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Abstract
The Book of Margery Kempe is a fifteenth-century memoir that recounts the transformation of an English prophet or mystic from a "sinful wretch" to a vessel for the "Holy Ghost." She interprets this change in her life as one from abundance and fertility to barrenness. The transitional moment in her life reflects on the trauma experienced with her first pregnancy during which she feared her own death. From this moment forward, she progresses in stages through a series of revolutions towards the role of prophet, with a message of union and inclusion. The evidence for this claim derives from the biblical texts re-contextualized through her experiences in England and abroad. Kempe most welcomes the experiences of mothers and their children, desiring to reunite those who are separated through her divine gift of tears. This paper analyzes Kempe's propheticism alongside the models in her book (i.e. the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene) to suggest that the danger she poses as a public mother compares more closely with the Old Testament apocalyptic mother, Rachel, who is cast out of society for a similar threat.