What do you think of the ending to The Romance of Silence? Does Silentius betray herself/ himself by becoming Silentia? Or has He/she found a happy ending? What does a happy ending look for a transgender person in an Arthurian world?
King Arthur & His World
ENGL 361 | Spring 2019 | Dr. Myra Seaman
I would have to say that I very much liked the ending of the “Roman de Silence”, and I felt that the ending fitted the story well. Misogyny was of course present, but the main message of the story was about honorable deeds, whether they be Silence’s or a king’s. In fact, the king decrees “women will be allowed to inherit again” (6643) because he equates Silence’s loyalty and good deeds “far above that of [his] royalty,” (6632) showing that quite literally, honor has a just reward. I do not believe Silence betrays herself/himself by finally revealing her identity and becoming a true woman. When she is revealed to the court, she doesn’t put up a fight and answers questions calmly and justly. She allows Nature to spend “three days refinishing” (6671) her, suggesting that being a woman as Nature truly made her to be was always her truest self. Throughout the tale, the allegorical Nature is often seen as more of a caring mother, such as when she was creating the “masterpiece” (1807) of a child in Silence, and the allegorical Nurture is always the one to accuse her of “disgrace” (2604). This leads the reader to believe that the victory of Nature over Nurture at the end was a predestined one, and was a test of Silence’s true self.I would have to say that I very much liked the ending of the “Roman de Silence”, and I felt that the ending fitted the story well. Misogyny was of course present, but the main message of the story was about honorable deeds, whether they be Silence’s or a king’s. In fact, the king decrees “women will be allowed to inherit again” (6643) because he equates Silence’s loyalty and good deeds “far above that of [his] royalty,” (6632) showing that quite literally, honor has a just reward. I do not believe Silence betrays herself/himself by finally revealing her identity and becoming a true woman. When she is revealed to the court, she doesn’t put up a fight and answers questions calmly and justly. She allows Nature to spend “three days refinishing” (6671) her, suggesting that being a woman as Nature truly made her to be was always her truest self. Throughout the tale, the allegorical Nature is often seen as more of a caring mother, such as when she was creating the “masterpiece” (1807) of a child in Silence, and the allegorical Nurture is always the one to accuse her of “disgrace” (2604). This leads the reader to believe that the victory of Nature over Nurture at the end was a predestined one, and was a test of Silence’s true self.
Whoops I accidentally copied it over from my document twice, please ignore the second one!
I was hoping that at the end, Silence would make the conscious choice to live as a man, since that is how he was raised and continued to live even after he left his parents’ care, though I will admit that the text suggests that Silence will eventually live as a woman. In multiple places Silence’s awareness of his own situation is made clear; he knows he is a biological female, and that he was brought up to deliberately hide this and pretend at being a male. At the end he tells King Evan that he has lived as a man because his father asked him to and “[Silence] didn’t want to go against him.” But on the other hand, the author uses “he” pronouns to refer to Silence throughout the narrative, even though the reader is aware that he is biologically female. Also, at the very end, “they dressed Silence as a woman;” the passive voice here suggests to me a lack of choice on Silence’s part. In the end it seems to me that Silence lived comfortably and happily as a man and perhaps could have continued doing so if his sex was not revealed how it was.
I’m conflicted with the end of the text. Really, I was pretty upset with ending. I feel as though the entire text becomes pointless, as it follows Silence living and hiding as a man, then “After Nature / had recovered her rights, / she spent the next three days refinishing / Silence’s entire body, removing every trace / of anything that being a man had left there” (6669-6674). Comparative to the length of the text, Silence was back to being portrayed as a woman with a snap of a finger. It felt betraying to Silence’s character, especially since when he ran away with the minstrels, he continued being a male, when he could’ve stepped away and return to his biological sex. Like Rae mentions, the line “they dressed Silence as a woman,” makes it seem like it’s not really what Silence wanted. I wouldn’t say Silence had found a happy ending for himself as a character. However, as I talked about in Tuesday’s post, the text follows a theme of fate, and Nature’s fate for Silence ended the text (Silence being a woman). It symbolizes Nature’s power over Nurture and Reason; fate can’t be changed or outrun/outsmarted, which can constitute as a “happy ending” for Arthurian legend, just not in terms of the characters, but more for readers and stories at the time.
I felt that the ending was similar to Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” in which Viola is revealed to be a female and gives up her male identity to marry Duke Orsino. In both “Twelfth Night” and “Roman de Silence,” my feelings were similar to Rae’s — I hoped that the main character, after all being revealed, would make the conscious choice to live as a boy. However, I think the authors were definitely writing in the context of their own time periods, and that they may have had no choice but to subscribe to a heteronormative ending. Otherwise, I am wondering if the stories might have been too controversial to print, or even heretical. So while I think the text definitely reinforces queer undertones throughout the story, the ending isn’t necessarily indicative of the author’s choice, as he/she may have just been responding to societal pressures.