Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Cross dressing in Shakespeare
Cross dressing in Shakespeare
Cross dressing in Shakespeare
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Cross dressing in Shakespeare
The people who lived during the Elizabethan Era were not allowed to wear whatever they like or desired. Their Fashion choices had to be followed by a strict law! The English people chose to establish social classes by the colors they wore and this had an affect on costumes used in theatre. Queen Elizabeth I followed the sumptuary laws, which was only certain classes were consent to wear specific fabric and colors. Therefore in plays the actors could only wear certain colors for their costumes that displayed what role and class their character was in. The clothes worn during this era was a result of Queen Elizabeth’s sumptuary laws, which had an affect on costumes used in plays, and each color a person wore had a significant meaning. First of all, in England the clothes men, woman, and children could wear was dictated by sumptuary laws that were enforced by Queen Elizabeth I. The reason these laws were put in place is because the English wanted to maintain a certain class structure. Queen Elizabeth I declared in the Sumptuary Laws Proclamation “Decay of the wealth of the realm” (Tu...
Have you ever wondered what people ate in the Elizabethan Era? The Elizabethan Era had foods that are in common with foods that we ate today, but there are a few different types of foods that they ate then that we don't eat now. This paper will tell readers the things that the Elizabethan Era ate, and their different eating times.
Big hair, bright colors, and denim helped to establish the time period the play was set in. Each actress’ outfit gave the audience an idea of her character’s personality. For instance, Clairee wore pant suits and looked the part of a sophisticated, classy former mayor’s wife. On the other hand, Ouiser wore comfortable clothes; often sporting a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt over a t-shirt showing her practical and simple lifestyle. The use of jackets and scarves portrayed the change in season and helped establish the different time frames from scene to scene. The costumes reflected each character well and were fitting for the time in which the play was portrayed.
For the well-to-do, eating during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods was a fancy affair. A king or queen when going abroad could expect banquet tables filled with hundreds of dishes--for just one meal! There was much pageantry and entertainment. At Leicester, Queen Elizabeth I (predecessor of King James VI & I) was greeted with a pageant of welcome displayed on a temporary bridge. There were cages of live birds--bitterns, curlews, hernshaws and godwits. One pillar held great silver bowls piled with apples, pears, cherries, walnuts and filberts. Other pillars held ears of wheat, oats and barley, gigantic bunches of red and white grapes, great livery pots of claret and white wine, sea fish in quantity laying upon fresh grass, and the last pillar was devoted to the arts. There were arms and music explained by a blue-clad poet.
The Elizabethan era was an era of art above all else. Elegance reflected in all areas of the peoples’ lives. From the entertainment and language to the churches and castles, beauty shone bright.There were many vents for artistic creativity during the Elizabethan era; countless instruments, painting, books, playwright, and last but not by any stretch the least, architecture. Elizabethan architecture has a vast amount of variety and personality, the buildings reflected the pride of both the inhabitants and the builders.
The early nineteenth century which was in the Regency Era consisted of harsh judgments towards what was believed to be a “wealthy” look and what was considered to be “proper.” In Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the clothing is more than just a fashion statement, it determines how they are perceived and their overall rank and social class in society. Therefore, fashion represents the importance of self appearance during that time.
Though its primary function is usually plot driven--as a source of humor and a means to effect changes in characters through disguise and deception—cross dressing is also a sociological motif involving gendered play. My earlier essay on the use of the motif in Shakespeare's plays pointed out that cross dressing has been discussed as a symptom of "a radical discontinuity in the meaning of the family" (Belsey 178), as cul-tural anxiety over the destabilization of the social hierarchy (Baker, Howard, Garber), as the means for a woman to be assertive without arousing hostility (Claiborne Park), and as homoerotic arousal (Jardine). This variety of interpretations suggests the multivoiced character of the motif, but before approaching the subject of this essay, three clarifica- tions are necessary at the outset.
Shakespeare lived in a society where clothes were key in identifying certain social statuses. Only certain social statuses were able to wear specific colors or fabric. For example, purple silk was only reserved for the Queen, King and their family members, and velvet was reserved for only the highest nobility (Hanson). A person’s appearance affects how others in society view them. Shakespeare shows that clothing does not make a man. Characters in The Taming of the Shrew change their appearances to fit the role they are disguising as. Their change of clothes affected how society looked at them but did not change who they truly were. A servant dressed as a lord is still a servant and a lord dressed as a servant is still a lord no matter their change of clothes and a women is still a women even if she is labeled as a shrew. In the end of the play, they all changed to fit society norms.
Have you ever wondered what people in the Elizabethan Era wore? Fashion was just as important in those days as it is to some people today. What people were wearing mattered to others, and even the government. During the Elizabethan Era clothing, accessories, and cosmetics were all a part of daily life.
The clothing of the Middle Ages, like everything else was decided by the pyramid of power. The pyramid of power was the Middle Ages Feudal System. Medieval clothes provided information about the rank of the person wearing them. From the 11th through the 14th centuries, medieval clothing assorted according to the social standing of the people. The clothing worn by nobility and upper classes was clearly different than that of the lower class. Medieval clothes provided information about the status of the person wearing them. The clothing and fashion during the medieval era of the Middle Ages was conquered and highly influenced by the Kings and Queens of the era. Only the wealthy could dress in fashionable clothes.
When you get dressed in the morning, do you dress carelessly, or do you take your precious time to find the perfect outfit? Neither is the case for the people of the medieval era. They have to wear specific things every day in order to separate the different social classes. Here you can learn about items a person from this time would have to wear day after day.
Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people’s viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare’s time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days.
For many centuries clothing was used namely as a form of symbolising one’s ascribed class and social honour. A good example of this was evident in Feudal European times when sumptuary laws were created in order to regulate and specify the clothing that could be worn by certain classes. In 1463 Edward IV went so far as to ‘[declare] that purple silk was to be the prerogative of the aristocracy’ (Finkelstein 1991, pg. 137). As purple dye and silk were both very expensive and sought after this declaration demonstrated quite simply that those who were in possession of such materials should command respect and were of high social standing. Eventually these laws were abolished as, instead of ‘confining people to their designated rank, the laws provoked an intense interest in fashion and a desire to transgress the codes, both in the process of prestigious emulation and as an act of rebellion’ (Craik, 1994, pg. 205). This abolition allowed groups and individuals to establish their own chosen style or ‘marker’ in order to indicate their place within society. By allowing such freedom, ascribed social status gave way to that which was achieved. This not only meant that many more people were able to engage in the ever-expanding culture of ‘Haute couture’ but also that honour was no longer perceived as a birth right but rather as something that could to be obtained. Such a shift in symbolism provided a way for those of not so noble a birth to portray themselves as the latter through a variety of means such as renting or stealing clothes and buying counterfeit copies (a common occurrence in today’s society also).
Music in the Making The Elizabethan Era was a very interesting time. Shakespeare wrote many interesting plays that were very popular in the Elizabethan Era. People adored the arts.
One of the first things a sensible person does in the morning - or, whenever they wake up - is change out of whatever clothes they slept in, and dress themselves into the appropriate attire. Sometimes said attire is work clothes, and other times it is whatever the person chooses to dress themselves in. Women, though of course not all, seem to be more inclined to follow the latest trends (if and when they can) in an attempt to either please themselves or the rest of society. The same went for women long ago in the Victorian Era and, and though it does seem impossible next to today’s standards, were even more pressured to conform to a certain customary way of dressing.
Clothing has been around for thousands of years; almost as long as the modern human has. At first, it served the practical purpose of protection from the elements; but, as life for early humans stopped being a constant struggle to survive, they started noticing how they looked and the concept of fashion began to take shape. These first few garments were typically dyed draped cloth that was pinned at the shoulder and/or waist. This was seen in many ancient civilizations around the world, Greek and Roman the most notable. Over time, clothing began to get more and more complex and formed to the body’s shape, eventually leading up to the tailored style we now have today. However, the sophisticated world of Haute Couture; or high fashion, can distinctly trace its roots to Paris during the mid-19th century. Clothing from there was thought to be superior to those from anywhere else, and women began to come from all over Europe just to buy dresses. This was probably due in part to one notable dressm...