Shakespeare's Restless World 8. City Life, Urban Strife
Apr 25, 2012
A journey through London’s streets and playhouses, using a 16th-century woollen cap to reveal class signals and fashion. Learn how caps, hats and forms of address marked social rank and even madness on stage. Hear about apprentices’ swagger, theatre mischief and how caps became symbols of mob identity during hunger and riots.
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Two Ways To Say You
- Early modern English used two second-person forms, a familiar "thou" and a respectful "you", to signal social relations.
- Neil MacGregor explains that this nuance is now lost and would have guided behaviour in Shakespeare's time.
Caps As Social Law
- A 1571 statute required males over six to wear woollen caps on Sundays and holidays to prop up the wool industry.
- Neil MacGregor notes the law also made social divisions visible by reserving hats for gentlemen.
Apprenticeship Life Cycle
- Apprentices started at about 14 and served roughly seven years, often becoming masters later in life.
- Neil MacGregor highlights that many apprentices married into their master's family and enjoyed considerable freedom.