Margery Kempe Deviation

A Dictated Deviation from Autobiographical Tradition: An Analysis of The Book of Margery Kempe When readers observe the traditional styles of an autobiography, there is a presumption that the voice of the writer will demonstrate a first-person point of view into their life’s journey with chronological recollections that led them to a significant part of their lives. The Book of Margery Kempe can be described as a complete deviation from the traditional style of an autobiographical novel as Kempe speaks from a third-person point of view in which references to herself in a unorthodox style—in a continual dictation of her story in which an unknown priest tells the tale of her journey to obtaining a relationship with Christ in a scattered order of events. As a deviating novel from the tradition of autobiographical works, Margery Kempe demonstrates her own style of recollecting her history while maintaining the significance to the overall purpose of this …show more content…
As mentioned in The Book of Margery Kempe, the creature presents her written words to different priests, only to be turned away for the could not read a single word she produced on paper. The only way for her religious journey to be documented was verbally—this is where dictation is defined—as the priest takes on the role of scribe, writing the words down as they are told. However, while dictation in this case means a transferring of information from verbal to written words, there is a control or dictation in another sense. As a highly esteemed religious figure, the priest acting as the scribe can add to the words of Kempe, providing more theological language to communicate his superior religious affiliation compared to Kempe’s as she begins her