Tradesmen like bakers and blacksmiths had more personal power, respect, money, and worked fewer hours per week that the farmers and laborers.
One of the cues for treason is to save the queen, but the story is very complicated and many factors affect the choices made by the protagonists and antagonists. .
The author has embodied many emotions for the reader. I especially liked the other world views that are different from my own. The glue that sticks this story together is the dose relationships and connections Peter and Kit and how they react to Sir Phillips actions.
Learning the value system of that society has caused me to look closely at those systems have changed over the time. I was fascinated to discover that the value systems of 16th Century England have lasted 300 years fight up until the 1960s slowly began the process of change for all people of all walks of life and financial background. Today the world changes very quickly as approved to the speed of change in the society of 16th Century England. Lucky for us we"re in Canada we have maintained most of the good parts of English social values. Eventually, I hope the whole world came full of peace and security that we feel in our country. .
Trease's clever use of intrigue and espionage reminded me of my Grandma's cousin Len who was a spy for the English government, which called was MI5. However Trease's character Tom was a spy just like cousin Len and was very experienced when he handled the Sir Phillip rumor about killing Queen Elizabeth. It was neat for this book to have spies because the book taught me that there were spies in the 16th England.
Geoffrey Trease's idea of putting the main characters Peter and Kit in acting and entertaining the townsfolk I thought was great. It was so neat too read about peter and kit meeting William Shakespeare right when he completed one of his finest works Romeo and Juliet. Putting Peter and Kit into acting brought the story back into Cumberland to uncover the plot to kill Queen Elizabeth.