The paston women and gentry culture: The development of individual and social identity in fifteenth-century England

This gender and social history examines the role of the Paston family in the developing gentry culture in fifteenth-century England. A family who desired to increase their social standing, the Pastons worked to first obtain land and wealth in order to become a part of the gentry. This study primarily examines the second way that the Pastons proved their gentility; through exhibiting behavior associated with the gentry, the Pastons proved to the public that they were above the peasantry and that they belonged in the upper echelons of society.;In their quest for gentility, the behavior of the Paston women was particularly important to the efforts of their family. This thesis focuses on the ways that Agnes and Margaret Paston adopted the advice present in contemporary conduct manuals and how they incorporated such behavior into their letters. By presenting an image of gentility in their letters, Agnes and Margaret participated in both the developing gentry culture in fifteenth-century England and in their family's efforts to increase their social status. Letter writing was a venue through which medieval women could express their opinions, and in the case of the Paston women, it was a way for them to directly impact the station of their family. The exercise of gentility in which the Paston women participated demonstrates one way the creation of an individual identity impacts both social status and group formation in Late Medieval England.