Over the Top

The Book of Margery Kempe an autobiography of spiritual nature, and not what we would expect in an autobiography as there seem to be two main characters – her and god. It begins with her life before she ‘knew” god. her emotions seem to be very sad. the words that she uses make me think of her as coming down on herself about her life, not simply reflecting upon it – “lost her reason” “great bodily sickness” misdeeds” “great bodily penance” “tears of contrition”

Kempe found “solace” in the suffering she experienced because of her love for God. She found it pleasing to god to write down her experiences, which is how we get this text.

It is supposed to read as a story, but, as we have discussed in class and as others have mentioned so far on this blog, it is supposed to be a bit off the wall. I agree that Kempe is a bit off the wall in the way she devotes her life to god – it is as if she is taking others down with her. She tries to get her husband to become celibate, for one.

This is supposed to be a very emotional piece, and I see that. I do agree that Kempe herself is quite emotional about the entire ordeal of her life. I find evidence for it in the fact that she desired so to become a nun that she tried to be a celibate wife. This is an emotionally charged choice. Additionally, she is full of emotion when she, many times in the book, weeps for god or laments for him (641). She is over the top.

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