Food In The Elizabethan Era Essay

In the Elizabethan era, the commoners (referring to ordinary people who are members of neither the nobility nor the priesthood) would pay 1 penny to sit in the ‘pit’ of the theatre, 1 penny had been equivalent to approximately 1.66 US dollars today. Furthermore, the ‘pit’ of the theatre had been at the front of the stage, that meant the ‘commoners’ had the best view of the play, and could easily purchase food, but had a very hard time accessing a lavatory. The audience often complained of the nutshell filled floors with the smell of garlic and beer emanating through the audience. The Nobles - High-class Nobles would have the higher seats within the Lord's rooms paying 5d for the honour.
The 'groundlings' or the ‘commoners’ would pay one penny …show more content…
The food eaten daily by the average Lower Class Elizabethan or commoner would include ½ lb. of bread, 1 pint of beer (since the water in that time had been exceptionally polluted, the population would have to resort to beer as a drinking source), 1 pint of porridge, and 1/4 lb of meat. Moreover, at the theatre the Lower Class Elizabethan would only buy Furthermore, the lower class did not disperse much of their money towards the high class, much more elegant food, instead, they would buy foods such as hazelnuts, apples, oranges, strawberries, etc.
The higher class personnel would have much more elegant meals such as; shellfish also featured in theatre food and included crab, oysters, mussels and cockles, various types of nuts (hazelnuts were especially popular), milk with cream was used as an Elizabethan beverage, curds, whey, butter, cheese, eggs, ready cooked meats, pies, and pastries. The commerce of these foods creates a rather advantageous opportunity for merchants to vend much of their stock, creating a market day atmosphere. Consequently, many of the stands outside of the theatre sold an assortment of food, all of which ready made to concur with the showtime, intermission, and