I was reading Anthony Goodman’s Margery Kempe and Her World, and came across an interesting piece of information about sex in Kempe’s time:
“The predominant ‘humours’ in men’s bodies inclined them to rational thinking as well as physical strength, whereas ‘female’ humours characteristically produced light-mindedness as well as bodily weakness. Consequently, women, by their nature, had an urgent impulse to seek for sexual intercourse in order to procure regenerative male infusion as a remedy for their ‘humoural’ deficiencies, as well as to fulfil their procreative urge. Men’s sexual desires distracted them from the natural exercise of reason” (Goodman 58).
If this was indeed the major thinking in Kempe’s time, then another layer of power struggle is added to the bargain Kempe made with her husband. It matter little whether the motivation behind chastity was altruistically divine or selfishly personal. By desiring a nonsexual marriage, Kempe was stepping into the role originally designated to males.
It seems that Kempe had more power in her relationship with her husband than other women might have had with their’s. Kempe’s money (and maybe even her status as the mayor’s daughter) had given her some power in the relationship, but it just might be that her stance on sex was another contributor. That is not to say that she was withholding sex to get other benefits from her husband. But rather, the knowledge that she was the one who did not want sex and he was the one constantly seeking it raises her above her husband in spiritual status.
It is true that her desire for chastity could be seen as a result of her divine devotion. However, it is interesting to note that it could also have been a result of her desire for divine power. This confusion between the possible motivations of seeking devotion versus seeking power could have fueled the controversy of her being a saint or a witch.
***
Goodman, Anthony. Margery Kempe and Her World. London: Pearson Education Limited, 2002.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I really like this angle, Julia. I think what I find so compelling about Margery this time around is the question of what motivates her behavior: mental illness, actual devotion, narcissism, desire for power, or all or none of the above? This is a much more interesting extra-religious explanation for her insistence on abstinence than the mere withholding of sex for power over her husband.
This would also support the view of Margery's canny exploitation of others' attitudes, to press whatever advantages she can in order to live her life as she wishes to live it.
Post a Comment