Literary Devices in The Book of Margery Kempe
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Margery Kempe hails from Bishop's Lynn in northwestern England, a town just about 97 miles north of London and about 41 miles slightly northeast of the large and prosperous trade town of Norwich.No...
Narrator Point of View
It can be weird to hear Kempe referred to as "this creature" in the text, but that's exactly what she does. The term is not meant to dehumanize her. Rather, it's an acknowledgement of Margery Kempe...
Genre
So there's some debate over whether this work can really be attributed to Kempe herself, since her male scribes would have had ultimate control over what actually got recorded on her behalf. Then t...
Tone
Though Kempe speaks of "high contemplation" and spiritual communion with just about every saint in heaven, when it comes right down to it, she's always the woman from Bishop's Lynn. She wants to li...
Writing Style
Yeah, it's a little awkward to talk about Margery Kempe's "writing style," because, strictly speaking, she's not the one putting pen to paper here. She's dictating to her scribe, probably a male cl...
What's Up With the Title?
As with most medieval texts, the title of this autobiography is not part of the original manuscript. It was likely given its descriptive title when it was first printed in short form by Wynkyn de W...
What's Up With the Ending?
Kempe ends her narrative in a typical way for a hagiography (that's the fancy word for a text about a saint's life) or a mystical work. She tells us a little about her prayer technique, and she end...
Tough-o-Meter
Since Kempe's work deals with mystical experience, it's tough right from the get-go. After all, this lady is trying to share intimate and highly symbolic communications with the divine—that's a p...
Trivia
There is totally only one extant (existing) manuscript copy of The Book of Margery Kempe. (Source.)That one extant manuscript of The Book of Margery Kempe was discovered in 1934, when a British col...
Steaminess Rating
Kempe's general failing is the sin of lechery, so there are moments of disembodied genitalia and attempted adultery. Since Kempe is trying to separate herself from marital life, there's also some g...
Allusions
St. Bridget of Sweden, Revelations (I.17.75)I Corinthians 2:9 (I.22.88): "So we read of, Things no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart conceived, the welcome God has prepared for those w...