"The Book of Margery Kempe" will be discussed in such a way that the unfamiliar text will become familiar to the reader. This is an informative paper discussing the language and poetic form of the text, the author's background, and the social/historical context of the work. Further information will be conversed about the plot, setting, characters and other important information pertaining to the text as a whole. .
Autobiography of Margery Kempe: Struggles, Trials, Perseverance and Courage.
The Book of Margery Kempe is the earliest autobiography written in English, being a fifteenth century manuscript, and is a work of Christian mysticism, telling the tale of a medieval mystic, Margery Kempe (ca. 1373-1438), being transformed from sinner to saint. This work, discovered in 1934, written in chronological order and is interpreted as a tale told from memory as the events reappear in the mind of the teller, Margery Kempe. Furthermore, this autobiography provides an intimate look at a remarkable medieval life and tends to deal with the external world only as it directly impinges on the author's inner spiritual growth. .
Kempe was illiterate, unable to read and write, however, the style in which her spiritual biography is written has ties to St. Augustine (354-430 AD), whose confessions tell the story of his early life and conversion to Christianity (2001). It is clear from her illiteracy that she dictates the writing of her own story to an outside sources(s). Two different, unnamed priests transcribed and made revisions to the book.
Its genre is spiritual autobiography, and the language is Middle English. Alliteration is evident throughout the piece and is set in a prose style rather than poetry. The use of anecdotes and dialogue in the development of her narrative prove to be effective in The Book. Transcribed in 1436, two years before Kempe's death, the autobiography takes place in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England.