.: Researching Elizabethan England

The role of women in Elizabethan England:
The roles of women in the society were very limited. The Elizabethans had very clear expectations of men and women, on average women were meant to give birth to children every two years but many babies died from a different type of sickness and this meant that the families were not large. Women were know to be the "weaker sex", it wasn't just the physical side either. Women were made to be a house wife that looked after the children, cleaned, cooked, and washed.

Class distinctions in Elizabethan England:
In Shakespeare's time there was a very strong social class. This was controlled by wealth, ancestry and occupation. There were four 'main' social classes:

the nobles (which were in control of the land, they were the lord and lady of the allocated land space, and they were the richest of the social classes)
the gentry (the gentry were classified as the knights, squires, gentlemen, and gentlewomen / people "who did not work with their hands for a living." ) http://www.brandonsd.mb.ca/crocus/library/social_classes_in_shakespeare.htm
the Yeomanry (the yeomanry were classified as men and women who were between the nobles and the poor)
the poor (they were classified as people who were disabled, ill, had no money income)

Entertainment in Elizabethan England:

Elizabethan entertainment was very extreme when something was being celebrated.

They include:

Feasts - A large, elaborately prepared meal, usually for many persons and often accompanied by court entertainment. Often celebrated religious festivals
Banquets - A ceremonial dinner honoring a particular guest
Fairs - The Annual Summer Fair was often a bawdy affair
Plays - Starting as plays enacted in town squares followed by the actors using the courtyards of taverns or inns ( referred to as Inn-yards ) followed by the first theatres ( great open air amphitheatres built in the same style as the Roman Coliseum ) and then the introduction of indoor theatres called Playhouses
Mystery Plays - Re-enacting stories from the Bible
Festivals - Celebrating Church festivals
Dancing - Elizabethan dances enjoyed by the Upper Classes, Royalty and Nobility included the Cinque-pace, Galliard, Pavane, Roundel, Tordion and the Volta
Jousts / Tournaments - A series of tilting matches between knights
Games and Sports - Sports and games which included archery, bowling, cards, dice, hammer-throwing, quarter-staff contests, quoits, skittles and wrestling
Animal Sports - Including Bear and Bull baiting. Dog and Cock fighting
Hunting - Sport followed by the nobility often using dogs
Hawking - Sport followed by the nobility with hawks

The Names and Types of Elizabethan Entertainment were as follows:

Jesters - A fool or buffoon at Elizabethan courts
Mummers - A masked or costumed merrymaker or dancer especially at a festival
Minstrels - Travelling musician who sang of legends (declined in the Elizabethan era)
Troubadours - Travelling musician who sang of courtly love (declined in the Elizabethan era)
Acting Troupes - Travelling actors
Jugglers - Also used tricks, deception, or fraud

(taken from, http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-entertainment.htm)

Education in Elizabethan England:

Education was generally for boys of the upper classes. The normal week of a boys Elizabethan education consited of: