Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 8831
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Bremner , Eluned.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Margery Kempe and the Critics: Disempowerment and Deconstruction [The author compares selected twentieth-century analyses of Kempe’s “Book” (written by literary critics) to episodes in the “Book” itself, in which Margery faces criticism from various figures of authority. Both the modern critics outside the text and the clerical figures within the “Book” reinforce patriarchal structures in response to Kempe, who challenges female suppression and speaks to establish her autonomy and power. Despite critics’ attempts to disempower her, Kempe refuses to accept the marginalization of female sexuality, crosses traditional gender role boundaries, and determines her own voice and social role through speech and writing. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: Margery Kempe: A Book of Essays.  Edited by Sandra J. McEntire.  Garland Publishing, 1992.  Pages 117 - 135.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Authority in Literature Feminist Theory Identity Kempe, Margery, Mystic- Book of Margery Kempe Literature- History and Criticism Literature- Prose Marginality Patriarchy in Literature Power Psychoanalytic Theory Self Women Authors Women in Literature
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: British Isles
  • Century: 15
  • Primary Evidence:
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  • Table:
  • Abstract:
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: University of Otago
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1992.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0815303785