진짜와 가짜, 혹은 두 왕비: 『산문 란슬롯』의 가짜 귀네비어 에피소드가 재현하는 여성의 몸과 여성 발화

Abstract

아서왕 로맨스에는 여성들 간 더블링(doubling)과 대체의 모티브가 자주 등장한다. 예를 들어 트리스탄(Tristan)과 사랑에 빠진 왕비 아름다운 이조데(la belle Isode)는 남편인 마크 왕과의 결혼 첫날밤에 시녀인 브랑게인(Brangain)을 대리로 들여보내 자신의 역할을 수행하게 한다. 다른 한 편 이조데와의 간통이 발각된 트리스탄은 그녀와 이별한 뒤 또 한 명의 이조데인 흰 손의 이조데(Isode le Blanches Mains)를 만나 부부의 연을 맺는다. 여타 로맨스 텍스트에서는 일반적으로 비비안(Vivianne)이나 니니 안(Ninianne)이라는 이름으로 등장하는 호수의 귀부인(lady of the lake)이 토마스 말로리(Thomas Malory)의 『아서왕의 죽음』(Le Morte Darthur)에서는 둘로 갈라져서, 기존의 호수의 귀부인이 살해당한 뒤 그녀의 시종인 네니브(Nenive)가 그 역할을 물려 받는 것 또한 일종의 더블링이라 할 수 있을 것이다.

The false Guenevere episode in The Prose Lancelot reveals how medieval romances use female characters to sustain the male-oriented chivalric society. Guenevere is very easily confused with and replaced by the other Guenevere, her half-sister, only because of their identical appearance. The indistinguishable two queens show that the female identity in Arthurian romances is mainly based on her body, which functions both as an empty signifier and as an exchangeable property between men. However, the way the male society depends on women is by no means consistent, and the opposed demands on fidelity and adultery coexist on the queens body. The integrity of the queens body is paralleled with that of Arthurs court, but at the same time, her adulterous love with Lancelot becomes a medium of the homosocial relationship between Arthur and Lancelot. Guenevere exposes these contradictory male desires by representing how her body is doubled, separated, and combined again. In embodying the intention simultaneously to control and share the female body, the two queens yet refuse to be reduced to the passive and obedient objects. They support the patriarchical norms in the ironical way, by breaking the silence forced to them with the speech of beautiful female bodies. Just like their doubled bodies, two queens language cannot go beyond the boundary of the traditional femininity. Nonetheless, in accepting and following faithfully the misogynist standpoint, their voice paradoxically gets the power to threaten the male-oriented order and expose its instability. This leads to the dangerous truth that the male discourse, presupposing the speechless female body, is in fact maintained and reinforced by the bold speaking latent in that silent body.