Here's the questions for this week's readings, Julian of Norwich's A Book of Showings (Norton, pp. 271-83), and The Book of Margery Kempe (283-93, 294-97).
Q1 (Carol C.): Read this typical piece of Church Doctrine, from Saint Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica (Part III Question 26, Articles 1 & 2), and contrast both its style and message with the style and message of Julian of Norwich's A Book of Showings. Give quotations both from Aquinas's and Julian's text. (Hint: Because Aquinas's argument, or "catechism," concerns Christ as Mediator between God and Man, it might help to focus on Chapters 58-61 & 86 in Julian).
Q2 (Sam): One of the principle intellectual and rhetorical tropes that Julian uses in her text is "paradox." What sorts of paradoxes do you see in her text? Why do you think she uses paradox so often? (Hint: While wikipedia is typically an insufficient and unreliable source for information, this particular entry on paradox is pretty clear.)
Q3 (Alice): Come up with a question for me about Julian of Norwich, or write a comment about something in her text that you found interesting.
Q4 (Mia): Critics often cite Julian of Norwich as an extremely astute and creative religious thinker, not merely because she is a woman, but because of her particular style which anticipates C17 poets like George Herbert. What do you think is original about her thinking or her style? Does the fact that she's a woman affect her religious or political views?
Q5 (Jenny): Who do you think is a more innovative interpreter of Christian doctrine, Margery Kempe or the the Wife of Bath? Why? (Cite quotations from each...).
Q6 (Isabella): Some people think that The Book of Margery Kempe is the first "autobiography" written in English. Would you call her book an "autobiography"? Or do you think it is closer to some other genre? Cite some examples from the text for why you think so.
Q7 (Ashley): Compare and contrast the writing styles of Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich. Which writer do you prefer? Cite some examples to explain why.
Q8 (Anne): Come up with a question for me about Margery Kempe, or a comment on a topic you found interesting.
This is Carol Chang trying to answer Q1. Saint Thomas Aquinas quoted many sentences from the Bible in order to answer those objections. He used this kind of writing strategy could give him a sense of authority. He considered Jesus as a mediator between God and human races. Jesus can make human races reconcile to God by his death. Jesus can become a good mediator because his beatitude is common with God and his mortality is common with human beings. This article is a catechism which we can have more understanding about Saint Thomas Aquinas' point of view. He thought that Jesus is in a higher level than human beings. "Even in the human nature He is above all men. Therefore, as man, He can be Mediator, but not as God."
回覆刪除However, Julian considered Jesus as our mother. "And thus is Jesu our very mother in kind of our first making, and he is our very mother in grace by taking of our kind made." Unlike Thomas, Julian did not use quotation that often. In my opinion, Julian interpreted her Showings by herself which is more affective than Saint Thomas Aquinas.
This is Anne answering Q8.
回覆刪除After I read "The Book of Margery Kempe", I have some comment on the chaste relationship between Kempe and her husband.
Her husband once asked her whether she would commune with him or see him be slain by someone else. As we know Kempe had been living
in a chaste live, so she said she would rather see her husband being slain. And her husband said,"Ye are no good wife." It makes me think of that we sometimes watch TV news that some couples divorce because of abnormal sexual life. In my opinion, I don't think sex is so important that it can decide your happiness in your marriage. Maybe somebody just don't it.
Besides, Kempe didn't abandon her husband in his old age. She was still trying to be a good wife that she took care of him toilsomely.
However, when her husband fell down from bed and got hurt, people said it was Kempe's fault. They said, "if he died, his wife was worthy to be hanged for his death, forasmuch as she might have kept him and did not." I wonder that if it was Kempe who fell down and hurt would the people say so? Or they might say she deserved it because she didn't lay with her husband.
This is Sam answering question 2.
回覆刪除I was first impressed by the paradox in Chapter 5. In this chapter, Julian is trying to account for the relationship between God and all creatures. Julian, of course, is one of the creatures; however, "and in this he showed a little thing, the quantity of an hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand." In this moment she is in the state of God, watching the world in God's point of view. She is not God, but God gives her the chance to be God. I think this is an example of paradox. And by this she understands the greatness God, and God's love to the creatures.
There were also some paradoxes in sentences, such as "that he is so reverend and so dreadful will be so homely with a sinful living creature living in this wretched flesh" (in page 374, line 9); or in page 376, line 12 that "that our good Lord, that is so reverend and dreadful, is so homely and so courteous, and this most fulfilled me with liking and sickerness in soule." Those paradoxes are used to emphasize the greatness of God.
She used paradoxes in her books to create a sense of great difference, so as to emphasize the great of God. If she conveyed the greatness of God by simply praising him, it would be boring in that we do not know why he is great. But by building up articles full of paradoxes, it could establish an atmosphere that God is going to save people. However, though God is so great, he is close to those who believes in him, because he loves his people.
In addition to that, she used paradoxes so often may be due to her status as being a woman. In that time woman are still under men's control, and men do not want they have too much thoughts. So in order to prevent herself form unnecessary troubles, she chose not to say things in a direct way, so she used paradoxes to help her conveying her ideas to the readers.
This is Alice answering Q3.
回覆刪除the concept of ''Jesus as mother''
Is this concept a symbol of feminism?
In ancient times, the image of God was often portrayed as a male figure. Julian of Norwich perceives God as father. But, she also considers God as mother, who is a female figure. The image that she presents relates the two gender, male and female, at the same time.
(I'm sorry for there are some mistakes in my answer, so I post a new one.)
回覆刪除This is Anne answering Q8.
After I read "The Book of Margery Kempe", I have some comment on the chaste relationship between Kempe and her husband.
Kempe's husband once asked her whether she would commune with him or see him be slain by someone else. We know that Kempe had been living in a chaste life because of Christ, so she said she would rather see her husband being slain than commune with him. And then her husband said,"Ye are no good wife." It makes me laugh and think of that we sometimes watch TV news that some couples divorce because of abnormal sexual life. In my opinion, sex may be part of one's life but I don't think sex is so important that it can decide your happiness in your marriage. Maybe your spouse just don't like it.
Besides, Kempe didn't abandon her husband in his old age. She was still trying to be a good wife that she took care of him toilsomely.
However, when her husband fell down from bed and got hurt, people said it was Kempe's fault. They said, "if he died, his wife was worthy to be hanged for his death, forasmuch as she might have kept him and did not." I wonder that if it was Kempe who fell down and hurt would the people say so? Or they might say she deserved it because she didn't lay with her husband.
This is Ashley answering Q7.
回覆刪除The point of view is different in these two texts. A Book of Showings is written in the first person while The Book of Margery Kempe is written in the third person. This may be the main reason which causes the differences in their writing style. For writing in the first person, Julian of Norwich's text seems to be a boring lecture. When a writer writes in this way, I will think of his/her authority and the credibility in works. I won't believe in what the author said unless his/her argument is quite convincing. Unlike Julian of Norwich, Margery kempe writes in the third person. When I read the text, it just like a friend who tell you stories, one after another. I hardly think of the validity and I would like to know the following plots when a friend shares his/her story with me. Her writing style is more approachable and close to readers than Julian Norwich's.
Obviously, I prefer Margery Kempe's writing style for her content is approachable, clear and elegant. Besides the approachable writing style, her thinking is clear and reflects in her writing that contents in each book are concentrated on their theme. This makes readers easier to get what the author says. Further, she mentioned the love affairs between herself and her husband. It is elegant that without bald wording, we all know the meaning in the text.
This is Isabella answer the question 6.
回覆刪除I think that this is a autobiography. Maybe it is written by other person because she use the third person form to tell this story. However, this story is basically written under the agreement of Margery. In the whole essay. The meaning of autobiography is telling a person’s life by himself or been told by him. In this book, it just talk about Margery and The God, especially about the spiritual continuous change to the God. It can also be indentified to a spiritual autobiography. For example, in book 1.1, line 5, “And then she sent for her ghostly father, for she had a thing in conscience which she had never showed before that time in all her life.” Then in the beginning of book 1.28, ” And so they(the company of pilgrims) went forth into the Holy Land till they might see Jerusalem.” In book 1.35-36, the 5th paragraph, “And then the creature with high devotion, with great plenty of tears, thanked God of this ghostly(spiritual) comfort holding(considering herself) herself in her own feeling right unworthy to any such grace as she felt, for she felt many great comforts.” These quotations are all talking about a person: Margery Kempe. Her life and her believe of God.
This is Jenny answer the question 5.
回覆刪除After reading these two tales, i think that Margery Kempe is a more interpreter of Christian doctrine.
Although, in "the wife of bath's tale", Chaucer indirectly encourage women to fight with the traditional concept of men's power and to protect themselves, he was still a man and wrote in the man's thinking. He encouraged women to break the tradition and maybe really spoke out what women's desire but he only offered a fictional character, the wife of bath. Her story was very attractive and unusual, but in the real world, no woman would really did what she did in that time. Maybe it brought some new ideas to woman, but women still be afraid of the stress of the tradition.
While, Margery Kempe was a woman. In that time,the concepts of the society are very traditional, but Margery Kempe, a married woman, wrote down her experience of her vision, and courageously stood up for her freedom to speak her conscience. She not only wrote down her thought, but also did it by herself rather than just talked on the paper. It was more encouraging.
both in two tales can we see some innovative thought. Like in "the wife of bath", the knight told the queen that
"women desire to have dominion
over their husbands, and their lovers too;
they want to have mastery over them.
that's what you most desire--even in my life
is forfeit, i am here; do what you like."
and in the story, the old lady gave the knight a choice rather than the knight, a man, freely chose what he wanted.
in "the book of Margery Kempe", she answered her husband that "i had liefer see you be slain than we should turn again to our uncleanness. " this answer showed her different thought from the society.
This is Mia answering Q4.
回覆刪除I consider that the original of Julian’s thinking is her “faith” to Christ, and the serious illness was the turning point which makes her want to illustrate her feeling and thinking of her religion. Maybe in that time she thought that she approached death, and she hope that she can share her thought to people. So I think that it is why some of the style of her works looked like she is giving a lecture.
Moreover, the fact that she’s a woman affects her religious views indeed, so she would describe God as a mother, and considers that he will forgive and have redemption to everything.