"Revealing the Realities of the Renaissance Lower-Class"

Savannah Price

Published in Dalton State College's Exemplar Fall 2022 and can be accessed here.

Revealing the Realities of the Renaissance Lower-Class

Through his use of imagery, aided by figurative language, John Skelton crafts an immersive reading experience with the vivid image of beastly, ale house owning Elinour Rumming in his poem “The Tunning of Elinour Rumming,” yet Skelton does not stop with these vulgar images of lower-class Elinour. Instead, he asserts his own commentary on the health and livelihood of the lower-class of his time, showing the upper class what the realities of the lower class were. Because most readers in Skelton’s time would have been upper-class men, Skelton could not simply assert the reality of poverty; what rich person would want to read about the malnutrition, lice, and addiction amongst the drunken poor? Therefore, Skelton masks many of his assertions with humorous surface-level appearances in his sing-song rhyme. Elinour Rumming and the individuals who visit her ale house are poor not only in substance but also in purpose. These women and men come to Elinour’s ale house seeking solace form their stressful, unrewarding work-based lives, wishing only to drink ale and, undoubtedly, find pleasure. Lightening the blow of his words with his sing-song-like rhyme scheme, Skelton asserts the non-so-pretty realities of lower-class Renaissance life beyond the surface of ugly appearances by detailing the health and addiction issues of Elinour and her ale-house regulars.

Skelton’s depiction of Elinour is his greatest satirical tool and also his most enlightening commentary on the realities of the lower-class. Skelton relies on Elinour’s disgusting descriptions, alongside his child-like rhyme, to distract readers from her malnutrition and health issues. For instance, at a first glance, Elinour’s description as “roopy and drowsy, / Scurvy and lowsy” is almost humorous (lines 15-16). In reality, “[s]curvy” refers to the deficiency of vitamin C, something Elinour is certainly lacking due to her nutrient-inadequate diet, and “lowsy” indicates the inhabitance of lice, which was caused by Elinour’s lack of bathing (16). Therefore, Skelton satirically uses his sing-song rhyme scheme and laughably repulsive descriptions of Elinour to lighten the blow of a malnourished, yet successful, lower-class woman of his time. In another instance, Skelton refers to the possibility of Elinour being arthritic, but he, of course, masks this revelation with humor by stating: “A man would have pity / To see how she is gumméd / Fingered and thumbed, / Gently jointed, / Greased and anointed / Up to the knuckles” (39-44). Therefore, Elinour’s hands, fingers, and knuckles are awkwardly jointed, probably meaning she has arthritis. Arthritis has many causes, but, for Elinour, it is likely she obtained it as a result of overwork, her age, genes, or a metabolic condition like gout. Overall, Skelton uses his depiction of Elinour to both entertain and inform his upper-class audience of the unfortunate realities of lower-class Renaissance life.

In order to fully educate his audience though, Skelton must also reveal the outlook lower-class individuals, many of which who were suffering from malnourishment and addiction, had on life in comparison to the more optimistic outlook held by many of the upper-class. According to Skelton, both working-class men and women sought out Elinour’s ale house in order to escape their simple lives. Men and women brought whatever they could in order to drink ale and forget their reality. Knowing what his upper-class audience thinks of his lower-class characters, Skelton depicts the women who arrive at the ale house as morally corrupt, “unlaced” (43) and “unbracéd” (44). Beyond this surface-level description though, Skelton reveals that these women are “[a]ll scurvy with scabbës” (50) and “flybitten” (51). Like Elinour, these women have scurvy, vitamin C deficiency, and can therefore be assumed to be malnourished, and they are “flybitten” (51) meaning marked by the bite of a fly or to be covered in fleas, which would suggest these women were poorly maintained or shoddy (highly likely). In addition to these malnourished, unkept women, Skelton describes lower-class Renaissance men as “all good ale-drinkers” (16) who will “drink till they stare” (18). Skelton’s upper-class audience would have undoubtedly found this humorous, feeling pity for the “travellers,” “tinkers,” “sweaters,” and “swinkers” (14-15). Going beyond the surface once again, Skelton gives these laborers a voice, having them state: “Now away the mare! / And let us slay care” (20-21). With this first line, the men are wishing away their sadness, wanting to leave behind the reality of their work-based life and simply drink ale. This habit suggests these men might suffer from alcoholism, an addiction that allows them to escape their lives. Skelton suggests this addiction, along with malnourishment, underneath his satirical surface-level descriptions, enlightening his audience on the reality of the lower-class.

Through both his descriptions of Elinour and also her ale-house visitors, Skelton reveals the lower-class Renaissance realities of malnutrition, health issues, and addiction. Attracting readers with his satirical voice, humorous rhyme scheme, and vivid imagery, Skelton relies on entertaining surface descriptions before commenting on what lies underneath. After reading Skelton’s poem, the audience of his time may have missed Skelton’s sly commentary and simply been pleased by the poem’s humor. In contrast, others might have felt affected by what he reveals, feeling pity or realization for the health conditions and poor life outlook possessed by the lower-class. Either way, Skelton’s work can be appreciated today for its bold assertions that portray the poor in an accepted perspective, poor and helpless, while also implying a new perspective of looking at the lower-class, with understanding, empathy, and awareness.

Works Cited

Skelton, John. “The Tunning of Elinour Rumming.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Renaissance and the Early Seventeenth Century. Vol. 2, 3rd ed. Broadview, 2017, pp. 2-11.