'Ryght worchepfull mastres': Letters of Request and Servants' Scripting of Margaret Paston's Social Self

Abstract

Margaret Paston's influential role in managing the Paston family's affairs in her capacity as a wife, mother, and widow has been well documented. Garnering less attention, however, has been Margaret's role as the 'maistresse' of her household and the influence she exercised in governing the estate servants with whom she collaboratively managed the Paston family's estate business. Examining the highly politic speech activity of request enacted in the petitionary letters servants addressed to Margaret offers a rare opportunity to examine the rhetorical impact of these letters in the dialogic shaping and expression of Margaret's honour or 'worshep', a critical aspect of her social self and influence in the course of estate management.