Chaucer and Religious Women in the Middle Ages

A second English holy woman, Margery of Kempe, leaves us a record that is both more thorough and somewhat more interesting than the scant details of Julian's life. Margery was neither a nun nor an anchoress, but lived her life in the world. She married young, as many women did, and bore fourteen children throughout her life. The Book of Margery Kempe leaves us a record of both her life and her mystical visions in her own words. Margery's story includes a number of details relevant to her roles within society and as a wife and mother. Margery negotiates a vow of chastity with her husband, attempting to persuade him of the value of such a vow. Her life incorporates not only family, but like the Wife of Bath, work within the public sphere as well. Margery was a well-known brewer. The strong sense of self and personality we find in Chaucer's Wife of Bath is also apparent in Margery's life and visions. Like the Wife of Bath, Margery uses and manipulates male authority figures in her writing. While no one could call the Wife of Bath holy, we do find a certain similar spirit in the writings of both Margery and the Wife of Bath. Both women seek to function relatively independently in a world that did not allow women independence. They use what few tools medieval society allowed women to function within their environment and to manipulate and control their own situations. Margery and her husband went on pilgrimage to Canterbury, and at a later point, both agreed to take a vow of chastity. Margery's faith grew during her life, and as she aged she received mystical visions and was granted the "gift of tears". Margery's early life in the world was not so different from the life of any other medieval woman, but as she aged, she sought to achieve a life of greater purity and chastity. In this respect, needless to say, Margery most certainly differs from the Wife of Bath. Margery's story, in light of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, illustrates the potential devotion and religiosity that could exist even in a woman who married and bore children. Her life presents us with an interesting look into the world of one late medieval English holy woman. She is, in some ways, a religious and pious version of the Wife of Bath. She retains a strong sense of self even when opposed by society as a whole, and reminds us that strong women existed in the Middle Ages, both inside and outside of literature.

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