In the 16th century, life was all in all short of “child’s play”, for the socially necessitous, at least. The judicial system reigned heavily as the generality fell victim under it’s horror. Due to which of the six social classes you belonged, (Monarch- being the highest, Nobility, Gentry, Merchants, Yoemanry, or Laborers- being the lowest), your punishment could be the sole difference between life and death.
The Elizabethan Era (1558-1603), ran by Queen Elizabeth I, in London, is portrayed to be similar to that of “walking on eggshells” because any day could have been one’s last (Tomecek). She was known to be “vain, fickle, unreasonable, hard, vacillating, and contradictory (Byrne 16). Queen