Gender and Affective Piety in "The Book of Margery Kempe" (Page 2 Return to Page 1►)

Other essays and articles in the Literature Archives related to this topic include : "The Book of Margery Kempe" and The Role of Women in Medieval Society  •  Comparison of "The Book of Margery Kempe" and the Pardoner's Prologue and Tale    •   Feminist Analysis of the Prologue for the "Wife of Bath" (Canterbury Tales)    

This overly piteous female weeping sequence in which the reader can easily imagine Margery sprawled on the floor, looking helpless and much like a victim is followed by the true impact of her “performance”. She dries her tears and is instantly ready with a sharp tongue to take on the questions of the bewildered Archbishop and does so gracefully and meaningfully. What is so great about this is that they were expecting a very pathetic weeping female to weakly respond to their questions, but instead were greeted by the “old, pre-conversion Margery Kempe” who responds to the question by shooting them right back.

This is a common theme in Margery Kempe and runs throughout the work. For example, the first question she turns back on the male authority is when they ask her why she weeps so mournfully. Margery responds with a very quick and thoughtful, “Sir, ye shall will some day that ye had wept as sore as I.” There is no response from the Archbishop nor any of his clerks to this and immediately, as if to strengthen himself, he asks the articles of faith. Margery s able to respond to this “male” authority knowledge and again, this has such an impact because of her hyper-feminine performance followed by her sharp wit.

Margery’s use of language and rhetoric is showcased again when the Archbishop says to her that he’s heard she is a wicked woman. Instantly, and apparently without thought, she responds with, “Sir, so I hear say you are a wicked man.” Here, and in the conversations between her and the male religious authority, the distinct difference of her feminine manipulations are most apparent since this intellectual religious debate was preceded by her “weak-woman” performance and display of feminine vulnerability. While some may not think Margery s sincere, she is, at the very least, able to make an impact and perhaps this is what is most striking about her. She plays the martyr for just long enough to get her point across and does so using her femininity (and traits typically associated with females such as clothing, virginity, and weeping—at least for this period).

The only other time the reader is given a sense of other representations of female piety is with the description of Julian of Norwich. Oddly enough, despite the heavy emphasis on appearances of Margery throughout the text, Julian of Norwich s described only as an anchoress. Instead of thick descriptions of her outer image, she is represented by words instead of images. This is certainly a turning point in "The Book of Margery Kempe" not only because it allows the reader to see what intellectual/religious heights Margery is aspiring to, but because we are given the chance to make a comparison in gendered representations of piety.

Julian of Norwich is female, but seems to be taken out of all gender contexts within the text because she is educated. Margery, whose presentation in the book is a very gendered character and what is most important about his difference is that Margery relies on emotion whereas Julian is focused on education. Julian quotes saints and scripture and has a deep understanding of the Bible, whereas Margery’s appeals, particularly to the Archbishop, rely on emotional tales and pleas. What is interesting as well about this comparison is that Julian of Norwich has been de-feminized, perhaps because she is educated and pious, while Margery has been hyper-feminized, perhaps because her emotion is her piousness. "The Book of Margery Kempe" offers modern readers a unique chance to view how the scribe of Margery’s story may have subconsciously used gender as a literary way of depicting how women practiced their faith in this time. If one were to look at Margery alone, they would come away with the impression that women’s faith is based on emotion, men (such as the Archbishop) base their faith on knowledge and learning of the “laws” of the Bible and God, but strangely, Julian of Norwich doesn’t fit into either of these categories. She is learned, but she is also not emotional, not prone to the same displays of affective piety that Margery is given over to.

While gendered representations of piety are on the central questions of the text, it is impossible to look at Margery as a lone example of female piety—especially since there was no one that the reader saw that was behaving in quite the same way. Still, looking at the way men and women practice and uphold their faith seems divided and is certainly worth further exploration, especially as far as the question of where Julian of Norwich fits into this puzzle of gender and faith.

◄   Return to Page One of Article