Class Difference in the Renaissance and As You Like It
Notions about class distinctions during the Renaissance became more ambiguous than at any other period of time. "Many countries moved from a feudal to a capitalist economy, leading to some of the worst peasants' revolts in the history of Europe."(Aston) During the last quarter of the 1500's the conditions for social status and position were going through radical changes, as "the boundaries between the upper elite and the gentry as well as those between these groups and the wealthier professional classes below them were particularly ambiguous." (Bailey)
There came about a term called sorts, which essentially split the population into two roughly defined classes. There were the better sorts, which included the noblemen, gentlemen, and yeomen. The meaner sorts included the husbandmen, artisans, and laborers. The citizens or merchants could go into either category depending upon income, rank in society, local reputation, profession, and age. Citizens rose in the ranks due to an economic boom in "national trading, service industries, manufacturing businesses, and government posts." (Bailey) The laboring classes saw an increased number of skilled workers and the availability of printed literature provided educational advances. The traditional gauges of status such as "birth, wealth, occupation, political allegiance, and life style, as well as regional, religious, and professional affiliation," (Bailey) were beginning to fade.
To maintain some order, Queen Elizabeth declared a clothing proclamation in 1562. In summary, apparel was one of the primary means through which royalty and the upper class could proclaim their authority and power. One coul...
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...the heir of property and money. Our own ways of judging people and situations is deeply rooted in the social changes that took place in the English Renaissance.
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Shakespeare, William. The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works: Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Brian Gibbons. London: Thomson Learning, 2001.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted for a partition resolution that led to the establishment of the nation of Israel in May, 1948. This was great news for Jews in Palestine and the diaspora as it meant the fulfillment of the quest for the rebirth of their nation in their previous homeland after many years of wandering (Pappe, 2006, p. 12). However, their Palestinian Arab counterparts opposed to the establishment from the start felt cheated by the international community and remained categorical that the final answer to the Jewish problem would only be solved in blood and fire (Karsh, 2002, p. 8).
The Dramatic and Linguistic Means by which Shakespeare Presents Various Aspects of Love in As You Like It
The social hierarchy of Victorian England was made up of four classes: upper class, middle class, working class, and underclass. There was little room for social mobility, and the class one was born in, was most likely where they would stay their whole life. While this appears undesirable to the modern American, it brought much needed stability and could be seen as comforting that a person knew where they belonged their whole life (Cody). The upper class was made up of the royal family and many high officials, this class “did not work, [and] income came from inherited land and investments” (“Victorian England: An Introduction”). Below the upper class was the middle class, which is considered one of the higher classes, though it is not the best.
Clark, W.G., and W. Aldis Wirhgt, eds. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol 2. USA: Nd. 2 vols.
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Scott, Mark W., ed. "As You Like It." Shakespeare Criticism. Vol. V. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Co., 1987.
Through the Middle Ages, society was divided into three social classes: the clergy, the nobles, and the peasants. However, as people entered into the Renaissance, these classes changed. The nobles during these times started to lose a lot of income, however, the members of the older nobility kept their lands and titles. On into the Renaissance, the nobles came back to dominate society and w...
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Burt, Richard. "The Love that Dare Not Speak Shakespeare’s Name: New Shakesqueer Cinema" in Shakespeare the Movie. Ed. Lynda E. Boose and Richard Burt. London and New York: Routledge, 1997. 240-268.
Ronk, Martha Clare, Locating the Visual in As You Like It.Shakespeare Quarterly 52, Issue 2, 2001.
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Comp. Folger Shakespeare Library. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print.
Shakespeare, William. 'As You Like It.' The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1997. 1600-1656.
Shakespeare, W., Mowat, B., & Werstine, P. (2004). As you like it. New York: Washington Square Press.