“Magdalena and Balthasar” by Steven Ozment’s Essay

In the story Magdalena and Balthasar by Steven Ozments, one is equal to(p) to reconstruct the mannersstyle of a sixteenth-century merchant family that lived in Europe. The life- clock styles specifically shown in Magdalena and Balthasars relationship was anything but an average lifestyle. Although the couple dealt with many a(prenominal) problems such as the separation due to business, they were able to keep their wedding party stable through letters. In these letters one is able to disclose their beliefs about their family life, jointure, parenting, and the affects religion had on them. Although this specific couple had a unique relationship, one could come to some understanding of how a gothic persons life was lived.When analyzing pieces from these letters, one could conclude that marriage had to be filled with approve, admiration, and cooperation to be successful. disposed the role in 16th century society, the hubby was the dominant participate and the married woman was left with the household duties and children. However, some relationships were ahead of their times and was ground solely on reciprocated compassion. If this bond could be achieved it brought a sense of comparability in the understanding and responsibility of a marriage. The growing slam in a marriage relationship was hard to accomplish. Whether the marriage was based on the similar backgrounds, or mutual feelings about equality, a successful marriage had to be blended on.Many merchants at this time were extremely involved with their work. This meant that when work called they had to reply. If the job took the husband out of township the best way to take their relationship was through letters. Although it was hard to keep in touch in that respect were many ways that they could communicate their passion.Another aspect that was seen in the gallant time period was the way in which the people expressed their love. In the relationship between Magdalena and Balthazar, Magdale na uses special valued objects in her letters in order to express her love. An example is when she folds flowers from their garden into her letters to him(Ozment 28). Likewise, Balthasar expressed his love for Magdalena through his unique writing style. In his letters he was able to express his love through simple words such as honest, good, true,friendly, dearest, closest bride(Ozment 28). It can be observed that the common attribute of expressing love in their relationship was not only limited to their relationship specifically, quite a it applies to most sixteenth-century relationships.Although Love was a major attribute in relationships sureness was another strong hold point of the everyday family lifestyle of this time. in that location had to be a strong supporting corporate trust from each look of the relationship in order for the family to prevail. For instance, when the couple was separated the husband would leave to have a deep sincere trust for the wife to fight dow n his business at home. The wife would have chores such as, tending to the children, guardianship the household running, and other business related tasks. Although it was common for the women to do so anyways, the husband had to rely and trust his wife to take care of these transaction without second thought.Although the husband had to riposte up allot of responsibility when he was away for work, normally he would not give up the hearty authoritative power. For example in a disagreement unremarkably their would be some sort of compromise, but in the end the wife would give in to the big decisions allowing the husband to have authority. The equilibrium between trust and negotiation that was seen in sixteen-century relationships shows how a sense of stability that was formed in their family lifestyles.Parenting in this time period was dealt with by different methods, which were determined by the different marital roles. The primary differences come from their choice of style that was communicable from their forefathers. The wife is usually the consoling and sympathetic parent, while the father was usually the stern and punitive parent. The father had to deal with his parenting from a different town at times, which led to less interactive correction strategies. When a guide from the father was made to the child, the child would usually meet the request without question. Although the wife respects the husbands requests she usually sympathized for her son, showing an amount of protection, by lessening the demands.The most similar parenting style between the two is their love for their son.Although the teaching methods were different from parent to parent, the child usually received a decent education, housing, adequate food, to fulfill his needs. The love and support from both the stupefy and the father is astonishing and overall should result in a prudential child.Religion is a very important aspect of sixteenth-century life among medieval individuals. A c ommon belief was that immortal was involved in their family life and was in absolute control. They think of God as an absolutely all-powerful being, who controls human destiny on earth and into eternity(Ozment 144). If there were misfortunate dealing such as sickness or substantial going in a business deal, it was believed to be an obvious punishment of God(Ozment 144).Religion was also tied into the lives of medieval people by the incorporation of it into their marriages. The medieval people relied on the God given supremacy of the husbands role for leadership in the familys prosperity.Parenting techniques also resulted from their Christianity belief. The corrective actions of each role in the family originated from the history of Christianity. Even though these teachings seemed unyielding they closely adhered to them in order to adhere to their beliefs.The particular dealings with Magdalena and Balthazar gave and unshared illustration of the life of a sixteenth-century fami ly. It also exposed the hardships of the medieval time period. Magdalena and Balthazar gave a significant portrait into how a person in the sixteenth century dealt with the everyday attributes of marriage, parenting, family life, and the affects religion had upon them.