ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Elizabethan general public or people who were not nobility were referred to as groundlings. They would pay one penny to stand in the Pit of the Globe Theater (Howard 75).

Detailed explanation-2: -Those who paid just one penny would be known as Groundlings, because they stood on the ground in what was known as “the yard, ” which is the area closest to the stage. For another penny, they could sit on a bench just behind the yard. For a penny more, they could sit more comfortably on a cushion.

Detailed explanation-3: -Their seats cost between 2-6 pence. There were also “Gentlemen’s Rooms” or boxes for rich and famous people and these cost a shilling. Finally, the poor stood in the ‘pit’ right by the stage and were called ‘groundlings’. These seats cost 1 penny.

Detailed explanation-4: -The ‘groundlings’ would pay 1 penny to stand in the ‘Yard’ of the Globe Theatre. The gentry would pay to sit in the galleries often using cushions for comfort! Rich nobles could watch the play from a chair set on the side of the Globe stage itself.

Detailed explanation-5: -If they paid one penny (equivalent to £1 in 2021), they could stand in “the pit", also called “the yard", just below the stage, to watch the play. Standing in the pit was uncomfortable, and people were usually packed in tightly. The groundlings were commoners who were also referred to as stinkards or penny-stinkers.