Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 10406
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Garrett , Charlotte.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Soul Journey of Margery Kempe: Hysteria, Vision, and Record
  • Source: Sovereign Lady: Essays on Women in Middle English Literature.  Edited by Muriel Whitaker.  Garland Publishing, 1995.  Pages 157 - 170.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Hysteria Kempe, Margery, Mystic Mystics Religious Life
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: British Isles
  • Century: 15
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations:
  • Table:
  • Abstract:
  • Related Resources: "The Soul Journey of Margery Kempe" is the subject of the next essay by Charlotte Garrett. Although some critics believe that Margery belongs in the company of "hysterical women," this author takes a different position. Margery's journey, which began in madness and extreme emotional and psychological imbalance, led eventually to confidence in and union with God. Her emotional reactions to her meditations on the physical suffering of Christ were characteristic of the affective spirituality which was prevalent at that time. She experienced a mystical marriage with God and wrote her story that she might be an example to the people of her time. This essay fails to focus on the superficial, external manifestations of Margery's soul journey and goes instead to the heart of the matter, her relationship with God." From the review written by Elizabeth Walsh of "Sovereign Lady," "Medieval Review" (TMR ID: 96.12.11). [Reproduced by permission of the "Medieval Review."].
  • Author's Affiliation:
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1995.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: Not Available