Kempe had something on her conscience that she wanted to confess before she died.
2. How did Kempe behave in the months after seeing the priest?
Kempe went out of her mind and was disturbed and tormented with spirits for half a year, eight weeks and odd days. She thought devils opened their mouths as if they were going to swallow her.
3. What changed her behavior?
Kempe's behavior changed when Christ comes and asks Kempe why she has forsaken him.
4. What kind of person does Kempe present herself to be, and for what purpose?
Kempe sees herself as someone that was troubled by the devil, and when Christ came to visit her Kempe became sane again. This is like a death and rebirth purpose that she shows us that is happening to her.
5. What conclusions did you draw about each of the following?
- Kempe's personality
Kempe wanted to confess her sin badly, but she became insane with the devil when she couldn't confess her sin, due to people telling her to shut up. Her personality changes when Christ pays her a visit and she is able to overcome the devil.
- Kempe's religious beliefs
Kempe strongly believes that Christ and the devil exist. Kempe believes that the devil and many other souls has taken over her mind and body. However, she is sane again when she recongizes Christ.
- Kempe's illness
Kempe's illness is due to the fact of her childbirth. After childbirth many women go through a depression, so many Kempe was going through that, which made her mentally ubstable. However, she is cured when she sees Christ enter her room.
- English society in Kempe's time
The english society thinks Kempe is insane and mental unstable. They think that Kempe is hysterical and needs to recover from labor. They also view women as only serving the house or joining societies for God; very little get education.
6. Kempe undergoes a transformation during her illness. What does this transformation symbolize?
This transformation symbolizes rebirth. Kempe thought she was dying and felt she needed to confess her sin before she departed. However, when Kempe is refused to confess her sin, she goes through this journey of death where the devil and many other souls start to tourment her mind and body. At last, when Kempe is left alone she is able to find Christ and is reborn from seeing him and speaking with him. Kempe becomes sane again and refills her strength with food and water.
8. Readers are often divided in their reactions to the The Book of Margery Kempe. Some feel that Kempe was mentally unstable and should not be taken seriously. Others see her as a strong-minded woman who insisted on the validity of her own spiritual life. Do you agree with either of these opinions, or do you see Kempe differently? Why?
I believe it was both. Kempe could of been mentally unstable, because she just gave childbirth, but during her mentally unstable time she was also viewing her spiritual self. Kempe saw she had committed this sin and wanted to confess it, but once she was refused, she felt like the devil had enter her body. When Kempe is given the time to think about everything she sees Christ and is awaken from her depression, which allows her to become herself.
Outstanding details in these answers.
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