What a scandalous scene in Silence when Queen Eufeme and the protagonist, whom the story is named after, come close, very close to sleeping together. It is such an emotionally charged scene: a predator chasing its unwilling prey. Will Silence succumb to the Queen's advances to keep up appearances? However, s/he does not. Try and wonder what the consequences would be like for Silence and Queen Eufeme to do more than "chaste" kissing. What would happen if they did go through with it? However, it seems it could never happen because Silence can not be unmasked just yet. For two reasons, if she does so, she will lose her inheritance. The second reason is that the scene breeds conflict, serving as a plot device so the Queen will seek vengeance against Silence.
[...] There is a difference between sex and gender. Whereas gender is socially constructed status,” sex relates to the biology of an individual, whether they have male or female reproductive organs. However, there are such cases as hermaphrodites, where a person is born with both male and female reproductive organs. This is where Western civilization of thought feels constrictive, even claustrophobic, to the individuals living in such a society. Instead of broadening the scope of sex and gender, it is restricted, ignorantly so, to a simple, easily comprehensible dichotomy. [...]
[...] Furthermore, if the scene between Queen Eufeme and Silence grew even more heated, perhaps Silence would not have been received well by the public. To have themes debating Nature versus Nurture is one thing, and to have a cross-dressing female impersonating a man is another, but for there to be a sex scene between two women? That would be pushing it. Silence questions the status-quo of sex and gender, but it does so in a safe and comfortable way for everyone to accept. [...]
[...] With the presentation of gender relying solely on outward appearance, Silence is able to dupe the society around her in to treating her like a man. Attraction lies in the subjective eye of the observer. The ideas found in the thirteenth century French romance Silence are modern and progressive. However, it is also striking to find that the same problem of gender and sex is still in the same condition as it was in the manner it was treated in the story. The scene where Queen Eufeme and Silence share some kissing is an example of Western civilization's problems with gender and sex. [...]
[...] However, such a sexually charged scene must end anti-climactically; Heldris de Cornwall can not have Queen Eufeme and Silence enter into anything more than kissing. In another sense, the scene spurs the rest of the story to unfold, as it would seem logically. With her advances sent back like cold soup in a deli, Queen Eufeme is so angered she plots against Silence, however thereby only enacting her own undoing. It is troublesome when we examine sex and gender in a thirteenth century French romance because the problem appears to be in the same condition as it was back then. [...]
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