Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on “The Book of Margery Kempe” and “The Wife of Bath” -- Social and
Sexual Roles of Women. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 7 page report discusses “The Book of
Margery Kempe” which is thought to be one of, if not the, first
autobiographies in English. The book chronicles the spiritual
life of a remarkably unusual and illiterate, medieval woman.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s story of “The Wife of Bath” in “The Canterbury
Tales” presents an equally unique woman, especially in terms of
her railing against the intensely subservient life for the
majority of the women of the day. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_BWmarbat.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
is not what readers of the past several centuries would think of as an autobiography. The book was dictated between 1432 and 1436 but provides only meager personal detail other
than the facts that Kempe (c. 1373 - c. 1440) ran a brewery, married, and mothered 14 children before taking a vow of chastity. She became a woman committed to
God and with beliefs that many believe demonstrate her holy nature. Modern readers are able to understand the role of God and religious faith of many people of medieval times.
As Margery herself says in the first lines of the book: "Here begynnyth a schort tretys and a comfortabyl for synful wrecchys, wherin thei may have gret solas and comfort
to hem and undyrstondyn the hy and unspecabyl mercy of ower sovereyn Savyowr Cryst Jhesu." She makes it clear that she believes the book has little to do with her
and everything to do with faith and the appearance "Cryst Jhesu" in her life. In comparison to a self-focused account of medieval life, Geoffrey Chaucers stories and reflections on life
always presented his own keen observations of the world around him in terms of how community or society had its impact on the individual characters of the story within the
stories he was telling. In fact, Chaucer himself was a prime example of what was emerging at the time as a new framework for social mobility being granted to members
of the emerging middle class. As a result, he was able to view his world from more than just the single perspective of pre-determined social role. Among these were ideas
and customs that had determined an intensely subservient life for the majority of the women of the day. "The Wife of Bath" serves as an example of his realization of
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