The Significance of Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich in English Identity

【Abstract】：It is unfair to describe The Middle Ages as making little or no contribution to intellectual or spiritual tradition， just to mention that religion is such an important or even indispensable element involved in medieval literature. The unmediated experiences and works of two great women speakers-- Julian Norwich and Margery Kempe， have not only influenced themselves as individuals， but also assisted to reconstruct English religious identity.

【Key words】： Margery Kempe；Julian；Identity

1.Introduction

Just as Virginia Woolf wrote in her A Room of One's Own about how difficult and embarrassed for females to write and to compose， still Julian Norwich and Margery Kempe managed to open the window of women’s literature in that Dark Age. The point will be illustrated in this essay with reference from Revelation of Love， The Book of Margery Kemp and some other pieces of work from medieval literature.

2.Paradigm for Late Medieval Women’s Literature

As great examples of late medieval Christian women mysticism as well as affective piety， Julian and Margery’s meditation is occupied with the following： the illogical and perceptual expression based on the direct experience， mysterious religious experience expression often filled with sexual things， and female saints used to dig the female image in the object of faith. Julian lived a life most of us could not even imagine to live， maybe that is why she reached such a depth in her religious pursuit yet we cannot. The most touching part for me is the narration in Chapter 60 when she depicted Christ as mother and makes each and every one of us feel like his baby—we are not forgotten and lost， instead we are always remembered and are taken cared by God. Life is no nothing as long as we still have love. However， Julian maybe considered as heterodoxy because she was unmediated： if a common girl raised up in the church could talk to God directly， why do people still need priests or pastors， who are seriously respected in many mystery plays such as Mankind？ And this negative notion was put forward to Margery， too.

3.Differences between Julian Norwich and Margery Kempe

Different from Julian who lived a short life in a chamber， Margery had greater insights afforded by more freedom and space outside the house with her female， middle class identity. Being an “oddity” or a “madwoman” as Margery， her book is called “the first extant biography in the English tongue and a spiritual autobiography， a travel book and a domestic chronicle all in one” by Raymond Wilson Chambers in The Times， 1936. Indeed it is much more than a travel book. In the first half of her life， Margery had a luxury secular life as a woman： her marriage to wealthy burgess John Kempe and her serious sufferings of illness throughout her pregnancy seized her with post-partum depression， also because of her unconfessed sins in her own opinion made her start her personal spiritual pursuit and textual narration. From her forties to her sixties， she did what even nowadays women could hardly imagine： in depth meditation and pilgrim for three times， the longest one reaching Jerusalem. While Julian took Jesus as mother， Margery took Jesus as husband and imagined herself part of the Holy Family by her re-infantilization of Jesus Christ. In Chap 1， Para 3： “and when she had been oppressed for a lone time… no one thought she would escape or live… our merciful Lord Jesus Christ… in the likeness of the loveliest， most beauteous， most pleasing man who could ever be seen with human eye， wearing a mantle of purple silk， sitting on her bedside， looking upon her with such a blessed face that she was strengthened in all her spirits”—Christ came to her when she was the most helpless. And in Chap 86： “for you know well I act like a husband who is going to marry a wife” and “I thank you for all the times you have sheltered Me and My blessed mother in your bed”， her imagination actually shows her struggles for identity and ideological dilemmas： as an earthly and spiritual mother， how could she fulfill her maternal role and reconstruct motherhood under that contemporary social restrictions？ Maybe that explains why in the end Julian resorted to love and Margery lost in unrestrained crying. But we should have sympathy on both of them because they just bravely insisted on and guarded their religious pursuits.

4.Challenging the Traditional Gender View

Yet I believe what is more significant is their challenge the traditional gender view， even if Margery cleverly talked her view under the cover of Virgin Mary. At that time， women were poorly treated-- they hardly made any voices on their own， could you imagine what Mary says in Bible？ No. That’s because the book concentrated on men’s voice， that men were trying to silence women and to make them obedient. Examples could also be found in other medieval pieces： in Piers Plowman， by demonstrating how a true Christian may save his or her soul with the example of the words and deeds of the protagonist， the poet exhibits a very religious theme-- everyone in this world has his or her own particular role to play， as long as one obeys his or her personal fate and does what that role should do， the person would get the destiny doomed， and thus the world would be maintained in a heavenly order. To follow that perspective， women should stay inside the house and play the given role as a family angle. Therefore， Julian and Margery’s witty thinking is valuable； it is a symbol of revolt， not only to the power of the church， but also to the patriarchal society.

5.Conclusion

In a word， not only do Julian and Margery’s works proves how religious culture has been able to be informed by texts， they also reveal the spiritual complex of woman. Furthermore， by recording their experiences they leave us valuable materials of the medieval life.

References：

[1]Abrams， M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2004.

[2]Aers， David. Community， Gender and Individual Identity. New York： Routledge， 1988.

[3]Atkinson， Clarissa W.， Mystic and Pilgrim： The Book and the World of Margery Kempe， Ithaca， NY： Cornell University Press， 1983.

[4]Cholmeley， Katharine， Margery Kempe： Genius and Mystic， New York： Longmans， Green and Co， 1947.

[5]Duby， Georges and Michelle Perrot， A History of Women in the West： Silences of the Middle Ages， The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press， 1992.