Silence: A Thirteenth-Century French Romance (Medieval Texts and Studies)

This was a hugely satisfying find and even if I hadn't been a student of gender studies I'd have found this a cracking read. As the preface says, you could equally be a student of Old French, women's studies, mediaeval literature, or just in need of a really good story in order to properly enjoy this book. Silence is born a girl to an ambitious gentrified couple who, knowing that a female can't inherit, decide to raise her as a boy. He is packed off to a secluded part of the country and grows to be a superlatively handsome, polite, talented young man. In doing this, Nature is furious, having expended masses of beauty on this youth only to have it wasted on hearty activity and bronzed skin. Nurture, however, is not to be undone and is determined to demonstrate her power over Nature. The use of these linguistic metaphors, as well as that of Eufemie (Euphemism) make a remarkably modern point about the marginalised position of women in language. These personifications are just some of the amusing features of this story. Throughout his adventures, Silence battles with his gendered conscience, becomes a minstrel, is plotted against by the Queen, becomes a knight, a battle hero, and eventually faces Merlin. Heldris of Cornwall, despite using plots that would not be unfamiliar to any 1970s essentialist feminist, is no lover of women and meanders onto all kinds of moralising trajectories in the course of the story (this is, as one easily forgets, a mediaeval text, after all). However this tendency manages not to detract from either the wonderfully precocious gender-bending possibilities, nor the sheer fun of the story. Please don't relegate this to the margins of women's studies departments, it's great fun, and deserves far more attention.

The product arrived with a large bend the back cover page. I wouldn't mind but I paid almost £16 for it. I think it is Amazon's fault. I'll be getting a replacement. But the book itself is just what I needed and I have no critiques of it. Good product, shame about the damage.

I thought the story "Silence" was very good, surprisingly interesting and engaging given its age. Its plot was not unlike many modern tales, which I found interesting also. If I have one complaint, it is that the translator used some seemingly too modern vocabulary in her translation, like "hit the road," though I suppose there could be something quite similar in old French usage. The most amusing part is the introduction, that among other things, mentioned that the story shows a hatred for women. They describe insults from the story against women. As a woman, I thought "Yeah, seems about right for a book written in that time." But lo and behold, turns out, the writer threw only as many insults towards evil women as he lavished great praises upon the women of good virtue. And he even said as much at the end, almost as if he were speaking in reply to the introduction. Didn't do him much good, though, they didn't listen. ;) About the story, it was much better than I expected, with lots of excitement (never a dull moment) and strong characters. My main disappointment was the end, but I'll leave that to be discovered. Cheers!

The digital format of this book makes it unreadable. You will need to buy it in book form. I missed the return date as I had got it for a course and did not open it until recently.

There are many aspects to this story of Silence. Parents overwhelming love for their daughter, concealing her sex in order for her not to loose her inheritance after the king's decree. A child's obedience to her parents, loyalty to the king, as well a a very humble servant of the poor.For the love of one, she/he became servant of all. Her sacrifice is beyond comprehension. I imagine it had to have been extremely difficult for her to supress and deal beautifully her feminine emotions and needs all for the restoration of the rightful inheritance of women. Her good and courageous deeds won her the reversal of the King's decree and the love of the king as well. A very easy and delightful read. I will read it again.

The text is sideways and is scanned poorly, having the same lines repeat on each page.

Sarah Roche-Mahdi's brilliant dual-language edition of the old French romance called Silence is destined, I am certain, to stand out as a shining example of how all medieval texts should be brought before the general public's attention. Everything you need is here, and thankfully, in a concise and clear form - discussion of the text, the possible history of the text, and the invaluable presence of the original language of the poem. The story is amazing, and Ms. Roche-Mahdi is to be highly praised for a job so well executed. (I wish she would work on translating L'Estoire Merlin!)...