Poetry for Students, Volume 35

There were no hospitals, and most people were
born and died in their homes. There were no
antibiotics to fight infections, and no prescrip-
tion medicine to alleviate pain, except for alco-
hol. Beer sales suggest that every man, woman,
and child likely consumed forty gallons of beer a
year. Alcohol not only eased physical pain but
the pain of a difficult life.

Plague and famine took their toll as well.
Even the simplest of diseases could prove debil-
itating, and plague was not the simplest of dis-
eases. Repeated epidemics of bubonic plague
occurred in London. The wealthy could flee to
more sparsely populated rural areas and thus
have a chance of escaping infection. But the
poor had no means to leave the city and would
not have been permitted to leave in any case. In
1593, more than 15,000 Londoners died of the

plague. In 1603, the number of London dead

from plague was 36,000. Moreover, poor crops

in the mid-1590s led to periods of starvation,

adding to the difficulties that Londoners faced.

Although it appears that the old man described

in ‘‘Seven Ages of Man’’ has reached a very old

age, many Londoners failed to do so.

Elizabethan Disorder

The period from 1576 to 1642 is considered in

modern times as the golden age of English

drama, although it was probably not golden for

those who lived through it. For more than one

hundred years, farmers had been displaced by

enclosure acts that fenced off agricultural land

for private use as pastures. This created severe

unemployment in rural areas with accompanying

high inflation. Rural unemployment drove many

COMPARE

&

CONTRAST

 1590s:Christopher Marlowe, a dramatist

and contemporary of Shakespeare, is killed

in a bar fight on May 30, 1593. He is the

same age as Shakespeare and has already

written several important plays, including

The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.

Today: Marlowe’s plays continue to be

staged, and while he is considered an impor-

tant Elizabethan poet, his plays are per-

formed less frequently and do not have the

same appeal with general audiences as

Shakespeare’s plays.

 1590s:The first flush toilet is invented in

1596 by poet Sir John Harington but is not

popular. People continue to prefer to use the

chamber pot. However, Harington does

install one of the new water closets for

Queen Elizabeth’s use.

Today:The availability of flush toilets is

taken for granted, since they are common

in most western European and North Amer-

ican homes, but in many countries people

still use outhouses.

1590s:England’s new Poor Law of 1601

finds jobs for the unemployed, provides

apprenticeships for children to train for

employment, and assists the elderly who

are unable to work. The program is sup-

ported by new taxes.

Today:TheDepartmentofWorkandPen-

sions in Great Britain administers pensions

and assists the unemployed in finding jobs.

However, in spite of government efforts, child

poverty continues to be asignificant problem.

1590s:Shakespeare is only one of several nota-

ble poets during this period. Poets who are

contemporaries of Shakespeare include

Edmund Spenser (1552–1599), Sir Philip Sidney

(1554–1586), and John Donne (1572–1631).

Today:More than four hundred years after

Shakespeare’s death, his plays and poetry

are a central part of studies in British liter-

ature. Shakespeare’s plays and poetry are

considered relevant to modern times and

superior to many contemporary plays.

Seven Ages of Man