ipl-logo

Imagery And Sexuality In The Book Of Margery Kempe

640 Words3 Pages

Opposite sides of the spectrum, light and dark, a person’s life can be described in these two colors. These two colors are mainly present in the clothing a person wears. When this book was written, clothing was a very important aspect of who a person was and what their life was like. For example, there were sumptuary laws regarding who could wear what color and what type of fabric and fur. The eligibility of wearing certain colors was determined mainly through your marital status. In The Book of Margery Kempe by Margery Kempe, she uses patriarchy, imagery, and sexuality to show the gendered tension between the virgin she wants to be and the wife and mother she is. Margery wants to break line between the person she is and the one she wants to be. She starts this journey off by traveling to various churches and holy sites in England. While doing this she attracts the attention of people wherever she goes. This attention mainly comes from her public weeping and her all-white wardrobe. At times, Margery is accepted as a holy woman, and her advice and blessings are solicited. More often, she is treated as an oddity or a nuisance. …show more content…

They were expected to take care of the home, bear as many children as possible, and be obedient to their husbands. Margery Kempe went against all of those gender stereotypes. She was a mother to fourteen children. Being a mother to this high number of children shows the job she had in her life and how she was treated. She was very sexually active and no matter how active she was, she still considered herself a virgin and still believed she could wear the white clothing and people would not think anything of it. At this time, many people or the church did not support this. Instead, people believed that you got married and after you got married and had children you were no longer a virgin and could no longer be considered

Show More
Related

Government System: Athenians Vs. Spartans

1229 Words | 5 Pages

It was important that these women were not outside doing other things because their role was to stay indoors and prepare food for the men when they get home. A women’s life was centered in the house and the children (Bailey). Getting a divorce was a lot easier for the men to get rather than the women. However, a woman was able to divorce her husband (Bailey). Her property would be returned to her father or male guardian.

Read More

Arcanians Research Paper

659 Words | 3 Pages

The geography of Athens was more favorable than that of any other Greek city-state. Athens was the largest of the Greek city-states and had the most fertile land. It was also situated near the Aegean Sea, so it was great for long-distance trading. Government of Arcania Arcania was born right after the Peloponnesian War in Sparta.

Read More

Edna Pontellier's Identity Quotes

742 Words | 3 Pages

2. Women 's Role in Society A."He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother 's place to look after children, whose on earth was it?"(Paragraph 6,Section 3)At this time women didn 't have a large role in society, mainly: cleaning the house, looking after the kids, cooking, and entertaining/co-entertaining guests. This quote shows Edna not following this and being angry when Mr.

Read More

Analysis Of The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

1341 Words | 6 Pages

She also addresses the other observation, that there aren't very many females in the book, by saying “It was such a passive society. Girls got their status from their boy-friends. They weren't interested in doing anything on their own. ”(Malone). This quote shows that there aren’t many females in her book because most of the girls didn’t want to do things on their own and just stuck around their boyfriends who gave them their social status.

Read More

Symbolism In Christina Of Markyate

697 Words | 3 Pages

Objectification and Patriarchal Control in “Christina of Markyate” written by Anonymous Authors Like any other female during the beginning of the twelfth century, Christina of Markyate, formally known as Theodora, was considered to be inferior to the male sex. Women were expected to respect the wishes of their parents, oblige to marriage and live a life according to stereotypical heterosexual norms. However, given the strict expectations Christina was supposed to submit to, she dismissed traditional gender roles and continued to strive towards the goal of preserving her virginity and living the life of a nun. In the story “Christina of Markyate,” anonymous authors use examples of objectification and patriarchal control to portray Christina’s lack of freedom in a time period consumed with male dominance.

Read More

Analysis Of Whores, Wives, And Slaves By Sarah B. Pomeroy

1899 Words | 8 Pages

She then talks about some common roles, the whores, wives, and slaves during this time. Pomeroy enlightens the audience on the topic of women, who were seen as nothing at the time. Men were seen as the only crucial part in history; however, Pomeroy 's focus on women portrays the era in a new light. Pomeroy talks about the reason she wrote the book with the

Read More

Societal Conflict In Sharon Olds 'Poem On The Subway'

458 Words | 2 Pages

“And he is black and I am white.” The most definite contrast between Olds’ two characters is presented through the use of light and dark imagery. We know that their skin color is different, but this is not the only

Read More

Adeline Mowbray: An Analysis

1101 Words | 5 Pages

In her essay Adeline Mowbray: Diverting the Libertine Gaze Roxanne Eberle also confirms that the novel is inspired on Wollstonecraft and Godwin’s relationship, but she goes a little further and suggests that more than a replica of the two “Jacobin” philosophers ‘lives the novel is a counteraction to Godwin’s Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. As an early admirer of Mary Wollstonecraft Opie could not accept the abhorrent position in which the Memoirs had placed her, so she wrote a novel that “examines the confusion which ensues when a women’s philosophical beliefs conflict with society’s notion about female sexuality”(1994: 123), and how that transgressive women is converted into a sexual object by a conservative society. For Patricia Mathew, more than a critique to Godwin’s concepts, the novel exhibits the impracticalities of those theories when applied to women in the late eighteenth century. Her analysis unfolds around the idea that Adeline Mowbray “takes its central theme from Wollstonecraft’s experiment in marriage with Godwin”(2007: 390) and arguments that Opie sets the basis for her fiction by using Wollstonecraft’s

Read More

Sexual Imagery In The Book Of Margery Kempe

453 Words | 2 Pages

In The Book of Margery Kempe, the spiritual autobiography, Kempe uses sexual imagery to portray her devotion to God as well as herself as an individual. The nature of her relationship with the Lord is all consuming, for the fact that Jesus speaks to her in a way that is not seen in church: “Therefore I must be intimate with you, and lie in your bed with you…..” (433) Implying what seems to be a demand from Christ that Kempe shall show her love for Him. Because of her devotion to the Lord, Jesus tells Kempe their relationship is more valuable than all the others.

Read More

Revolutionary Mothers Analysis

635 Words | 3 Pages

The stereotypical view of women is that they should have multiple children, clean, cook, and be obedient. Women had no authority or independence, women who were married couldn’t own property, or work unless given permission from their

Read More

Liberty's Daughters Analysis

683 Words | 3 Pages

She wrote about the positions within a family saying, “Each family was represented in the outside world by its male head, who cast its single vote in elections and fulfilled its obligations to the community through service in the militia or public office. Within the home, the man controlled the finances, oversaw the upbringing of

Read More

Why Is Color Important In The Great Gatsby

1133 Words | 5 Pages

Everyone has a favorite shirt, they adore the way the color complements their skin tone or 1their hair or eyes. Maybe the shirt is even their favorite color, or a mix of colors. Since people have been wearing clothes, painting pictures, or decorating their homes and objects; colors have been involved. The blending of dyes and the mixing of pigments creates beautiful patterns and expresses people’s personalities and emotions. The use of color plays a big part in the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, from the bright colors of the wealthy and beautiful to the drab colors of the poor and destroyed.

Read More

Women In Memoirs Of The Modern Philosophers By Elizabeth Hamilton

255 Words | 2 Pages

Women in this time period were meant to stay at home and take care of their families. Before they were married they were meant to stay home, listen to their fathers or the male figure in their lives and educate themselves on everything they may need to know. In Memoirs of the Modern Philosopher by Elizabeth Hamilton there are three heroines, only one of which is the “ideal” women of the time. Harriet was the type of women that stayed home and did everything she was told to do. This was the type of woman that many people expected in this time period since women were not meant to have opinions and they were not meant to work because their lives were meant to be controlled by the men in their lives since the men knew what was best for everyone.

Read More

A Single Man Film Analysis

1207 Words | 5 Pages

The use of lighting and filters for colours is not just used for simple illumination but it is more meaningful. It helps to understand the characters and focus our attention on certain objects and actions. The colour can be used as a motif, an occurring manifestation in which the shades themselves become an important part of the story, reflecting emotions, altering situations and underlining scenes. (Bordwell, Thompson and Smith, n.d.)

Read More

Beowulf: The Role Of Women In Literature

846 Words | 4 Pages

Maybe the author might not intend to, but the readers engulfed with the male-centered mindset might omit the position of women. It is worth demystifying the thought that women should only be visible to men. They have a fundamental role to play in the pieces of literature that we interact with and the society as a whole. Just as pointed out in this study, the society cannot succeed without the input of women, even if they are not seen in the forefront. Even though it would appear that Hildeburh did not succeed in the role she was intended to perform, the way she manages herself in the whole process is of great significance.

Read More

More about Imagery And Sexuality In The Book Of Margery Kempe

Related Topics

Open Document