Forged by Fire: Margery Kempe’s Account of Postnatal Psychosis

@article{Jefferies2014ForgedBF,
  title={Forged by Fire: Margery Kempe’s Account of Postnatal Psychosis},
  author={Diana Jefferies and Debbie Horsfall},
  journal={Literature and Medicine},
  year={2014},
  volume={32},
  pages={348 - 364}
}
The opening sequence of the autobiography, The Book of Margery Kempe, written in approximately 1439, describes an episode of illness after the birth of a first child, which medical historians have identified as postnatal psychosis. Margery however, interpreted her experience of postnatal psychosis in terms of her own worldview, using a Christian paradigm. She was convinced that her recovery was an example of Grace emanating from her special relationship with God which gave her divine knowledge… Expand
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