Objectification In The Book Of Margery Kempe

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Recommended: Women in medieval literature and society

Margery Kempe was an English Christian who is responsible for dictating The Book of Margery Kempe, which is possibly the first autobiography in the English language. This autobiography documents her travels and her experiences of divine revelation as she remembers them. It is quite evident that Margery Kempe, who refers to herself as “the creature,” is exceedingly obedient to a man that might not even exist, but why? Throughout this entire book, there are many signs indicating objectification. This “involves the lowering of a person, a being with humanity, to the status of an object” (McKay 56). In other words, this is the seeing and/or treating of a person, usually a woman, as an object. Objectification is a key concept in feminist theory …show more content…

Notably, instrumentality is very apparent throughout the entire autobiography. Jesus essentially uses Margery Kempe and takes complete advantage of her. This is an example of instrumentality, which is “the treatment of a person as a tool for the objectifier purposes” (McKay 56). In this case, Jesus only calls upon Margery when it is beneficial to him. Correspondingly, Kempe acts as if she is Jesus’ puppet which is a clear indication that denial of autonomy is taking place. Tarjan McKay defines this as “the treatment of a person as lacking in autonomy and self-determination” (56). The creature looks up to Jesus very much but unfortunately there is no respect coming from his end. Christ knows that he can essentially control Margery and her actions because she lacks independence and self-sufficiency. In order for Margery to go to heaven one day, as Jesus promised, she has to do what he says. For example, he directs her to take off the hair shirt. On page 14, Jesus asserts “And daughter, you have a hair cloth upon your …show more content…

This concept “takes place when a person’s experiences and feelings are not taken into account” (McKay 57). Christ isn’t remotely considerate when it comes to Kempe’s feelings. To illustrate, Jesus wants the creature to wear all white even though she is against it. She is displeased with the idea of this because people already make fun of her as it is and she does not want it to get any worse. In other words, Margery is afraid that people will continue to slander her and call her a hypocrite if she wears white because she is obviously not a virgin. Unfortunately, he does not care. Christ asserts “Yes, daughter, the more wondering that you have for my love, the more you please me” (25). To clarify, Christ tells Kempe that her misery pleases him and that she will have to suck it up. This is a perfect example of how Jesus disregards Margery’s feelings entirely. Certainly, Jesus walks all over Margery Kempe as if her feelings and emotions don’t

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