Margery Kempe's book is widely considered to be the first autobiography in the English language. Unlike previous texts, in which a presumably truthful narrator expressed the characters' stories, Kempe is the author of his own story. As readers in an era where autobiography and fiction are long-established literary forms, we may not find this strange at all. However, this would have posed a problem for readers of the time, accustomed to a specific form of literature, if they were exposed to books at all. Kempe's voice differs from that of the traditional narrator not only in the basic structure of her work, but also in the fact that readers are directly presented with an unflattering view of her as a character: she sins, cries excessively and is widely despised. Although an older Kempe could voice the story, the portrayal of her younger self as a widely maligned sinner could easily jeopardize her credibility with readers, regardless of how much time has passed. Concretely, during the passage where she gives birth to her first child and soon enters a state of hysteria, convinced for six months that she hears demons who want her to commit suicide, we can reasonably have doubts about her stability mental and its reliability as a narrator. However, her moments of moral redemption described in the text, both after this period of madness and when she first discovers God, could potentially serve as a reason to ignore these other factors to some extent. Suffice it to say, there are many competing reasons to trust or distrust Kempe's story. How can we, as readers, reconcile them and determine the extent to which these factors cast doubt on his life story. Furthermore, is such an assessment fair in the first place? After all, to what extent is Kempe, trustworthy or not, actually telling her own story? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay The dual nature of an autobiographical narrator as both author and subject (or ventriloquist and dummy) can be all about a fact familiar to modern readers, but Margery Kempe's style indicates at least some degree of anxiety about it on the part of the author. There may be major differences, both temporal and personal, between Kempe the narrator and Kempe the character, but several stylistic choices actively work to further separate the two. The main one is the use of third person point of view throughout the text. Although Kempe's intimate knowledge of her own prior thoughts and actions makes it clear that she is narrating, she is careful to avoid the "I" statements we expect from today's autobiographies and makes no reference to her narrator self. . In this superficial way, the work reads more like a novel with a typical omnipotent narrator. One choice that hints at the existence of a distinct authorial persona is the constant reference to Margery Kempe as a "creature", which reflects a specific and opinionated point of view on the author's part. Although effective in distancing the narrator from her younger self and her youthful indiscretions, this choice also jeopardizes the erasure of the narrator achieved by the book's third-person point of view. Kempe, the narrator, cannot satisfactorily distance herself from Kempe, the character, without also reincarnating herself in the world of the book and in the minds of her readers.This obviously creates a certain tension – we, the readers, are unsure whether to accept her as an invisible narrator or as a new self to whom we almost paradoxically lend credibility by recognizing her own madness. The authorship of the book further complicates the question of whether or not Kempe is a reliable narrator. Rather than the book being conceptualized and written by her alone, it is dictated by her and written with the help of three different scribes. The first drafts of the work are written in an illegible mixture of English and German, the second has difficulty with the first's handwriting and the third finds himself unable to read the draft. Even after the narrative is complete, Kempe's inability to read and write means she cannot edit her story or correct inaccuracies. The result of this complex creative process is a work narrated not necessarily by her alone, but by a composite character. This poses another obstacle to judging the accuracy of the book's account of his life. It is certainly more likely that an account written by three other people is wrong to some extent, but how do you determine to what extent? On the other hand, does the addition of multiple authors remedy the potential fallibility of Kempe's account, or does it further distort his story? Furthermore, to whom should any inaccuracies in the text be attributed? After all, Kempe may have the ability to pray and lead another person to write their story, but she does not have the ability to give that same power to herself. This suggests limited control over the final product, and by extension, limited liability for any inaccuracies it contains. In one passage, "the creature" is about to give birth to her first child with her new husband, but begins to fear for her life during childbirth. To ensure she goes to heaven, she tries to confess right after the birth of her child, but the man who serves as her witness stops her before she can reveal "something in conscience that she had never shown it before anyway.” her life,” and she is too afraid to finish her confession (7). Throughout his life, the devil told him that doing penance alone would be enough. However, the creature now doubts this and is so afraid of going to hell because she has not confessed all her sins that she goes mad and spends six months convinced that demons are tormenting her. Sure that all is lost, she slanders her new family, begins to sin again and attempts suicide by tearing and biting her skin. Her struggle to consistently express her loyalty to God and not demons is reminiscent of Steven Connor's theory of good and bad voices. Her example connects the "bad voice" to an infant's cries and the "good voice" to a mother's voice, but the theory applies here as well. The evil voices/demons come to him in anger because of his feelings of guilt for not fully confessing his sins. In Kempe's immature and vulnerable state, she is unable to overcome this failure other than through self-destruction. The good voice/God will no longer be able to reach him until six months of torment have passed. In Connor's original conception, the good/bad voice dichotomy is experienced by a screaming baby, comforted by a soothing tone that he cannot yet seem to reproduce. Similarly, Kempe finds herself trapped in the "bad voice," a cycle of self-perpetuating pain and hatred, unable to calm down and forced to wait for God's "good voice" to protect her again. Although she appears to recover when Jesus tells her, “I have never forsaken you,” we as readers do not know whether the recovery is permanent or not (8). If a descent too?