Role Of Marriage In Elizabethan Life

Marriage customs were an important feature of Elizabethan family life. Elizabethan women were expected to marry to increase the wealth and position of the family and then to produce children - preferably male heirs. About 25% of all English brides were pregnant on their wedding day. Elizabethan women were expected to bring a dowry to the marriage. A dowry was an amount of money, goods, and property. Elizabethan women were supposed to be dependent of their male relative throughout their entire life. Marriage was desirable for lower class women and with parental permission; it was legal for girls at twelve years of age to marry. The role of unmarried and single women could be to spend their life in a convent or a nunnery. Many people were suspicious with single women. Single women were often associated with witches.

It was vital for parents, relatives, and other friends as mature individuals to always see the best for the women’s interests. They were given the right to share what they thought would be the best partner for you. Love was not considered an important reason to marry, but they did recognize that love might come during married life.

The men made the decisions and the women were expected to obey them. It was the responsibility of the men to support the family from a whole variety of occupations. Expectations were to improve the positions of all members of the family through influence and patronage from wealthier people. Men would write and publishing household and marriage guides that had home remedies, blueprints for needlework designs, and incorporated cookbooks. The father and master of the family worked away from the home, such as Shakespeare with his plays. Men in society were expected to engage in public affairs in the way of soldiers, politicians, and other leaders; to be talkers, and the decision makers. Their lives were duty-bound to the state and were aggressive and