Margery Kempe: Martyr in the Middle Ages

The Book of Margery Kempe was one of the earliest autobiographies written, but was not entirely an autobiography. The biography was dated back to 16th century Middle Ages and was interpreted from Margery’s word by a monk. Margery’s story details the life of a woman who was scorned and deemed a heretic because of her intense devotion to Christianity. Although Margery was said to have had 14 children and a middle class home, her devotion lead to her to celibacy from her husband and wore only white to represent her renowned pureness. She expressed visions to the public, which in turn titled her a heretic and endured a great amount of suffering.

Margery’s beliefs made her a heretic in the public’s eye and in some cases thought of as a martyr. During the Middle Ages, Saints were often, at first, seen as martyr’s due to the miracles they enacted on others. Martyr’s were admired for their intense persecution and willingness to die for their faith. These Saints were an integral part to Medieval Christianity because without their intense persecution and beliefs, a hierarchy within the Christian religion would have not been established. Saints were then put on a pedestal for their great devotion and lessons they brought into the world. Saints were also said to experience visions, performed miracles, and were extremely blessed in the eyes of their faith.

As a notable theme in the story, Margery felt her suffering was a necessity to be closer to her faith and ultimately God. Her suffering is rooted from the New Testament where Christ informs St. Paul that he must suffer in Christ’s name in order to be closer to God. Margery does not directly cite this verse in her story, but she follows the same notion. In a way, Margery’s interpretation of being scorned from being persecuted is because her suffering is a reminder of the greater suffering that Christ endured. Margery’s visions make her a witness (martyr can also be interpreted as witness) to Jesus and Mary’s suffering, making her connected to the suffering. Margery’s tears then become a sign of her willingness to share that suffering. As a place in the tradition of Christian mystics, Margery’s tears “saving others” acts as a personal union with God. By looking at Margery and saints in the Middle Ages, readers are able to see a more clear distinction. Although Margery was not inactly a Saint, one may say she held saint qualities and should be noted in Christianity’s history.   

Work Cited:

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/saints/

The Judges of Women: Margery Kempe and the Fallen Woman

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 19^th-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.