Socail and Spiritual Dilemas Among Women

A detailed Summary of Socail and Spiritual Dilemas Among Women

The Social and Spiritual Dilemmas Among Women

When we stop and consider the fact that women in our country were not able to vote until 1920, it is staggering to imagine the obstacles facing women during the Middle Ages. The 19th Amendment to our Constitution was ratified only after women fought for twenty years to be given the right to vote. One of the best-known leaders of the women's suffrage movement and the first acting President of the League of Women Voters, Carrie Chapman Catt, inflamed this nation with her speeches advocating women's rights. She was seen as a pioneer for women, one who faced prejudice and resistance-yet she lived only one hundred years ago. She wasn't even born until 1859; four years after the death of Margery Kempe. It is almost impossible to conceive of the obstacles facing a woman born in the 14th century; a woman who felt such passion about expressing her spiritual beliefs, that she was willing to do so during a time when women had no voice. In the pre-scientific mass psyche of the Middle Ages, religion and the spiritual self in general played a very important role in women's lives; but to be outspoken about theses spiritual experiences was unheard of. The religious activities that were pr

her pride, she gan to brew...till she lost much

in Hell... thereof she bit her own hand so

Margery Kempe was born in 1373, around the time Chaucer was writing. She was raised in Norfolk, (Kings Lynn) England. Although, she was born to wealthy parents, Margery Kempe, a mayor's daughter, never received a formal education, nor could she read or write. The fact that she was an illiterate woman during the medieval times, who somehow managed to dictate an autobiography that is still read today, is remarkable. She was not an anchoress (like Julian Norwich) who lived in meditative seclusion. She was a woman with 14 children, who around 40 years of age (in 1413), decided to go on a pilgrimage in pursuit of the divine, although her spiritual awakening was much earlier, after the traumatic birth of her first child. Her actions were in stark contrast to the norms of the time. She had many spiritual experiences, during which she claimed she had mystical visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Margery wept at the thought of Christ's Passion. She couldn't even look at a crucifix without fainting. She was unique in her crying and moaning as she says in her book, Gift of Tears. She was for years, unable to go to church without crying profusely, sobbing loudly. This did not impress the people of that time, yet she remained true to who she was. This is an example of a social dilemma she faced: Her behavior caused problems, but she was outspoken anyway. Almost everything she said and did during most of her life was perceived as extremely rebellious, given her defined estate in that world. It is extremely difficult to imagine how ostracized she must have been. Her unique experience is relayed in her autobiography. The Book of Margery Kempe, the first autobiography ever written in English, sees exhibiting the closeness of G

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Approximate Word count = 1283
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English