Social Status in Shakespeares Plays Essay examples

In Shakespeares time, the English lived with a strong sense of social class -- of belonging to a particular group because of occupation, wealth, and ancestry. Elizabethan Society had a very strict social code at the time that Shakespeare was writing his plays. Social class could determine all sorts of things, from what a person could wear to where he could live to what jobs his children could get. Some families moved from one class to another, but most people were born into a particular class and stayed there. There was a chance of being granted a title by the crown. This was uncommon at the time and a relatively new thing for Europe where ancestry always defined nobility. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Shakespeare’s plays show the†¦show more content†¦This then intensifies the conflicts between siblings, older and younger brother. This also shows the major division in society between the landed and the unlanded, also known as the gentry and the commoners. I also believe that primogeniture complicates not only sibling rivalry, but the relationships between father and sons. The eldest son is impatient to get his rightful inheritance, while the younger sons are resentful that they are receiving nothing from their fathers. Shakespeare’s plays are loaded with subjects, sons and younger brothers who are undecided as to how they should feel about their role in life. They are bound to the people that are better than them on a socio-economic level, but resent the fact. This play gave people a chance to see someone that had sunk in social class get a chance to rise up, which never really happened during this time. Shakespeare used this ploy to really captivate his audience’s attention, while also I believe making fun of society as it was. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The working class in, Alls Well That Ends Well, and the second born son of, As You Like It, isn’t very different. The second born sons are sent off to schools to become apprentices, clergymen, or merchants in the working class. The second born sons aren’t viewed with the same amount of disdain because they are still of noble birth, but they are left to do the same jobs as the people bornShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Twelfth Night1155 Words   |  5 Pagesbased on gender and social status. William Shakespeare reinforces these ideas in his play Twelfth Night, which introduces many meaningful messages about situations that still occur in society today. He clearly develops important themes worthy of analysis. A few of these strong themes are about stereotypes and society’s expectations and rules, which he proves to be irrelevant most of the time. Many situations in the play falsify commonly held stereotypes about gender and social st atus by showing how theyRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Twelfth Night Essay1329 Words   |  6 Pagesfilled with unhappiness and regret. 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