Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Analysis
The Transforming of Women in Medieval Literature as Seen in
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
Over the countless years of history man and woman have realized that they must come together in order to survive. Whether it was solely for the continuation of our race through procreation, or by uniting one with another in matrimony; the two genders have found it impediment to spend their lives in each other’s midst. Over the span of several millennia we not only see the evolution of these relationships, but we can also witness the transformation of the roles each gender plays in everyday life. One such period where we see many of these roles evolving occur is chronicled in Medieval Literature. Writings such including Chaucer’s “The Canterbury …show more content…
The narrator describes Queen Guenevere’s immense beauty and states that “fair queen, without a flaw… A seemlier that once he saw, / In truth no man could say” (81-84). Guenevere serves as an example of the prior period’s typical woman. She is quiet, obedient to her husband, and the attractive object of the male gaze. Previously this was the norm for woman, to be confined to a set of restrictions that kept her inferior to all other men. Compared to Chaucer’s Wife of Bath who is loud, assertive, and extremely sexually open, Guenevere knows her roles and offers little complaint of her place in the castle. The lack of her contention exemplifies the base portrayal of a woman’s traditional …show more content…
At the first moment of meeting the lovely lady, we are presented with the fact that she is of a different breed than Guenevere. As she enters the room, Gawain’s mind wanders, “her body and her bearing were beyond praise, / And excelled the queen herself” (944-945). Here a knight admits the greatness of a lady beyond his own queen. This reveals the higher complexity found in the lady of the castle. Where we see the deepening contrasts is in the lady’s actual description. Whereas Guenevere was praised for solely her beauty and carriage, we see depth beyond this in the description of Bertilak’s wife. In lines 1204-1207, we read, “sweetly she does speak / And kindling glances dart, / Blent white and red on cheek / And laughing lips apart,” a noticeably more sexualized description than the one offered for our former lady. Delving even deeper into the story we read her actions as exceedingly daring for the wife. She wanders into the room of the night herself to seduce him for a kiss. In this time period women made no attempt at such provocation of a man’s lustful desires. Now one may point out that the lady was under orders from Bertilak. What I see is the man counting his wife as equal and including her in his plan to trick Gawain. Either case we see a woman who enjoys the confines of being a lady yet at the same time the freedoms of equality. In this we see more of a modern woman. She is developed more
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
Over the countless years of history man and woman have realized that they must come together in order to survive. Whether it was solely for the continuation of our race through procreation, or by uniting one with another in matrimony; the two genders have found it impediment to spend their lives in each other’s midst. Over the span of several millennia we not only see the evolution of these relationships, but we can also witness the transformation of the roles each gender plays in everyday life. One such period where we see many of these roles evolving occur is chronicled in Medieval Literature. Writings such including Chaucer’s “The Canterbury …show more content…
The narrator describes Queen Guenevere’s immense beauty and states that “fair queen, without a flaw… A seemlier that once he saw, / In truth no man could say” (81-84). Guenevere serves as an example of the prior period’s typical woman. She is quiet, obedient to her husband, and the attractive object of the male gaze. Previously this was the norm for woman, to be confined to a set of restrictions that kept her inferior to all other men. Compared to Chaucer’s Wife of Bath who is loud, assertive, and extremely sexually open, Guenevere knows her roles and offers little complaint of her place in the castle. The lack of her contention exemplifies the base portrayal of a woman’s traditional …show more content…
At the first moment of meeting the lovely lady, we are presented with the fact that she is of a different breed than Guenevere. As she enters the room, Gawain’s mind wanders, “her body and her bearing were beyond praise, / And excelled the queen herself” (944-945). Here a knight admits the greatness of a lady beyond his own queen. This reveals the higher complexity found in the lady of the castle. Where we see the deepening contrasts is in the lady’s actual description. Whereas Guenevere was praised for solely her beauty and carriage, we see depth beyond this in the description of Bertilak’s wife. In lines 1204-1207, we read, “sweetly she does speak / And kindling glances dart, / Blent white and red on cheek / And laughing lips apart,” a noticeably more sexualized description than the one offered for our former lady. Delving even deeper into the story we read her actions as exceedingly daring for the wife. She wanders into the room of the night herself to seduce him for a kiss. In this time period women made no attempt at such provocation of a man’s lustful desires. Now one may point out that the lady was under orders from Bertilak. What I see is the man counting his wife as equal and including her in his plan to trick Gawain. Either case we see a woman who enjoys the confines of being a lady yet at the same time the freedoms of equality. In this we see more of a modern woman. She is developed more