Margery Kempe: An Analysis

Throughout the Middle Ages, Christianity dominated many aspects of society, as exemplified by The Book of Margery Kempe. Without a background of religion, there would be no context in which the book would exist. In fact,one might argue that religious figures, such as Jesus and his mother, Mary, are the most important characters within the narrative. With this emphasis on religion, one common activity among those who could afford it was pilgrimages in order to give sacrifices and respect to religious idols and saints. A large part of her story consists of Margery Kempe’s travels to many different religious sites, indicating her piety in devotion to Catholicism. The entire narrative emphasizes her faithfulness, but the pilgrimages in particular
reveal how different her motivations are from the other pilgrims that surround her. Margery self-fashions herself into the image of a devout Catholic, disrupting the main discourse of pilgrimages by representing how a truly devout religious woman should behave. The 15th century represents a time in which there was not an abundance of travel, people mostly resided and stayed within a small radius of their family and their place of birth. Movement was limited because the majority of travel occurred on foot or by horse; it was another four hundred years before the invention of trains, let alone cars. The ability to travel was also restricted by socioeconomic status, it meant that travelers were wealthy enough to afford travel, much in the same way that pleasure travel to extravagant places today makes a statement about travelers’ lifestyles. Terence Bower States this in his article, “Margery Kempe as Traveler,” through the quotation: “... since travel (as a voluntary act) ‘demonstrated one’s freedom from necessity’ and identified one as ‘above the commons,’ it became an important mode of achieving noble status...” ( Bower 7). This status symbol, seems to have been a main reason for many people’s pilgrimages, however, this is not the case for Margery Kempe., who makes it very apparent that her motivations do not stem from earthly origins. In the beginning of her life, it seemed as though her destiny was to be a dutiful housewife; she was born in Lynn, where her father was the mayor, and she went on to marry his successor. If Margery Kempe had not gone on her pilgrimages, she would have spent her entire life in the same place taking care of her fourteen children, yet she would have lived comfortably while doing so. Understandably, she may have wished for an escape from such a domestic life, but this explanation does not account for why she was willing to suffer so considerably, when her life might have been luxurious. Margery’s motivations and actions diverge from those of the other pilgrims, as evidenced by the tortures which she willingly endures throughout her journeys,
“Some pilgrims had very unreligious motives... Other pilgrims emulated Chaucer’s Wife of Bath in going on a pilgrimage merely to see the sights, or get away from home, or to find a spouse” (Theilmann 94). Due to the fact pilgrimage is a religious mission, Margery Kempe’s devoutness should not be a complaint of her fellow travellers. Yet as evidenced by this quotation many of her fellow travelers lacked much of the devotion which she maintained, Her fellowship's differences are visible through situations such as,“...the company made great complain about this creature to the legate, and said utterly she should no longer be allowed in their company unless he would command her to eat meat as they did and leave her weeping and that she should not speak so much of holiness” (47). Margery restrained from eating meat out of reverence for God, and the fact that they saw this as a slight illuminates the idea that their motivations may have been different than hers. The pilgrims she was traveling with were travelling hundreds of miles, from England to Israel, in order to see holy sites, yet along the way they became tired of Margery speaking about holiness, indicating the fact that theirs may have been lacking. In this way, Margery is in direct conflict with many of her travel companions.
She faces many difficult situations while on pilgrimage that many other people would flee from. More than once, she faces certain death for her beliefs and preachings. There are many situations throughout the novel of people who leave her when things do not go her way. Theilmann states,“By the 15th century pilgrimage, along with other ritual aspects of religion, was being transformed into civic ritual in some areas. Groups of people often joined together on pilgrimage... Their aim was to enjoy the fellowship of the group and obtain protection as they took part in the pilgrimage.” (Theilmann 99). Following this logic, the group was necessary for the fulfillment of the pilgrim experience. Yet, this community was not available for Margery Kempe. One of the most poignant examples in which people abandon her is in chapter fifteen, “Her maiden, seeing trouble on every side, waxed rude against her mistress. She let her go alone in many good towns and would not go with her.” This abandonment was not only impolite, but it was downright dangerous. Her maiden was meant to be a source of comfort and support, yet this was not the case for any of her travel companions. This is one of the earliest examples of her being forsaken by her travelling companions, there are many other times when people in her fellowship abandon her, putting their intentions and values into
question.