In the chapter 3 of Manne’s book, she outlines the differences between sexism and misogyny. What moment in the first half of Roman de Silence do you feel there is an act of sexism? Of misogyny?
Medieval Feminism
ENGL 361 and WGST 322 | Spring 2020 | Dr. Myra Seaman
A key piece in the first half of “Roman de Silence” is early in the poem when King Begon offers his daughter to King Evan as a form of truce to end the war between them. The way the men handle Eufeme is very sexist. I think it’s sexist rather than misogynist because they aren’t exactly policing her body, but treating it (and her) as an inanimate object and possession to be traded. Evan says he desires above all to “wed her and bed her properly” (line 184). He says he loves her, but his words make it seem like he only wants to use her. Evan’s men also say “May God grant that you get possession of her” (lines 186-87). Begon sends his daughter away without any consideration for what she may want and Evan takes her as a peace offering, providing they don’t see her as an autonomous being.
Examples of power being taken away from women (misogyny) are outright stated throughout the poem, for example when examining the case of the twins. King Evan polices women in general by declaring that no woman shall ever inherit again in the kingdom of England” (lines 314-315). This demonstrates a clear cause and effect relationship as all women are punished for the twins’ financial affairs leading to the death of both of the Counts. With this blatant removal of power from women, we can see a clear example of misogyny according to Manne’s definition.
When examining sexism as some kind of power/right that is never given to women in the first place, the evidence in “Roman de Silence” becomes a bit less direct. As King Evan comes across a dragon that must be destroyed, he states that “if there is any man among you who dares to take on the dragon…and kills it…I will give him a county” (lines 378-382). The lack of inclusion of women in this challenge by singling out the words “man” and “him” demonstrates an automatic assumption no woman could ever possess the strength or social standing to take on this challenge. As a result, this challenge is never given to women to be taken away. In addition, the prize of this challenge reinforces the idea that owning a “county” remains something exclusively for men. Subsequently, this gender biased challenge represents one example of sexism in the work.
One of the main bouts of blatant misogyny that occurs during this story, happens very early on. In the story the word avarice, meaning extreme greed for wealth or material gain, becomes a gendered word. Avarice becomes a she. The author is discussing his distaste for men with these actions, and equating these actions to a female pronoun. This is misogynistic because it is a blatant attack on what it means to be a woman, rather than an ideal. Misogyny also comes into play in this story in terms of inheritance. Kate Manne discusses how women are blames for mens actions, or suffer the repercussions. An act of misogyny clearly displayed in this story is women being punished because of two men battling over something. In this story specifically it is women no longer being able to inherit anything, due to men fighting over who would inherit it. This clear act of misogyny is triggered by the loss of men, leading other men to use women as their scapegoat.
One of the biggest ways that misogyny comes into play in the first half of Roman de Silence is through the act of inheritance. Every woman in the land is being punished by not being able to inherit their families land, due to two men fighting. Sexism is played out in very small ways throughout the first part of the story. One big issue that comes into play is gender roles/norms. When Silence first discovers that they are a biological female, but yet they lack all of the skills that goes along with being a women during this time period, they are instantly embarrassed. This embarrassment runs so high that they eventually decide to run away and try to learn a more “womanly” skillset. Gender roles and norms are something that Silence battles a lot with. It ultimately is what leads them to having so much confusion around what their “true” gender identity is, because they have all of the skillsets of a young male, but have the biological body of female.
Some examples of sexism and misogyny throughout the first half of Roman de Silence is the effect of gender roles/norms. Once Silence realizes that she’s biologically a female, she’s embarrassed that she has no skills relating to the female role. Gender roles and norms as a woman is a constant struggle for Silence. It leads to her gender identity confusion and what to make of who she is as in her skills and expectations of a male.
In Roman de Silence there are many examples of sexism and misogyny. One example of sexism is when Cador is speaking of Eufemie in lines 667-675, where he speaks of womens desires and how they love. This is him assuming Eufemie’s feelings based off her sex where as an example of misogyny in the book is how they trest giving out women. Many times throughout the book women are offered as prizes and given to men without any question in the book to which whether or not they agreed to it.
I would argue that Cador’s rant against Eufeme is an act of sexism; if sexism is the ‘science’ which argues that women are inherently different, Cador is arguing that women have inherent traits. He argues that they are selfish creatures obsessed with love, and that love harms good men and hurts worse than terrible wounds inflicted on him by dragons. This is a pretty terrible thing to say about the woman who just saved him, and he is in fact blaming her for feelings he already had towards her. He is shirking the responsibility for his own actions onto a woman, which is very common in this poem thus far.
Let’s look at an act of misogyny. I would argue that throughout this play, women are given very little autonomy. If misogyny is the so called police officer to enforce sexism and patriarchy, I would say that the decision to remove property rights from all women is an act of misogyny. This happens because of the actions of two men who are too selfish to share land, but it is blamed on the twins who did nothing wrong. Still, they are blamed, because it is the loss of the men that is seen as too important to risk again. Therefore, all women are punished, and patriarchy is reinforced.
When King Begon offers his daughter to another king like a bargaining piece, instead of treating her like a human with her own rights, right away we see an example of sexism. The king agrees to take her, citing his want to “bed” her, which implies more than anything his wanting her as something to use and not a person to love. Woman throughout the text are punished simply for being women— they can’t inherit family property, and they’re punished in ways men aren’t, for things that aren’t their fault. We also see how gender roles/norms/stereotypes/expectations, whatever you want to call them, affect Silence. Learning of her biological sex causes her confusion, but also shame, because she doesn’t know how to be everything women are raised to be. She was raised a man, so that’s how she understood herself and her place in society, and then that changes. The norms for the sexes are so different both because of sexism and misogyny in their society being used to enforce and justify the patriarchal structure.
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