In Le Roman de Silence there are multiple accounts involving women, marriage, and the role of inheritance between the two. What is the significance of the inheritance in relation to gender roles and/or sexism?
Medieval Feminism
ENGL 361 and WGST 322 | Spring 2020 | Dr. Myra Seaman
Within Le Roman de Silence, the treatment of women (with in most situations) is sexist and misogynistic. Women are frequently blamed for the mistakes men have made. Women are blamed for the greediness of men. When the husbands of the twins died after battling each other for an inheritance that was not rightly theirs to claim in the first place, women, long after the death of these two fools, are punished for the stupidity and greed of two men despite having no involvement in the issue. “‘What a loss on account of two orphaned girls,’” cried King Evan, after the two men killed each other. It’s as if the king thought so greatly of these men, that he refused to put any blame on them for their lack of intelligence, thus “honoring” their death with revenge towards all women and their right to their inheritance. Because of this. Eufemie and Cador are forced to lie about the sex of their daughter so that she might claim her right to her inheritance when she comes of age. The act of concealing a child’s sex so that she may claim what is her’s emphasizes how unfair the treatment towards woman were within this poem while also highlighting the extremes even the wealthiest people had to go through just to pass down their earthly possessions to their daughter. If Silence had been born a male, there would have been no need to lie, force others to lie, or even conceal the child in the forest away from court. The child is forced to undergo internal conflicts about herself that no parent should have to place on their child, even if the child would not be able to claim their inheritance because of their sex.
In Le Roman de Silence, inheritance plays a role in relation to sexism/gender roles because inheritance is something that is unattainable for women after the death of two men. The only way a woman can inherit anything is if she marries. This is demonstrated when Cador and Eufemie go to the king because they want to be married and the king grants them permission and then promises them the territory of Cornwall when Eufemie’s father dies. She attains her own inheritance only when she decided to get married. The discrimination of preventing women from attaining their inheritance solely because they are women is sexist, by definition. It also demonstrates the power of men versus women because men are able to give women the thing that they are denied. Throughout the poem there is also this idea of inheritance of the woman by the man. We see this when the King is given a wife and when the killer of the dragon is promised a woman. Women are treated as objects and described as objects throughout the poem. Looking at the definition of inheritance as “receive or be left with (a situation, object, etc.) from a predecessor or former owner,” the argument can be made that these women who are being married off are basically being inherited from their family to the man who will be marrying them. Whether as a gift, reward, or diplomatic arrangement, giving women over for marriage implies a possession, attainment, and ownership that comes with this transaction.
The issue of inheritance comes into question within Roman de Silence after two gentlemen duel, and both end up dying due to the battle. However, this is not blamed on the men’s own choice to enter the contest; instead, it is blamed on the twin maidens whom the men were fighting over. After this, the King declares that “women and girls have lost the right to lay claim to land” (1458-1459). Women, in this world, lose their capability to inherit any family lands due to the vain actions of two men. This action is a form of misogyny due to the women being blamed in this scenario rather than the men who were actually doing battle, showing the troupe of women being tricksters, manipulators, and dangerous objects of desire.
The idea of inheritance is important in the story in terms of sexism because the king declares that no woman will ever have a “right to lay claim to the land” (1458-1459). This comes after two brothers marry twin sisters and begin to fight over them. They both thing that they are married to the oldest sister. Because of this disagreement they fight each other over which sister is to be married to which brother. The men both end up dying as a result of this duel and the twins are left as the only people who would inherit the land since they had no children. Because the duel was being fought over women, the twins get blamed for everything and have their husband’s lands taken from them and are left with nothing as punishment for causing the men to fight. The king then declares the no woman will be allowed to gain control of property because they cause men to do stupid things essentially. Despite the fact that the counts are grown men who can make their own decisions, the women are the ones blamed for their actions because they caused the strife between the brothers. This plays into the idea the women are the ones who are always responsible for man’s downfall and should be punished accordingly because they cannot be trusted.
Inheritance is a sign of power. Whoever receives the family’s inheritance has land, money, and influence. The King’s decision to prevent women from being given the family inheritance essentially stops women from having influence that is distinct from another person. His decision reflects the existing expectations for women’s roles (that they are not supposed to be in charge of property, money, etc.), AND his decision marks a significant reinforcer of these gender roles. Women could no longer defy their gender roles and have power without breaking the law. This shows the king’s priorities for one sex over the other. In the example of the twins whose husbands fought over them, it was only when the two men died that the King made his decision. His response was to essentially blame the wives and declare that women could no longer receive their inheritance. This is a weird motivation here because it took away the men’s ability to make their own decisions. While we have often seen men place blame on women, this is still an interesting occurrence; it gives significant, undue power to the women, then takes the non-existent influence away. It totally demonstrates sexism for the king to assume the men’s innocence and take away power from the women.
Inheritance in the medieval context is one of the most important acts. In many situations, a woman would be considered a failure and easily disposable if she was unable to provide an heir. Inherently, it’s almost always sexist, only ten cases of women becoming their father’s heirs come to mind instantly and in almost all of those a man is still controlling it as “advisor”. The King declaring that women cannot inherit the land isn’t unusual. Lands, titles, and all other things that buy status pass through men and a woman inheriting it defuncts the title and the land typically can go to the closest male relative or the woman’s future husband.