Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Literary Analysis

The medieval romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, explores many aspects of the Arthurian legend, including chivalry, religion, and courtly love. Although the poem does feature many female characters, one aspect that the Gawain poet does not touch upon is the role and place of women in this feudal society, all of whom live under the objectification of a male driven culture. Readers say the Gawain poet focuses on the women in this romance more heavily than other authors during this time period and it’s true; however, after a closer look we can see how it’s the little things that the Gawain poet does or doesn’t do that inhibit the importance of the Guinevere, the Virgin Mary, Lady Bertilak, and Morgan le Fay in this poem. The first woman

Gawain says “[…] those honorable ladies who kidded me so cleverly with their cunning tricks. But no wonder if a fool finds his way into folly and be wiped of his wits by womanly guile- it’s the way of the world […] if only we could love our ladies without believing their lies […]” (2412-21). This monologue is arguably the most passionate one in the poem. Gawain blames all man’s troubles on the irrational actions of womanly wiles. He goes on to use the bible to justify his assertion that all women bring to society is destruction and that they are, for the most part, all devious vixens. What the Gawain poet fails to mention is that the women in this romance are dictated by men and are subjected to a culture that attempts to control them. It is easy to see all women as manipulative, but is much more difficult to admit to the fact that men have placed women within the very social construct that Gawain is ranting

The Gawain poet paints her in an extremely unattractive manner and describes her as the polar opposite of Lady Bertilak. The Lord tells Gawain “[…] in my manner lives Morgan le Fay, so adept and adroit in the dark arts, who learned magic from Merlin […] she imagined the mischief would muddle your minds and that grieving Guinevere would go to her grave […]” (2445-60). The fact that a female is behind the whole game is probably the last thing that Gawain wants to hear just after ranting about the evils of women. One might say that a female character being the puppet master behind the scenes is a step forward for women in this time period; however, the Green Knight disclose that one of the reasons behind the game was to scare Guinevere to death. By adding this detail in the text, the poet diminishes the control Morgan holds by suggesting women in power would use their political stance to end petty squabbles. Despite her magic, the poet confines Morgan le Fay behind the scenes in the poem. The Gawain poet insinuates that there is no place for a woman ruler in the patriarchal political system that is prevalent during this time