Good morning!
It's almost the weekend, and apparently where I am, we're stuck in an wicked cold snap, totally not cool, no pun intended, lol ;)
So, we've covered a lot of what to look for to dwindle down or rework over the past week or so; we'll change it up today. For the topic we'll touch on research.
I know, I know, I roll my eyes, too. I'm not a huge fan of research for any length of time, mainly because I tend to get sidetracked when looking stuff up. After all, they don't call it the World Wide Web for nothing, lol ;) Anyway, if you can't tell by now, yup, not enough coffee in me yet so you'll have to bear with my weird sense of humor till it kicks in.
Back to research. Some people enjoy finding little bits of information they can spin off the beaten path and weave into their story. Some, not so much.
I'm gonna try to help in this post for those who do not enjoy looking stuff up..
Today's post will be on the time period that Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice author, lived in/wrote about. Only because I love love love that movie and because most have at least heard of Ms Austen, or read one of her books, or watched a version of the movie. My favorite is with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen directed by Joe Wright.
Anyway, got sidetracked a tad, sorry. So, we'll talk about the Seven Classes of English Society. Clearly, there was some form of structure when it came to breaking the classes down; the why's and who's. To make it easier though, basically, the higher the rank/peerage a person was, the finer materials and brightly colored clothes you were able/supposed to wear.
This had to do with an Elizabethan Law called The Sumptuary Law. There's more to the law than what I'm gonna post, but we only need a small part of it here. It's fascinating though, if you wanna go look it up! To break it down to fit what I'm touching on in this post; this law basically made it easier for the Queen, or anyone really, to distinguish people who were wealthy and those who were not so fortunate, based on the clothes they wore.
Now, onto the Seven Classes of English Society.
Classes of English Society: Highest Orders. Second Class. Third Class. Fourth Class. Fifth Class. Sixth Class. Seventh Class. Army and Navy.
Highest Orders:
Royal family, lords, spiritual and temporal great officers of state, peers above the degree of a baronet.
Second Class:
Baronets, knights, country gentleman, others with large incomes.
Third Class:
Clergy, doctors, merchants, and manufacturers on a large scale, bankers.
Fourth Class:
Lesser clergy, doctors, lawyers, teachers, ship owners. Merchants and manufacturers of the second class shop keepers. Artists, builders, mechanics, persons of moderate income.
Fifth Class:
Lesser freeholders, shop keepers, Innkeepers, publicans. Persons in miscellaneous occupations.
Sixth Class:
Working mechanics, artists, craftsman, and agricultural laborers.
Seventh Class:
Paupers, vagrants, gypsies, idle persons supported by criminal activity.
Army and Navy:
Officers, including half pay non-commissioned officers, soldiers, seamen, marines, and pensioners.
Tomorrow's post will be on jobs of this time period and tidbits along those lines. But, do be careful with the facts when writing a historical, because readers know when you're not accurate. In fiction, you are weaving your tale, absolutely, but if you are targeting a specific time period such as this one, you should try to stay close to actual fact; if you're spinning sideways or guessing/winging a certain historical fact, the readers will know and that probably won't settle well with them.
They read historicals because they love them and are very knowledgeable with this time period, that, and if there's a hiccup in your story it will draw the readers out of your characters world. So, tell your story, weave in history a little here and there and most of all, have fun!
Hope this helps :) Happy Writing!
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