Final answer:
The outcasts were at the lowest rung of human society in the Elizabethan Great Chain of Being. These individuals were cut-off from society due to crime or descent. Their rank was even below serfs or slaves.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the Elizabethan era's great chain of being, the beings at the lowest rung of human society were the Outcasts. These were individuals who were generally cut-off or expelled from society due to various reasons such as crime or descent. Further, this great chain of being mirrored a societal hierarchy prevalent during the Elizabethan era in England with the monarch at the top, followed by the nobility, the gentry, merchants and tradesmen, yeomen or small landowners, and laborers or peasants.
However, below these orders of humans were the outcasts and criminals who were considered the most despised and looked down upon in society. They led lives of hardship and were subject to scorn and prejudice. While tied to the land, the serfs or slaves, though lower in the societal hierarchy, were still a notch above the outcasts because they at least belonged to the society or had a place in it though a lowly one.
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