Conscious constructions of self: Dreams and visions in the Middle Ages

In this study, I examine dream visions and mystical writings of the late Middle Ages to explore how medieval Christians were defining their individualism and creating a selfhood that encompassed their burgeoning desire for individuality even as they conformed to acceptable social and religious influences. Through Church teaching, medieval Christians understood that humankind had originally been created in the image of God, but that the perfection of humanity as godlike was destroyed in the Fall. In order to develop an identity that could live in the world and yet achieve eternal life, medieval Christians would first have to rectify the seeming disconnect between their physical form and their spiritual one. These visionary works provide the authors' understanding of medieval selfhood either through an attempt to correct the flaw or to accept it as part of humanity.;Chapter One introduces my theoretical platform and the critical history of scholarly studies of medieval subjectivity. Chapter Two focuses on the nature of people as physical and spiritual beings in a dream poem, Pearl, by exploring how physical senses inhibit and enhance spiritual understanding. In Chapter Three I examine personal growth and higher understanding in Julian of Norwich's A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman and A Revelation of Love, which describe the revelation she received in a vision from God, and Mum and the Sothsegger, which offers a dream vision episode within the confines of a debate poem. In Chapter Four, Luke's gospel story of Martha and Mary provides a backdrop for examining The Cloud of Unknowing and Piers Plowman in conjunction. By seeking the best form of living, these works develop medieval views on the two options that Jesus has given: active and contemplative. The final chapter ties two seemingly disparate texts together, The Book of Margery Kempe and Chaucer's The Book of the Duchess. Although Kempe emphasizes a personal relationship with God and Chaucer sees selfhood unified through the melding of spirit and body required to produce art, both recognize the importance of written text for inspiring others to wholeness of being.