In Margery Kempe's book and in the Canterbury Tales' "The Wife of Bath's Prologue" , female protagonists manipulate clerical discourse to challenge the male-dominated institutional Church and create new spaces for women in the late Middle Ages. Both texts are set in the Middle Ages, where religion was interpreted and distributed, and therefore controlled, by male authorities, or the Church fathers, as illustrated, religious texts were often manipulated by men to control and oppress women However, Margery and Wife of Bath resist. this oppression by subverting religious discourse and using it to their respective advantage Margery and Wife of Bath directly subvert male domination with their own education of religion and their personal interpretations. Women's use of religious teachings ultimately challenges the authority and reliability of interpretive structures. Both texts show how male and female interpretations of the same text can directly oppose each other, revealing the unreliability and instability of interpretation, as it depends on who is interpreting and for what purpose. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayIn the Middle Ages, Christianity was dominated by male authority figures, e.g. God, Jesus, priests, bishops and religious scholars, also known as church fathers. Because of this structure, women fit into religion to the extent that men dictate. Male structures of interpretation of religious texts allowed them to control women's choices and oppress them in society. For example, in the "Prologue to the Wife of Bath," the Wife of Bath is told that she should only have married once, because "This one says that Christ is never went only in his footsteps/To the wedding in the Rod of Galilee,/That by the same example he taught me” (Chaucer 10-12). She is rebuked by the words of Jesus that he used to scold the Samaritan: "You have five maids," he said, "and, like the man, what you have now is nothing of your house” (17). -19). In this example, the number of men women are allowed to marry is dictated by a biblical story of this single case where Jesus, a male figure, disapproves. At the end of the prologue to Wife of Bath, she speaks of her fifth husband Janken: "He has done more harm than she can believe./And with everything he knew more proverbs/Than in this world he grows grass or herbs. " (772-774). Janken constantly regurgitated stories of women in the Bible or legends of women who cheated on their husbands or killed their husbands. He used these as an excuse to berate and abuse Wife of Bath, telling her that: " 'A beautiful woman, but she is chaste too,/There is a gold ring in a sow's nose'" (784-785) The feminine ideal of the Middle Ages is a virgin, modeled on the Virgin Mary, the woman who gave birth to Jesus, the head of religion. Men used her as an example to ensure the fidelity of their wives, and the Woman of Bath, the policewoman of sexuality, emphasizes: “…it is impossible/about which any cleric could speak well of women,/But-if they are holy seintes lyves,/Never at noon another woman mo” (687-691). ).Men only praise women who are "Saints", or in other words, women who live up to the standards they have created using the Virgin Mary as a model. They took the Virgin Mary as the ideal woman andcreated a code of behavior to hold women accountable and criticize those who deviate from it. For example, in The Book of Margery Kempe, Margery expresses her devotion to God in a very physical and visceral way that differs from the institutional Church's definition of how a woman should behave. While the Church uses Scripture to dictate appropriate behavior, Margery uses her body as a place of knowledge that God uses directly to communicate with her. As discussed in class, men are associated with the spirit and women are associated with the physical body. Because the female body has more open orifices that are susceptible to sin, it is necessary to contain the body within an enclosed physical space in order to avoid a violation of the openings, such as nuns in a convent or anchors who take a vow of fence. stay in cells attached to churches. Margery does not respect this and travels often and makes several pilgrimages. She is not confined, making public a spectacle of her physical experiences with God, using her body as a vehicle for expression rather than as something to be hidden and put away. As a result, she is frequently accused of Lollardy and/or heresy. She does not fit the masculine ideal of a religious woman and is almost condemned several times and almost burned at the stake for it. Even the clothes she wears are controlled by the institutional church. Margery claims that God commands her to wear white, but white clothing is only suitable for virgins. The archbishop asks him: “Why be in white like that?” Are you then a Mayden? (Kempe 2923). When Margery responds that she is a bride, the archbishop orders: "de fettyn ​​​​a peyr of feterys et seyd sche schulde ben feteryd, for sche was a fals heretyke" (2925). The Archbishop arrests Margery because she does not follow his interpretation of religion, but rather his through her relationship with God; he controls it using masculine interpretive structures. Both the Wife of Bath and Margery resist this oppression in their own ways to achieve their own respective goals by claiming knowledge. Bath's wife justifies her knowledge through her life experiences: "'Experience, though noon auctoritee/Was in this world, was enough for me/To speak of those that are married" (Chaucer 1-3). Margery claims knowledge through physical experience of God and his visions. Both Margery and Wife of Bath use this knowledge to manipulate clerical discourse to oppose male domination. For example, Wife of Bath's claim to knowledge through life experience gives her the opportunity to talk about sexuality. She rejects the institutional Church's value of chastity, arguing that: "Men can marry, fall asleep and fall asleep./But well, I want to express myself, without laundry,/God has commanded us to mix and multiply ourselves;/This kind text, can I do it? we understand” (26-29). Wife of Bath takes Scripture and interprets it for herself, in direct opposition to the institutional Church and in defiance of men's desire for their wives to be chaste; she manipulates Scripture in a way that justifies and even celebrates her actions. In response to the assertion that she should only marry once, Wife of Bath once again turns to her knowledge of the Bible and brings up several examples of men who had multiple wives: “Behold, here is the wise king, Dan Solomon; There were more wives than oon” (35-36) “I know that Abraham was a holy man, and so was Iacob, as devout as could be; have you ever, at any time, that God has forbidden marriage by express word? Please, he said to me; Orwhere did he command virginity? » (55-62). The Wife of Bath makes a strong statement by using authoritative male figures to prove her points. By referring to Abraham, Jacob, two of the religion's patriarchs, and King Solomon, the wise king, as members of the religion who had multiple marriages, she completely overturns arguments contrary to her own, using their own methods against them. Margery Kempe also uses clerical speech to prove her knowledge and defend herself against allegations of heresy and Lollardy. After the archbishop arrests her for wearing white and not being a virgin, she is examined by clerics while she prays and cries in the back of the chapel. The “ful boystowsly” archbishop (Kempe 2942) asks her: “Why cry like that, woman? (2942) and she replies: “Syr, you cried the day you cried as much as I did” (2943). He proceeds to “pawn the articles of our Feyth… [Margery] respondwel and trewly and redily wythowtyn all gret stody so that he myth not blamyn hir” (2944–2946). The archbishop and clerics conclude that: “Sche now knows his faith very well. What do I do for him? (2946-2947). They don't know what to do with a woman who doesn't fit what they expect of a woman of faith, but is a woman of faith nonetheless. Margery responds to the Articles of Faith with confidence and challenges the Archbishop by explaining that her tears are an expression of faith after he chastises her for them. In fact, she is often chastised for crying so hard and bitterly, with a priest telling her, "Damsel, Jhesu est ded long sithyn" (3496). When Margery stops crying, she responds, "Sir, this episode is as fresh to me as it was that very day, and so I think it should be to you and all Cristen pepil." We must all give Hys Kendnes and every thynkyn the sad death he gave for us” (3497-3500). Margery turns the priest's question around and changes the problem from his seemingly inappropriate crying to the fact that he doesn't think about Jesus' sacrifice as often as he should. She cries because she constantly and eternally mourns Jesus and the way he died for the Christian people. Instead of being ashamed for crying, she manages to shame the priest for pretending to be a lover of Jesus, but seeming to forget the gravity of his sacrifice and not expressing his gratitude and love as deeply or harshly as Margery. Following this, a “good lady, announcing her communication, said: “Ser, it is a good example to me, and to other men also, the grace which God grants to his soul” (3500-3501). Margery recruits the support of another woman in the crowd, empowering her in a way. This immediate reaction shows how Margery succeeded in creating a new space for women to engage in clerical discourse. Additionally, as the question points out, Margery uses a parable, traditionally religious. form, and tells a story that deeply touches the archbishop and clergy. After telling her story, one of the clerics who had opposed her earlier came to her and “told her that he had it so ben ageyn hir.” specifically to chase the anthem” (3017-3018). By using clerical discourse, Margery not only justifies herself but also places herself in a position of authority, so much so that the clerics who originally opposed her now ask her to pray for them. By manipulating the discourse, she reverses the balance of power and destabilizes authority, thereby creating space for herself among the archbishop and clerics within the institutional Church. Margery and Wife of Bath appear to use what theorist Stuart Hall would call a transcoding strategy,..