Domestic Ideals and Devotional Authority in The Book of Margery Kempe

Margery Kempe scholarship has not given enough credit to medieval conduct books and their influence on the construction of Margery in The Book of Margery Kempe. This article argues that as a work intending to offer a devotional example to readers, the Book uses the ideals of a domestic woman describ...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Park, Hwanhee (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Penn State Univ. Press 2014
In: Journal of medieval religious cultures
Year: 2014, Volume: 40, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-19
Further subjects:B Margery Kempe; domestic ideals; medieval conduct literature; devotional authority
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Summary:Margery Kempe scholarship has not given enough credit to medieval conduct books and their influence on the construction of Margery in The Book of Margery Kempe. This article argues that as a work intending to offer a devotional example to readers, the Book uses the ideals of a domestic woman described in conduct books in order to render its protagonist authoritative. Margery becomes an ideal wife and mother who does service for her household; by imposing the lay ideals of houswifery in devotional contexts, the Book successfully validates Margery’s status as a mystic with secular ties.
ISSN:2153-9650
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of medieval religious cultures