Summary: The Book Of Margery Kempe

To want something, you can’t have. Desire is he cause of so many problems in the world and also the cause of why women display acts of viciousness towards each other. Since the dawn of time, there has been a divide between married and unmarried women. Unmarried women are viewed as not “pure”, while married women gain respect for having caught a man. Although in some cases they are not happy with their marriage, but do not want to lose the respect they have gained. In the text Francie watches as, her neighbor Joanna has rocks thrown at her because she, wants to walk her child born out of wedlock. Francie wanders why and simply concludes “That was Joanna’s crime, decided Francie—not that she had been bad, but that she had not been smart enough to get the boy to the church.” (Smith 232). Due to Francie’s upbringing, lifestyle and culture, Marriage is viewed as something of necessity, more than an option. There is an overshadowing pressure for young women her age, by society to get married; causing them to look down on other women for not obtaining the status that comes with

“She wishes she had asked him to explain more of what he meant. But she was impatient…to be done with sewing. With doing everything for three children, alone…” (1125, 3), and “Respect, a chance to build. Her children at last from underneath the detrimental wheel. A chance to be on top” (1124, 2) both reveal the motives behind getting married to this man, despite the religious conflict. She is torn between the pros and cons of this new life. It’s although she is trying to convince herself, but the negative thoughts just keep surfacing.

The Coquette is flooded with examples of sexuality and sexual repression. The biggest argument given by the novel is that women should be sexually pure and have no desires, as is the definition of the ideal Court Lady presented in The Book of the Courtier published by Balclesar Castiglione in 1523. The ideal lady, “now in her wish to be thought good and pure, this lady must not be so coy, or appear so to abhor gay company or any talk that is a little loose, as to withdraw as soon as she

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the book "The Return of Martin Guerre" by Natalie Zamon Davis. Specifically, it will discuss the life of the peasant during the Middle Ages. This book is a fascinating account of a true case that happened during the 16th century in France. The book is also an excellent example of how the peasants lived in the Middle Ages, from what they ate, to how they traveled and what their family lives were like.

In the poem “The Wife’s Lament” there is a transfer to a female point of view which was rare during times of a patriarchal society. A theme seen is this poem is exile. The wife who faces exile from her lord later reaches a state of bitter unhappiness. The wife expresses her longing for her husband through use of ubi sunt:

Regardless, her poor emotional state is proven through many lines in this lai, especially when she tells the knight “I grant you my love and my body” (115). She has finally come up with a method to “get away” from her husband in this decision. Throughout the rest of the story it is not once said that the wife came to love her new husband or her family, on the contrary, she does not seem happy in the following scenes. However, being afraid of her husband and his emotional violence, it is rational that she would try to find safety with someone else, even if that means giving away her “love,”—likely the appearance of such rather than actual love—and her

Feminism, is a term that is widely misunderstood; some consider feminists as man haters, while others consider feminism as just another way for a woman to complain. Ultimately, feminism is a term that strives for equality for all. Margery Kempe, in The Book Of Margery Kempe, at first glance seems to be overly dramatic and manipulative as a way to garnish the public’s attention but is there more than meets the eye when it comes to Margery Kempe? I will argue that, Margery Kempe, in, The Book Of Margery Kempe, Book One, is in fact a feminist who uses her faith as a way to fight against ownership and inertness thus gaining independence and freedom from the patriarchal society.

The piece that will be discussed in this essay will be “Alleluia, O Virga Mediatrix” by Hildegard of Bingen. Alleluia, O Virga Mediatrix is from the Medieval Era which started in 450 and ended in 1450, so the era is about a thousand years long. But the period is split into two. First would be the early Middle Ages, which can be considered “awful.” The other half of this era would be the late Middle Ages (950-1450) and was ruled by an absolute monarch by the name of Charlemagne. (742-814)

Although she is often viewed as an early precursor of feminist thought, some scholars argue that much of her Prologue can be viewed as anti-feminist rhetoric. She refuses to allow men to control her existence and she takes measures to shape her own destiny. The Wife not only defends her married and lusty lifestyle, while at the same time speaking of the "woo that is in marriage," but also confronts the medieval antifeminist tradition that boxes women into offensive and defeating stereotypes. The Wife's success at this endeavor is debatable; in the course of her Prologue she seems to confirm as many stereotypes as she confronts. Why is she married five times?

the narrator reflects on why she too would like to have a wife after a visit with a recently

This story takes place in 12th century France. There are four or five main plots in this book. First, the story begins with Heloise assigning Catherine the mission of leaving the Paraclete in order to find out why Heloise and Abelard are being accused of blasphemy. So, Catherine leaves the confined walls of her abbess and ventures back to her family (to a cold reception). The search for the psalter leads Catherine to encounter much more than she ever could have thought.

Wealth and property feature heavily in the wife’s portrayal of marriage and along with the issue of her independence is responsible for many of her marital conflicts. The first three husbands "riche and olde" were married each for "hir land and hir tresoor" then discarded as the Wife looks for other prospects. When one of these husbands tries to restrict the Wife’s spending she refuses to let him be both "maister of my body and of my good" so refuses sexual favours in return for her freedom as she will not become a mere possession. She generalizes that women "love no man that taketh or keepth charge" suggesting an element of independence and individualism in 14th century marriage. The wife resents being controlled; she

A fabliau can be described as a bawdy, humorous and metrical tale that was written or told by jongleurs (wandering entertainers). Geoffrey Chaucer acts as one of the highest recognized fabliaux writers, most notably for the Canterbury Tales. Within the Canterbury Tales, the Reeve’s Tale tells a slightly raunchy story of the Miller, his family, and two clerks, Alan and John. The Reeve’s Tale exhibits aspects of fabliaux through its comical and backstabbing events. The Miller and his wife are described as quite interesting characters: “He belches and speaks through his nose as if he had a frog in his throat or a cold.

The discussion of the Wife’s five husbands describes her evolving role as a woman and how she overcame the most ridiculous obstacles to maintain this idea or illusion of marriage. The Wife’s depiction of her marriages was that three were good and two were bad. The initial marriages were to older rich men where she kept up this idea of marriage in order to receive money, but was not faithful by

It is reasonable to think that the Wife would use this exile as a metaphor to allude to her death, considering the fact that she was sent to reside somewhere she didn’t want to, away from her friends and loved ones, where all she could do was long about her