I was telling Nasreen I didn´t know if this story was feminist or antifeminist. But after going over my annotations, I conclude it´s antifeminist. It pushes the idea of the Virgin Mary as the ideal of womanhood and those women who deviate from that ---being more vocal, more (let´s no say manipulative) proactive about their needs and wants get drawn and quartered. Women who keep silent, do as their parents/authority figures tell them will be all right in the end. Humankind is naturally good, but it is Nurture that ruins humans, especially if Nurture is supplied by “bad” women who can´t keep silent. In the meantime men are off being knights and hermits. This book is a slap on the wrist of medieval women.
Some of you might say but what about Silence´s success as a man, doing manly things brilliantly? I think BECAUSE it was a situation created by a man, Evan, and resolved by a man, it had a sort of veneer of Reason, not transgression, and it was only temporary until Evan changed the law or died. It´s a man´s world and we women are just pawns in the chess game of life….
And then there´s the other detail of Silence being completely without any romantic/sexual needs or wants, she was in complete survival mode, trying to not get caught. But we never read of her even liking a man, just of her avoiding lusty Eufeme. And then there´s the correlation between Eufeme´s libido and Silence´s violence. Why is Eufeme, the Norwegian Other, the receptacle of all these non-virtuous/dishonorable characteristics?
We cannot forget the last lines of the book: “a woman has less motivation, provided that she even has the choice, to be good than to be bad. Doing the right thing comes unnaturally to her”. (313). These lines throw out the window whatever thoughts we had about Master Heldris being a medieval feminist. In his own way Master Heldris does the final reveal of the book: initially he writes about Eufemie and Cador, being one substance, one mind, and then further on that man is naturally good, only nurture corrupts him. But in the last two pages of the book, Master Heldris shows his true colors, he puts women in another category where they are already corrupt or NATURALLY leaning towards corruption. Textbook medieval stereotype.
And why´s there no love for the Irish ? Would Irish women then be in ANOTHER subcategory?
What about Merlin looking like a yeti? And, he knows “how things will turn out”, but he didn´t know Silence would show up and bait him with food?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am not too sure about the writer being antifeminist. I have been see-sawing all week about it. First of all what an intersting book! I look forward to today's class. The poet comes across as bitter against nobility who do not pay their servitors (poets) well. Against this backdrop, his negative thoughts about women seem to blend in with his character. Is the tale allegorical as the translator points to the names of the characters?
ReplyDeleteI thought the poet was very kind in the beginning to Silence's parents. He does an admirable job of showing them as young lovers and then the change once they are married. In act, in a surprisingly short time, Cador becomes a true "lord" and orders people around. The poet seems to be questioning Cador's actions. He repeatedly tells us about Evan and Cador and their draconian laws.
The poet never turns against Silence. She is the epitome of good behavior and purity. I wonder what bearing our secondary reading for today has on Silence in drag with the queen? But Silence never succumbs.
True she represents all women in the Middle Ages regardless their position. We see that in all the Arthurian tales. They are there to be bartered on the whim of their male relatives or Arthur himself (Mind you, we do have a strong women too with a decided role in the tales).
I had the same feeling when reading this tale as I had when reading Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Tale.
I still havent decided (after more than 10 years) what Chaucer was up to, was he a feminist or an anti feminist. I am in the same situation regarding Silence.
You are right. Silence has no sexual feeligs. Is it that by being transgendered by her nurture and attire, she belongs in a shady realm of her own?
By the way, can women actually unseat men in a joust? I have been reading some interesting articles about women trying to joust and actually defending besieged towns while their knights were away.
Merlin is so odd. Seems like he was lactose intollerant!
LOL!!! Nasreen that was great (the Merlin bit)!
ReplyDeleteHedris does give Silence one moment of free will: when she takes off with the minstrels, of course she first had a very rational conversation with her conscience.
I see Hedris' sort of wishy-washiness about women as maybe to get read, get more manuscripted....but of course I'm applying modern marketing concepts to a time where there was none of that. I wonder about medieval authors' motivations, beyond satisfying egos and being connected to a specific court....