Margaret Paston

Margaret Paston story changed the whole perception we had about husbands-wives during the Middle Ages. Margaret Paston as an eighteen years old, young, inexperience wife of a landed man,who had the capacity to serve as the manager of the estate as well as the woman of the house as a mother. She exceeded expectations. She could handle and protected her husband’s business and could represent him as he was expecting. What made her sad was the idea that she was going to deal with men all the time, and for a woman from that period of time, they were very conservative and shame of having to deal with outside men beside their husbands ,"In a letter to her husband in December of fourteen forty one she writes: Jon of Dam was here, and my modyr dyskevwyrd [discovered or revealed] me to hym, and he seyde be hys trovth flat he was not gladder of no thyng flat he harde thys towlmonyth flan he was per of. I may no lenger leve be my crafte, i am dysscevwyrd of alle men flat se me. (Letter 125)." This was an unusual way of living for Margaret, she had to be a household wife and at the same time a businesswoman to help her husband. This is very interesting because she is changing the idea about women from that period of time. She is acting like a woman from this time. Unlike, Griselda in the Clerk Tales, Margaret was lucky enough to receive her husband's business and be part of it. Margaret did have to suffer and be part of a abusive relationship like Griselda did.