Historical+Context


 * ===Can you make comments on your readings about MARRIAGE CUSTOMS?===
 * ===Read act I, what evidences of these customs can you name?===
 * ===in what way these customs affect Benedick and Beatrice in this ACT?===

[[file:AnaPaulacomments.doc]]




Ana Burgos's comments
=__ ELIZABETHAN WEDDING CUSTOMS __=

== Just as today a woman's wedding was one of the most important days of her life. The major difference to Elizabethan wedding custom to a modern day western marriage is that the woman had very little, if any, choice in who her husband might be. Marriages were frecuently arranged so that both families involved would benefit. Marriages would be arranged to bring prestige or wealth to the family. The children of landowners would be expected to marry to increase the size of the acreage. Many couples would meet for the very first time on their wedding day. ==

=__ THE IMPORTANCE OF MARRIAGE TO AN ELIZABETHAN WOMAN __=

== **During the Elizabethan era of history women were very much 'second class citizens'. Regardless of their social standing they were expected to marry. Single women were thought to be witches by their neighbours. Elizabethan marriages were sometimes arranged immediately following a baby birth via a formal betrohal.** ==

== **With parental permission, it was legal for boys to marry at 14 and girls at 12 although it was not usual or traditional for marriages at such young ages. The age of conset was 21 and boys would generally not marry until this age.** ==

**It was also referred to as her marriage portion. The law gave the husband full rights over his wife. She effectively became his property.**
= *__EVIDENCE OF THIS CUSTOMS IN ACT I__ =

** This line gives us a clear point of view of women´s treatment in those times. They were compared with animals which can be easily manipulated. **
==** * ** Benedick and Beatrice are affected by these customs because they have a differrent perspective about marriage and women's role. They consider marriage a form of their independence. It's a way of becoming whipped, tamed and cuckoled. ==