"The Book of Margery Kemp" Answers

1) Because her pains were so severe after giving birth she thought that she was going to die.

2) for a little more than eight weeks Margery Kemp was seeing vivid hallucinations of spirits and the devil this caused her to lash out and hurt her self, so she was tied down.

3) She was visited by Jesus Christ and he said, "Daughter why have you forsaken me, and I have never forsook you?" After that she said that the voices in her head stopped and she was better.

4) At first she presented herself as a sinful person that could not be forgiven and would be judged by the priests. She does this because what ever she did, she deemed it to terrible to tell anybody. But she was still a god fearing person but just thought that she couldn't be forgiven.

5) I think that Kempe had an extremely difficult time dealing with guilt with what ever it was that she did, that mixed with the stress and pain of having children could have caused her to go into a deep depression. The religious part of her life tied into her social life as well because during the time god was a huge part of everyone's life and knowing that there was a higher power watching and judging her helped to bring her out of her depression and turn her life around. 

6) Kempe's transformation changes her life for the better because she was able to gather her thoughts without the "the devil" clouding her mind. Her transformation symbolizes rebirth and forgiveness because before she was tied to her bed and her mind was filled with spirits and the devil. Only with forgiveness from Jesus was she able to function properly.

8) As a non religious person I view Kempe as someone who was deeply troubled and felt a tremendous amount of guilt for what ever it was that she did. I also think that the only way that she could cope with with her guilt was getting reassurance that it was okay and that she was forgiven.