The Book of Margery Kempe

How does Margery view suffering’s place in her spiritual journey and salvation? How does it shape her understanding of imitatio Christi (the imitation of Christ)?

Explore the elements of eroticism in the text. In what forms does eroticism appear, both spiritually and physically? What is the significance of this eroticism for both Margery’s spirituality and personal development?

Investigate the late medieval heresy, Lollardy. Why would some clerics have suspected that Margery was a Lollard? What else does Margery’s book teach us about medieval religious culture and its controversies?

The act of pilgrimage takes a central role in Margery’s life in much of the book. How are these various pilgrimages depicted? What do they reveal about the culture of pilgrimage in late medieval Europe, and about Margery’s own conceptions of spirituality?

Margery feels especially close to both Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in her contemplations. How are her dynamics with each different or similar to one another? How do her interactions with them illustrate different aspects of her spirituality?

Margery visits various places in the text that are important to her: her hometown of King’s Lynn, Jerusalem, Rome, Prussia, London, etc. What is the significance of these places in the text? How does each contribute something special to Margery’s personal and spiritual development?

Compare and contrast Margery’s text with that of another notable mystic, such as Julian of Norwich’s Shewings or the anonymously-penned The Cloud of Unknowing. How is mysticism conceived of, and presented, in these works? How does Margery’s understanding and experience of mysticism compare to common understandings of mysticism in the period?

Christ calls Margery a spouse, daughter, and mother. How does she play each of the roles in her divine interactions? How does each role inform both her sense of self and her conception of the divine?