How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England

A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts

by Ruth Goodman

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.

Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org

*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

Pub Date Oct 30 2018 | Archive Date Sep 30 2018

W. W. Norton & Company | Liveright

History

Talking about this book? Use #HowToBehaveBadlyInElizabethanEngland #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!

Description

Every age and social strata has its bad eggs, rule-breakers, and nose-thumbers. As acclaimed popular historian and author of How to Be a Victorian Ruth Goodman shows in her madcap chronicle, Elizabethan England was particularly rank with troublemakers, from snooty needlers who took aim with a cutting “thee,” to lowbrow drunkards with revolting table manners. Goodman draws on advice manuals, court cases, and sermons to offer this colorfully crude portrait of offenses most foul. Mischievous readers will delight in learning how to time your impressions for the biggest laugh, why quoting Shakespeare was poor form, and why curses hurled at women were almost always about sex (and why we shouldn’t be surprised). Bringing her signature “exhilarating and contagious” enthusiasm (Boston Globe), this is a celebration of one of history’s naughtiest periods, when derision was an art form.

Every age and social strata has its bad eggs, rule-breakers, and nose-thumbers. As acclaimed popular historian and author of How to Be a Victorian Ruth Goodman shows in her madcap chronicle...

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781631495113
PRICE	$28.95 (USD)
PAGES	320

Additional Information

Average rating from 9 members

See all member reviews

Featured Reviews

Critter B, Librarian

How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England is a wonderful, hilarious historical compilation of manners, curses, insults and anecdotes of unsavoury behavior. The images included help explain the exact nature of gestures, and the author has generously captioned the pictures with lines like:

"Swiss mercenaries were famous across Europe for their military prowess and their extravagant clothing and strutting."

"This city miss with her body weight held well forward and head held high is all ready to go 'tripping' along"

"Besides passing out and vomiting, drunkards were easy prey to a host of other vices, from gambling, smoking and fighting, to making fools of themselves through the medium of dance."

In addition, sources for the plethora of illustrations are listed at length, and there is a lovely, if a bit sparse, bibliography. So enjoyable! This book is directly up my alley in my wheelhouse...