Margery Kempe, the main topic of this essay, was a controversial person during her lifetime. People had polarized opinions about her. She was in many conflicts with mostly clerical authorities and was a conspicuous person. While some contemporaries looked up to her, many others did not know how to deal with her and her extraordinary behavior. Today, some credit her as a mystic, while others condemn her as crazy. This essay will attempt to answer the question of whether she was a mystic or not. One approach could be to look at definitions of the terms "mystic" and "mysticism." However, these definitions seem inaccurate. Therefore, the essay will not primarily concentrate on these definitions but will focus on the life and work of Margery Kempe. Her book "The Book of Margery Kempe" is the only book she ordered to be written and is her autobiography. The essay will give a short survey of important events of her life and try to characterize her religious and spiritual perceptions. In this first step, the essay will also look at the problems she had to accomplish and highlight why her behavior could be seen as extraordinary. The essay will use sources such as "The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church," "Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics," and works by Julian of Norwich, Richard Rolle, and Walter Hilton.
Thiebaux, Marcelle. The Writings of Medieval Women: An Anthology. New York: Garland Publishing. 1994. Print.
the part of the Catholic Church to the challenges it faced. The Book of Margery Kempe
Baumgarten, Elisheva, Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013)
...Christian values in her own way in order to justify her character’s actions, in addition to using religion as a way of explaining what she thinks of herself. On the other hand, Margery Kempe was a woman who took religion to a new level as a result of “supposedly” having very intense visions and experiences with Jesus Christ. The result was a woman who believed that she had more religious authority than an archbishop of the church and who possessed the strength to continue on her path, despite allegations of being psychotic.
“All experiences shone differently because a God glowed from them; all decisions and prospects concerning the different as well, for one had oracles and secret signs and believed in prophecy. ‘Truth’ was formerly experienced differently because the lunatic could be considered its mouthpiece”
Pasi, Marco. "Arthur Machen’s Panic Fears: Western Esotericism and the Irruption of Negative Epistemology." Aries 7 (2007): 63-68.
Woodbridge, Linda. Women and the English Renaissance: Literature and the Nature of Womankind, 1540-1620. Urbana and Chicago: U of Illinois, 1986.
Woolstoncraft, Mary. A Vindication of The Rights of Woman. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd Ed. Volume D. Ed. Martin Puchner. New York: Norton, 2013. 134-136. Print.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, “Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power recognized as the creator and governor of the universe; A particular integrated system of this expression; the spiritual or emotional attitude of one who recognizes the existence of a superhuman power or powers” ("Various Definitions Of Religion", n.d.).
Katharine J. Lualdi, Sources of The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures (Bedford/St. Martins: Boston, MA, 2012) 194. (Named as Primary Sources for the Middle Ages on our angel for History 102.)
The Book of Margery Kempe is an autobiography of Margery Kempe, a women from King 's Lynn during medieval times. Kempe 's autobiography talks about the struggles she encountered on her journey for a holy life. Margery gave birth to her first child when she was about twenty years old, and after giving birth she had a nervous breakdown. She saw visions of the devil all around her, and her actions proved her to be anything but holy. It wasn 't until she recovered due to a vision of Jesus Christ that she was determined to devote her life to religiousness and to studying God. This vision led her on her journey to a union with God to fulfill her life purpose. Throughout her journey she received personal visions from Christ and the Virgin Mary which
"Wait a minute!" you shout in frustration. "Those are just characters in silly stories! Parables and metaphors and similes! They are stupid and imprecise and I want answers! You go on and on about how 'I may be a mystic but I'm a rational mystic.' Well lah-tee-dah. I want answers. Rational answers. I want something that makes sense. What am I? What am I really?"
Madigan, P. The Modern Project to Rigor: Descartes to Nietzsche. Landham: UP of America, 1986.
Frame, John M. Doctrine of the Knowledge of God: A Theology of Lordship. Phillipsburg, New
The Romanticism period is marked by changes in societal beliefs as a rejection of the values and scientific thought pursued during the Age of Enlightenment. During this period, art, music, and literature are seen as high achievement, rather than the science and logic previously held in esteem. Nature is a profound subject in the art and literature and is viewed as a powerful force. Searching for the meaning of self becomes a noble quest to undertake. In the dramatic tragedy of “Faust” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, we find a masterpiece of Romanticism writing that includes the concepts that man is essentially good, the snare of pride, and dealing with the supernatural.