Margery Kempe was a female writer of the fifteen century. She was born about 1373 in England. Margery gave a great attribute to writing with her book, “The Book of Margery Kempe,” which is considered to be the first English biography. She had an excellent memory that helped her recall most of the events of her life, although they were not in chronological order for which she offers an apology in her book. Margery Kempe did not consider her childhood important which is why she omitted this stage of her life. The only thing she tells of her childhood is that she committed a great sin and then moves on to her married life.
Margery was not an educated woman, as she had poor writing and reading skills. She said that God gave her revelations that she wrote in a mixture of English and German. Later on, she asked her confessor, the Priest if he could write her book in proper English which he did. She lived in England during the medieval times, periods when the economy was down and the politics were not for women. When she was in her twenty’s Margery was married to a burgess of Lynn. She would spend great quantities of money on clothes and ornaments for other women to look at her. John Kempe was angry about Margery’s showy behavior. She decided to start her own business to acquire extra income and started a drink trade business which was successful for about four years, but then it went down. Experts say that she was illiterate, but yet she wrote part of her book in a mixture of English and German. This skill might had been developed through religious teachings and reading the Holy Scripture; the Bible.
There were prominent personalities that also may have influenced Margery such as William Southfield in Norwich, Walter Hilton, and William Sleightholme in Bridlington. In her book she narrates her life in which people can inquire how women in the medieval time used to live. Lynn Staley states in his book that Margery Kempe’s book is a testimony of religious and social crisis during the medieval times of urban life. He also stressed that gives an inimitable view of society in women’s life were Catholicism was confronted by a radical system of thought, the Wycliffie system.
In Margery Kempe’s book, the reader can see that she was not an ordinary woman, but completely the opposite. Her acquaintances even thought she was going mad. Margery Kempe is a great gift to literature because she granted us the first English autobiography.
By: Iliana L.
Margery was not an educated woman, as she had poor writing and reading skills. She said that God gave her revelations that she wrote in a mixture of English and German. Later on, she asked her confessor, the Priest if he could write her book in proper English which he did. She lived in England during the medieval times, periods when the economy was down and the politics were not for women. When she was in her twenty’s Margery was married to a burgess of Lynn. She would spend great quantities of money on clothes and ornaments for other women to look at her. John Kempe was angry about Margery’s showy behavior. She decided to start her own business to acquire extra income and started a drink trade business which was successful for about four years, but then it went down. Experts say that she was illiterate, but yet she wrote part of her book in a mixture of English and German. This skill might had been developed through religious teachings and reading the Holy Scripture; the Bible.
There were prominent personalities that also may have influenced Margery such as William Southfield in Norwich, Walter Hilton, and William Sleightholme in Bridlington. In her book she narrates her life in which people can inquire how women in the medieval time used to live. Lynn Staley states in his book that Margery Kempe’s book is a testimony of religious and social crisis during the medieval times of urban life. He also stressed that gives an inimitable view of society in women’s life were Catholicism was confronted by a radical system of thought, the Wycliffie system.
In Margery Kempe’s book, the reader can see that she was not an ordinary woman, but completely the opposite. Her acquaintances even thought she was going mad. Margery Kempe is a great gift to literature because she granted us the first English autobiography.
By: Iliana L.
SOURCES
Websites:
http://www.writingforward.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/aphra-behn.jpg
http://homepage.eircom.net/~thompsonschool/William_Thompson/Anna4.JPG
http://www.philos-website.de/index_g.htm?autoren/bouvieres-jeanne_g.htm~main2
http://homepage.eircom.net/~thompsonschool/William_Thompson/Anna4.JPG
http://www.philos-website.de/index_g.htm?autoren/bouvieres-jeanne_g.htm~main2
Books:
“Feminism in Literature.” Ed. Jessica Bomarito and Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. I. Gale, 2005.
Kempe, Margery. “The Book of Margery Kempe.” Ed. Barry Windeatt. San Francisco: Longman, 2000.
Louise Collis. “Memoirs of a Medieval Woman.” New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1964.
Rabil, Albert Jr. “Laura Cereta Quattrocento Humanist.” New York: University of New York, 1981.
Staley, Lynn. “Margery Kempe’s Dissenting Fictions.” Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994.
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