10 Things I Used To Hate About English

Elizabethan Amusements

During the Elizabethan age there were no televisions or radios or many other modern amusements. Your entertainment had to be made by yourself. Pastimes such as music, drama and sport were there literally to pass the time.

The Elizabethan age was an era of great cultural achievement in the area of music and drama. Musical literacy was expected in the upper class society where laborers would sing as they worked and townspeople would sing or play music after meals. Ringing of the church bells was a popular form of entertainment in the countryside. Elizabethans also loved to hear music and official musicians, known as waits held free public concerts. Wealthy people hired musicians to play during dinner.

Dancing was another popular activity and involved mainly couples which was one of the best opportunities for interaction between married people. Dancing varied according to social classes. The upper class favored courtly dances such as the Brawl. Ordinary people performed traditional country-dances like the jig and the trenchmore. Dancing in the Elizabethan age was considered “a wholesome recreation of the mind and also an exercise of the body.”

At this time drama was at the high peak of its cultural achievement for all time. There were a variety of plays including action, humor, violence and plays with musical interludes. This period witnessed the first entertainment industry, especially in theater. Plays audiences reflected society from the highest to the lowest level.

`Elizabethan theater was the work of a few men: proprietors, actors, playwrights and workmen. Actors creating theater often received awards and became respectable and would slowly move up in social standing. Elizabethan drama owed its strength and richness to the fusion of many elements. It was a mirror of the whole society.

Sports played a major role in the leisure time of the Elizabethan age. Indoor games included dice, chess, checkers and a variety of card games. If such indoor games were too passive for the men wrestling was an alternative but with this came injuries like broken ribs and necks and more.

Outdoor games included golf, horse racing, swimming, fishing, hunting fencing, dueling and cricket. At that time it was not tolerable for a man to be unskilled at tennis, bowling, archery and hunting. While the upper class enjoyed tennis the common folk preferred football. If a field could not be found the village street was used. All levels of society enjoyed the sport of hunting. Horses, dogs and hawks were kept and trained for hunting deer, rabbits and other wildlife.

Another major part of the Elizabethan lifestyle had to do with feasts and festivals. Festivals were held annually. Two examples are: During Easter time the Mayday celebration consisted of decorating the maypole and dancing around it. The winter holidays began with Christmas, ran through New Year’s Eve and ended on the Twelfth Night, January fifth. These holidays included gifts, bonfires, wassail, Yule logs, music and jollity.

From the beginning to the end of each year Elizabethans found ways to keep themselves entertained. They were a creative group of people who pursued leisure activities with great passion.  

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