Before the 17th century, there was little distinction between public and private life. Communities were legally compelled to police their neighbors' morality, and solitude was associated with evil and suspicion, not sanctuary.
The right to privacy originated not from a demand for personal space, but as a necessary political compromise to end centuries of religious bloodshed. Granting freedom of conscience in private paved the way for broader personal freedoms.
18th-century novels created a new literary form that explored the passions and ordinary lives of individuals. This cultural shift elevated the private sphere, previously considered unimportant, into a subject of value, fascination, and social anxiety.
Originally a radical feminist concept to bring private issues like abortion into public discourse, the idea that 'the personal is political' was later adopted by conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly to scrutinize political opponents' private lives.
The national outrage over the British government opening an Italian nationalist's mail showcased a profound cultural shift. Victorian society had begun to view private correspondence as sacred and inviolable, a concept foreign to earlier eras.
Following the failures of grand social movements and projects like Soviet communism, the 20th-century political left turned away from material and social progress, refocusing its energy on the private self and personal behavior.
Epitaphs reveal a major cultural shift. Renaissance tombstones listed public roles like 'courtier and soldier,' while 18th-century ones began prioritizing private identities like 'loving husband and father,' a reversal that continues today.