---
product_id: 80330498
title: "Silence: A Thirteenth-Century French Romance (Medieval Texts and Studies)"
price: "€ 63.31"
currency: EUR
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 7
url: https://www.desertcart.hr/products/80330498-silence-a-thirteenth-century-french-romance-medieval-texts-and-studies
store_origin: HR
region: Croatia
---

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

**Price:** € 63.31
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- **What is this?** Silence: A Thirteenth-Century French Romance (Medieval Texts and Studies)
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## Description

Buy Silence: A Thirteenth-Century French Romance (Medieval Texts and Studies) Revised by Sarah Roche-Mahdi (translation) (ISBN: 9780870135439) from desertcart's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

Review: The Orlando of the 13th century - 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.
Review: Great Book, Great Translation - But Product Arrived Defective - 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 desertcart'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.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | 209,292 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 3,247 in Poetry (Books) 3,717 in Poetry & Drama Criticism 6,690 in Fiction Classics (Books) |
| Customer reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (110) |
| Dimensions  | 15.24 x 2.29 x 22.86 cm |
| Edition  | Revised |
| ISBN-10  | 0870135430 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0870135439 |
| Item weight  | 499 g |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 343 pages |
| Publication date  | 31 Dec. 1992 |
| Publisher  | Michigan State University Press |

## Images

![Silence: A Thirteenth-Century French Romance (Medieval Texts and Studies) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61pQubvIsHL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Orlando of the 13th century
*by M***Z on 20 June 2003*

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.

### ⭐⭐⭐ Great Book, Great Translation - But Product Arrived Defective
*by M***A on 29 March 2022*

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.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by R***T on 10 August 2005*

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!

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*Product available on Desertcart Croatia*
*Store origin: HR*
*Last updated: 2026-03-08*