The Book of Margery Kempe Imagery

The Book of Margery Kempe Imagery

This creature

From the beginning, Margery portrays herself as a creature, something of no importance. The reason why she chooses to portray herself in such a way is to put an emphasis on the idea that men is a wretched creature in comparison with God Almighty who can never be wrong and who should never be criticized and questioned. She however, as a creature, must be guided by mightier being.

The soul is a home

Margery talks about her soul as being a home for Christ that is the center of her belief and her faith. The image of the soul as a home is not something new in literature as many people used to describe their soul as being a home, something that has to be inhabited. This also suggests that if a person is not spiritual and if that person doesn’t fill his soul with good things, bad things will be found there instead. In this sense, the human soul is imagined as being either bad or good and there is no middle ground between the two of them.

Normal conversations

In the 17th chapter, Margery talks about the conversations she has with Christ with Richard of Caister. The way Margery described her conversations with Jesus is important because it created the impression that between Jesus and Margery exits a deep connection. Their conversations are not formal or forced, but friendly and homey and Margery is not afraid to tell him everything. This idea was quite unusual for the time because people were generally thought that they must fear God no matter what and that God is a cruel being. The description offered by Margery however creates a completely different image of divinity than the one widespread until then.

Pure creature

One thing Margery mentions time and time again is how she will never be able to enjoy the joys of heaven because she is no longer a virgin and she had a number of children. In fact, in many of her visions, Margery sees virgins dancing and rejoicing in Heaven alongside God, the angles and other saints. What Margery does here is to create the image of the perfect woman. In medieval time and not only, it was believed that a woman can reach her spiritual potential only if she remains a virgin for the rest of her life. A woman can get in heaven if she is not a virgin but she will be placed lower than a woman who remained a virgin all her life. The belief was that if a woman never had sexual relationships, then she could devote herself completely to God and his purpose. Only then can be a woman’s service considered complete and wholehearted.

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