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This article deals with the ambiguity of the stanzas 19-20 of the Libro de Alexandre, which refer to the rumor that the protagonist is a bastard. In spite of some prestigious critics' opinion, the anonymous author neither affirms nor denies the rumor. He is much more interested in it than French poets and mentions it many times to create artistic ambiguity and to enrich his own narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In medieval literature there is a long tradition of feminin transvestism, from hagiography to chivalric romances. In all of them, the change of identity motif lends itself to various ambiguities and paradoxes which are the main features in Le Roman de Silence not only in syntax but also in it's main themes. The other protagonist of the text, Merlin, a hybrid character himself, who recalls the trickster --a trait shared with Silence--, is a key figure acting as a catalyst for the plot. As such, his mere apparition in the romance alerts the reader to the paradoxes and the ambiguities at the core of a work whose trickster-like characteristics are examined as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]