Final answer:
Life under the Romanovs was challenging due to social stratification, political repression, and harsh living conditions. The feudal system subjected peasants to a life akin to slavery, and there was no political freedom or representative government.
Step-by-step explanation:
Life under the Romanovs was fraught with challenges and disparities that would not appeal to the modern sensibility of fairness and equality. The Romanov Dynasty, ruling over Russia from 1613 until the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917, presided over a society divided by extreme social stratification, with a vast majority of the population subjected to serfdom well into the 19th century.
This feudal system rendered peasants little better than slaves, bound to the land they worked on and to the nobles who owned it. Moreover, political repression was severe, with the secret police, known as the Okhrana, targeting anyone suspected of disloyalty or dissent against the Tsarist regime. The lack of political freedoms and the absence of a representative government meant that the average Russian had no voice in the policies that affected their daily lives. Additionally, living conditions for common people were often harsh, with limited access to education and healthcare, which perpetuated a cycle of poverty and underdevelopment in many parts of the empire.