Margery Kempe was an outcast for
her eccentric faith and dramatic personality. When reading Margery’s life, I
saw many similarities between the way she was treated and the popular character
trope of 19th-centruy literature of the fallen woman. The fallen
woman was any woman who had “fallen” from society, implying a loss of innocence
normally associated with loss of virginity before marriage. The characteristics
of a fallen woman were always tied to her sexuality and often served as an
example or warning to young women reading these stories to be cautious of the
evils of the world. The fallen women emerged from the oppressive Victorian
societal standards, placed specifically on women.
The popular use of this trope shows
that the obsession with the sexual activity of women continues to be a main
theme throughout literature. One of the first things Margery does is vow
chastity, even though she is married. Then she starts to dress in all white. Interestingly,
fallen woman are criticized for their lack of sexual purity while Margery is
hated for her attempt to regain sexual purity.
The people claim she is a hypocrite
and Lollard and she becomes an outcast by most of society for her outrageous
behavior. Margery spends most of her time crying and she is constantly on the
brink of distress for Christ’s suffering. She is very aggressive in her
faith. Similarly, the fallen woman is
often portrayed as mentally or emotionally unstable as her outcast from society
quickly makes her go insane. The story for the fallen woman often ends with her
death, as there is no redemption for her actions.
The view of Margery Kempe is mixed
between followers who have seen miracles worked around her and people who call
her a heretic and shun her. With the fallen woman trope, there are always sets
of people that want to support her but society at large is completely against
her. Margery also deals with the officials of society and the majority of the
population constantly mocking her.
The difference with Margery Kempe
though is that she does not care about what society thinks of her. The entire
character of the fallen woman is based on how society is seeing her and it is
arguably society rather than the woman that cause her downfall. Margery on the other hand is completely
immune to society’s opinion of her, in so far as it does not discourage her
away from Christ.
I really like your analysis of "the fallen woman" term. Reminds me of Hester from "The Scarlet Letter." Though the book was written in 1850, I think that similarities can be drawn between her and Margery, at least in the sense of sexual dalliances making women viewed as impure. Whereas, like you mentioned, Margery attempts to regain her purity through chastity, Hester is publicly branded as a constant reminder of her sexual affair. I feel as though such stigmatization of sexually open women definitely carries into today's society. I was watching some stupid reality show in which both a female and a male cheated on their respective partners. Whereas the show made the man's indiscretion out to be comical (and he cheated on a PREGNANT girlfriend), the girl was fully ostracized and called out so many times despite the fact that she was openly remorseful (unlike the guy). Seems as though "the fall woman" stereotype carries into modern times and other forms of literature.
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