1) Population: In a Elizabethan England life varied greatly; whether you were born into nobility had a great impact on what your life was like. Nobles were rich elite members of society who held titles. They would live extravagant lives and if they were close to the monarchy could enjoy all the benefits of court life e.g. fancy balls, fine food, entertainment etc. However this was only reflected in 3 percent of the population, the rest lived in extreme poverty by today's standards. Most Elizabethan citizens lived in rural areas in poorly lit, cold, damp cottages in the countryside with barely a cooking pot to call their own. They live in a pre-industrial agrarian society where if you wanted to eat you had to grow your own food. During this period there was a shift in the economical/societal model as the mediaeval feudal system was adapting to a new hierarchical scheme based around trade and barter with goods from the newly discovered world were making their way into Elizabethan Britain.
2) The idea of private entertainment in the 16th/17th century was non-existent If you were really lucky you might have a court jester or a minstrel to sing you songs or provide you with a light story otherwise most the time you would have to find ways to entertain yourself. This meant that people listened a lot more; secrets and scandal were a rife in this period and everyone knew everyone else's little secrets. However due to constant outbreaks of the bubonic plague morale was low so the poor needed a way to lift their spirits, forms of entertainment that did this include: travelling actor troupes, banquets and feasts, festivals celebrating special events, social dancing, jousts and tournaments, hunting and of course plays. Most Elizabethan entertainment was public which meant there must have been a strong sense of community for these people. Religion was a huge part of every Elizabethan citizen's life. Due to the reformation of the church by King Henry VIII many people were split between being Catholic and now changing to protestantism. This was a huge deal as if you didn't follow the practises of the dominant religion you could risk being sentenced to death as a heretic. This meant that you had to change with the times or face religious persecution. After the dark days of Mary I (bloody Mary) who would tortured non-Catholics going back to another system must have been difficult for the Tudor citizens and must have caused confusion in their faith.
Superstitions were believed to be fact in these days. This was a time where witch craft was seen as a serious threat and magic was more than fairy tale. Witch hunts was a sexist way to control the female form and make sure that women did not educate themselves and remained domesticated mothers and wives and that was all. This was present in the plays of the time; Shakespeare's Macbeth warns against dabbling with the supernatural as it can have dire consequences on your immortal soul. But superstition could also be a nice thing; people would believe in fairies and the magic of the night and of the forest. This meant that their imaginations could easily be ignited with stories, poems and of course plays.
In Elizabethan England if you were a man it was very important to learn a trade by becoming an apprentice or learning from school. Such careers include; tailors, merchants, masons, smiths, shoemakers etc. Those are some of the higher end jobs that you could make a decent living off of. On the other hand if you were female you would more likely stay at home and raise the children but to earn a bit more of your upkeep you made take up weaving to make clothes or even servitude as cleaning appliances do not exists at this point.
Tudor medicine hadn't evolved that much from medieval times meaning that life expectancy was very low and general health was quite poor. In the countryside most cures would be from herbal solutions passed down through "old wives tales". This meant that villagers would live off the land for everything including solutions to their ailments. In towns and cities however blood letting was still a popular cure. Patients would have leaches attached to them because it was believed that too much blood is bad for you. Only the rich and powerful could afford doctors so if you really injured yourself you better start praying!
Theatre culture boomed in this time period. The public always wanted more this meant there were different plays always in rotation. The public consumed production after production, if the audiences didn't like what they saw, a play would simply disappear overnight as another one was ready to take it's place. Theatre provided an escape to the lower classes as life in generally was a struggle and having two hours of being transported to somewhere else probably made life just a little bit more bearable. Theatre also aided in educating the masses. Brilliant historical plays about previous monarchs meant that in those that never went to school could discover the past meaning even the lowest classes had some knowledge about the world they lived in.
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