Key Facts
title ·
The Book of Margery Kempe
author · Margery Kempe
type of work · Autobiography
genre · Spiritual autobiograpy
language · Middle English
time and place written · 1436, King's Lynn, Norfolk, England
date of first publication · 1501 (extracts); manuscript rediscovered in 1934
publisher · Originally dictated by Kempe, transcribed by an unnamed priest.
Extracts from the work were published in 1501 by the printer Wynken de
Worde.
narrator · Margery Kempe, who, toward the end of her life, looks back on her
spiritual journey.
point of view · The point of view of Kempe's Book is unusual in that
she tells her own story, but does so in the third person, referring to herself
as “this creature.” Even so, the work is highly subjective, focusing exclusively
on Margery's own perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and opinions.
tone · Margery can be quite forceful in defending herself against the many
accusations she faced; there is a defiant, willful tone to much of the
Book, becoming much more tender and even passionate in the
sections describing her mystical experiences.
tense · The story is told in the past tense.
setting (time) · Late fourteenth–early fifteenth century. Margery often jumbles the
chronology of her life, jumping ahead in the story or backtracking as she
goes.
setting (place) · TheBook begins and ends in England, but Margery
travels to Rome, Jerusalem, Spain, and Germany in her lifetime.
protagonist · Margery Kempe, a married, well-off, middle-class woman who feels called
to a life of religion and mystical contemplation after suffering a nervous
breakdown following the birth of her first child. TheBook is
the story of her spiritual and physical travels, with an emphasis on the
opposition she encountered and the trials that she had to face as a result of
her highly emotional and highly public devotion to God.
major conflict · Margery's conflict is essentially that of self and society. Her claims
of divinely inspired vision and her ostentatious displays of emotion lead her
into conflict with her husband, her neighbors, and several political and
religious authority figures.
themes · The importance of suffering for Christ's sake; Margery is vindicated;
desire for God as life purpose
motifs · Use of the third person; conversations with God;
physicality
symbols · Margery's tears
foreshadowing · In Margery's first extended vision, she sees herself weeping and
sobbing, foreshadowing the uncontrollable tears that later become so important
to her.
