This type of “education” would be to prepare her for marriage. Being married was seen as highly desirable by all women of the “lower class”.

Single women: Single women were sometimes accused of being witches by surrounding neighbours. All Elizabethan women were expected to marry and would have be dependant on their male relatives (brothers, uncles, male cousins) throughout her life.

Brides: Just like now, a wedding for an Elizabethan woman was also the most important day of her life, but the only difference was that she had almost no choice in who she married. So usually it was an arranged marriage between the two family’s parents. In wealthy families, a picture of the bride would be presented to the man for some indication of what his wife might look like. With permission from parents, the legal age for Elizabethan girls to marry at 12 and for the boys was 14 – but usually it was uncommon for such young marriages. However most young boys will wait until their 21 to marry. Unmarried girls were allowed to wear their hair looser but once they got married, it had to be hid beneath a bonnet. Wealthy brides would have a dress made with jewels, gold and silver threads. Elizabethan women were expected to bring a dowry (an amount of money, goods, and property) into a marriage. This was also referred to as her marriage portion. The law gave a husband the full rights over his wife, making her become his property. After marriage, the wives were expected to run the households and give birth.

Main role: The main role of Elizabethan women was to serve and obey her husband. Women were usually dominated by the male members of their family. Elizabethan women could not be heirs to their fathers titles, but it was accepted in the monarchy. For example Queen Elizabeth.

Daughters: Basically the role of the daughters were to learn household chores, and it was expected of them to get married. The role of daughters can also be seen if you read above to the single women part.

By Mel, Raghavi, Katie, Elaine .