Analysis Of The Book ' Margery Kempe ' Essay

The Book of Margery Kempe is known to be the earliest autobiography written in English, though for many years, it was only known through a book of excerpts published during the sixteenth century. It wasn’t until 1934 that a copy of the original fifteenth century manuscript finally appeared. Aside from being one of the most important literary discoveries of the twentieth century, The Book is a remarkable addition to the body of English mystical writings that provides a close look on the performance of medieval life. In her autobiography The Book of Margery Kempe, Margery Kempe utilizes ritual, reenactment, and social drama as part of her performativity to gain acceptance from the Jesus Christ she envisions. Margery performs her devoutness to Jesus Christ in a highly public way where she is with a keen eye for the effects of her actions from her communitas as that is her audience where she almost constructs herself to perform as a role model of spiritual significance. Margery’s performances occur in many different ways and instances. Margery has different roles that are part of her everyday performances. It is a known fact that Margery’s father was the mayor of the town and a member of the Parliament and therefore Margery performs and displays a respected woman of her time and feels truly confident in herself throughout the book. Kempe gives an example of this at the start of the book where she describes an encountering between her and her husband, “And, when her husband…