“During the Reformation and Counter-Reformation of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, there was a growing affirmation of the value of private life. Among religious thinkers, there was a growing sense that the fullness of a Christian existence was to be found in marriage, family life, and one’s earthly calling. During the eighteenth century, an emphasis on personal privacy and individual choice grew. An increasing number of novelists and moralists took the position that selection of a marriage partner should be a private decision, free from outside meddling; that marriage should be based on sympathy, affection, and friendship; and that reason and parental example were more effective than coercion in governing children. Meanwhile, houses began to be constructed with hallways, to enhance personal privacy. Armchairs, too, became more common, as did separate beds for children—symbols of a heightened emphasis on the individual. An understanding of social history is essential if we are to understand how private life, personal privacy, and individual choice became central to people’s sense of themselves…”

Mintz, Steven. "Writing the History of Private Life" Daily Life Online. Greenwood Publishing Group. <http://dailylife.greenwood.com/dle.aspx?k=3&x=GR3233&bc=DBDL1311&p=GR3233-105>.