Preview

Elizabethan Marriage and Divorce

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3362 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Elizabethan Marriage and Divorce
Base of Society As Lyndon Baines Johnson says, “The family is the corner stone of our society. More than any other force it shapes the attitude, the hopes, the ambitions, and the values of the child. And when the family collapses it is the children that are usually damaged. When it happens on a massive scale the community itself is crippled. So, unless we work to strengthen the family, to create conditions under which most parents will stay together, all the rest — schools, playgrounds, and public assistance, and private concern — will never be enough” (Danes). He believed that family is the base of the society. The way that family is set up affects children in all ways. Family structure is very important and that no matter what we do, it will never be enough. No matter what era it is, family structure and relationships will always be part of the citizens everywhere. During the Elizabethan Era, society was controlled by the Protestant Church and the citizens had to follow the rules. On the other hand, modern day society is controlled by the public and the people have more freedom in their actions. Shakespeare’s writing was influenced by the way family structure was set up.
Elizabethan marriages were arranged, and many took place at a young age with several customs to follow. The common age most men married was at twenty one. The legal age for boys to get married was at 14 and for girls at 12 with parental permission (“Elizabethan Marriages and Weddings”). Most people today would find this shocking because the age was so young, today many people get married at an older age therefore the age difference is odd of the opinion of people of modern time. One of the reasons why the age was so young was because most marriages were arranged in the Elizabethan Era. Elizabethan woman had very little choice in who her husband might be. The Elizabethan women were inferior to the men. They were dependent on the male figure in the family to support them (“Elizabethan



Cited: Alchin, Linda. "Elizabethan Family Life." Elizabethan Era. Ed. Linda Alchin. N.p., 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2013. - - -. "Elizabethan Wedding and Marriages." Elizabethan Era. Ed. Linda Alchin. Linda Alchin, 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. Brown, Susan L. "Marriage." World Book. N. pag. World Book Student. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. Coontz, Stephanie. "American Family: Where We Are Today." Stephanie Coontz. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. Danes, Chuck. "Family Quotes." Abundance and Happiness. Ed. Chuck Danes. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. Eisenach, Emlyn. "Divorce." Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. By Eisenach. New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2004. N. pag. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. "Family Quotes." Notable Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. Nock, Steven L. "Divorce." World Book. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. World Book Student. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. Pan, Wendy. "Parent - Child Relationships - What 's the Problem with Them?" Ezine Articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. Secara, Maggie. "Betrothal & Wedding." Life in Elizabethan England. Ed. Maggie Secara. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. Stewart, Gail B. Life in Elizabethan London. Farmington Hills: Lucent, 2003. Print.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the Canterbury Tales Chaucer depicts marriage in many different ways and has different attitudes towards it. On one end he has a very traditional view which is illustrated in Franklin's tale. The opposing end though he has a very liberal view in other tales such as wife of Bathes and Franklin's tale. Although Chaucer has a mixed attitude towards the way marriages are suppose to be he does gives aspects of what is needed to have a good marriage and that will be the main focal point of this essay.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    xxxx: Thank you Khirthanah for sharing these magnificent piece of information with us, it is our pleasure to have you here today. As you can see, in Elizabethan Era, life was quite harsh and arduous. Men had to work for 24 hours constantly having a variety of occupations willing to improve their lives. Women were subservient and had to obey their husbands no matter what, also they weren’t allowed to have a job or at least receive an education. Children used to get punished if they didn’t follow the good manners that were taught by their…

    • 1890 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare wrote in the Elizabethan age, so naturally he based most of his plays on the morals and social standards of the time. During the Elizabethan period noble women were expected to be married off to rich, socially acceptable men. Fathers choose the men they considered “suitable” for their daughters, aiming to marry them off to higher social circles to levitate their own. Men were considered the bread winners of the family and women inferior to them. It was thought unconventional for women to make important decisions for themselves, they were incapable and therefore men where to make their decisions for them, not just regarding their marriage.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The lives of medieval women figures such as Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe gives us a great knowledge about the marriage life in that time. These women gave us an insight in their lives and we were able to know more about their marriages and how they were the same yet very different as we will further see.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    elizabethan age

    • 306 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Elizabethan society was very family oriented. The households consisted of more than just a nuclear family, but also servants, employees, workers and apprentices. The average household held around four to five but varied according to the social classes The Elizabethan society was very family oriented. The households consisted of more than just a nuclear family, but also servants, employees, workers and apprentices. The average household held around four to five but varied according to the social classesThe Elizabethan society was very family oriented. The households consisted of more than just a nuclear family, but also servants, employees, workers and apprentices. The average household held around four to five but varied according to the social classesThe Elizabethan society was very family oriented. The households consisted of more than just a nuclear family, but also servants, employees, workers and apprentices. The average household held around four to five but varied according to the social classesThe Elizabethan society was very family oriented. The households consisted of more than just a nuclear family, but also servants, employees, workers and apprentices. The average household held around four to five but varied according to the social classesThe Elizabethan society was very family oriented. The households consisted of more than just a nuclear family, but also servants, employees, workers and apprentices. The average household held around four to five but varied according to the social classesThe Elizabethan society was very family oriented. The households consisted of more than just a nuclear family, but also servants, employees, workers and apprentices. The average household held around four to five but varied according to the social classesThe Elizabethan society was very family oriented. The households consisted of more than just a nuclear family, but also servants, employees, workers and apprentices. The average household held around four to five…

    • 306 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Elizabethan times were in the 1600’s”. In the Elizabethan times women and men had no choice of who they would marry. Also, buys could marry at age 14 and girls at age 12. Most marriages in the Elizabethan times were of older people getting married that didn’t choose who they would marry.…

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    All members of the family such as the wife and children, as well as vassals, or servants, played important roles in the affairs of the family dealing with social, political, or economic issues. Different Members of the family would take on different responsibilities in their lives and be expected to uphold these responsibilities because everyone in the family had their own set issues to deal with. Love also played an important role in family relationships, but again functioned differently than what we observe today. Many times love would develop after a marriage because couples usually did not have a choice in the arrangement, but love still played a large role in the husband and wife relationship as well as other family relationships because it developed trust and caring within members of the family, making the bonds between them much stronger. Aristocratic families such as the Pastons functioned with every member of the family taking different responsibilities with many different factors coming into the equation. Marriage and love as well as family responsibilities all…

    • 1919 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Firstly, Shakespeare takes a very negative outlook on family and how much its members care about each other's wants and needs. In most of his stories the family either ignores each other or will force each other into doing things that they do not want to, this can be seen in Romeo and Juliet here,¨Capulet: Monday ha! Well, Wednesday is too…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Shakespeare portrays family in different aspects in every play. One would say that family is blood relates that have all the descendants of a common ancestor, another would say a family is a group of people that is there no matter what the situation is. These definitions are both true. When reading Merchant of the Venice, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there was a pattern that was form. The most familiar way Shakespeare shows family is through father-daughter relationships. These relationships serve as challenges throughout these plays effecting the character’s outcome in a negative and/or positive way.…

    • 97 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nowadays a woman for the most part can marry whomever they wish, while in the Victorian Ages, marriage was a more complicated issue that one just didn’t step into. Women these days have a lot more control in their marriage than they used to. It is amazing how much things have changed from a time when men were the head of the house and had so much control over the household to a period where the couple now works together to make decisions.…

    • 932 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cause and Effect Essay

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages

    About 70% of the couples who get married take the decision of getting divorce. Divorce is one of the most serious social problems in the modern world. It has become very common recently, and it affects all levels of society. In the past, divorce was quite rare. Today, however, a majority of marriages break up in the first few years. When involved in a divorce lack of communication, infidelity, and financial problems are the causes to provoke a couple to split apart and take their lives into different path.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Rough Draft Of Hamlet

    • 3344 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Young, Bruce Wilson. "Family Life in Shakespeare 's Works." Family Life in the Age of…

    • 3344 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although our present-day social class system is more flexible than it was back then, members of the elite, especially celebrities, are still more apt to marry other upper-class citizens, rather than their social inferiors. For example, in today’s society it is the standard for rock stars, actors and models to pursue partners from a comparable social class. Similarly, a marriage between Fitzwilliam Darcy and Anne de Bourgh, daughter of the distinguished Lady Catherine de Bourgh, is expected because both parties are of equally notable lineage and hail from the same prestigious family. The union between the two aristocrats was planned “while in their cradles”, according to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who makes a trip to Longbourn to see Elizabeth after hearing that she is engaged to Anne’s “future husband”. Lady Catherine is horrified that the anticipated matrimony may “be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the family” and makes every effort to prevent any chance of an engagement between Elizabeth and Darcy. During this confrontation, Lady de Bourgh’s behavior towards Elizabeth is quite astonishing and completely supports…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Making a ‘good marriage’ was of great importance in Eliot’s society. A ‘good marriage’ meant a marriage to a rich man, or woman, preferably from a ‘good’ family – usually a family which was rich and owned land. In Middlemarch, the marriage between Celia Brooke and Sir James Chettam is a perfect example of a ‘good marriage’. It is also a good example of a successful marriage, a marriage where both partners are satisfied that both their expectations and…

    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The United States of America is the land of the free and the home of the brave; however, it can also be called the country that holds the highest divorce rates. America’s divorce rate in 2010 was at forty one percent and is still currently growing (Divorce Rates by Country). Forty percent of these divorces had children involved (Divorce Rates in America). With such shocking statistics, it is easy to see that America’s divorce system is in dire need of change. Since divorce can ruin families, harm a child’s all around well-being, and holds the potential of being prevented, there should be more strict regulations to receive a divorce and a stronger push for covenant marriages.…

    • 2613 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays