Final answer:
Hygiene, illness, and medicine in the Elizabethan era were marked by rudimentary and superstitious practices, lengthy suffering during surgeries, and futile ways to fight diseases like the bubonic plague. Only by the nineteenth century did significant advances, like the creation of sewer systems and discovery of anesthesia, start to improve public health.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the Elizabethan era, hygiene, illness, and medicine were characterized by limited understanding and primitive practices. Prior to the discovery of vaccines and antibiotics, and before the comprehension of germs, societies battled diseases with prayers, herbal scents, and isolation of the affluent in less populated areas. The bubonic plague's devastation exemplified these challenges in the fourteenth century. Progress in public health was later seen in the nineteenth century with the establishment of sewer systems and the advent of anesthesia, paving the way for reduced disease spread and less agonizing medical procedures.