Lady Bertilak and the Changes to Power - 940 Words

Lady Bertilak and the Changes to Power The fourteenth century placed social and economic changes in the government. The founding of chivalric orders kept aristocratic ideals alive, and because of this, there were major changes in chivalry. Chivalry is the religious, moral, and social code of a medieval knight. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is characterized as being one of the most loyal knights that followed chivalric orders. Not only is he deemed loyal, but he has a reputation of being a great and courtly lover. Great knights are devoted to the church before anything else. On the other hand, when courtly love is presented to him, Gawain is conflicted between the physical love and spiritual love he has for the church. Morgan le Fay and Lady Bertilak sought to use their strength and age differences to test Gawain’s knightly honor. Lady Bertilak’s role, specifically, were orders of Lord Bertilak. Behind closed doors, Lady Bertilak had a powerful presence because she tempted Gawain with tokens of l ove. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Lady Bertilak is the most powerful female in the story because the sexual innuendos she fulfills for her husband tests Gawain’s knightly honor. In Lord Bertilaks court, Lady Bertilak is a force to be reckoned with in the bedroom. On the first day of her assault, Lady Bertilak begins to establish her own bargain with Gawain with the help of Morgan le Fay, who is Gawain’s aunt. As a team, Lady Bertilak was â€Å"hand in hand with aShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight1480 Words   |  6 PagesSir Gawain and the Green Knight is an Arthurian romance that is one of the first to highlight women’s roles during the period of change that comes with King Arthur’s demise. Culturally, during the time period, women had little perceived power. Women were treated well and often idolized, but they remained in a male-dominated society, where they were not respected as their own capable beings. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is heavily laced with the Knight’s â€Å"Code of Honor,† namely the idea of chivalryRead MoreSir Gawain And The Green Knight906 Words   |  4 PagesKnight we see Sir Bertilak go off to hunt three very specific animals as a game with Sir Gawain. They agree that â€Å"what ever [Bertilak catches] in the wood shall become [Sir Gawain’s], and what ever mishap comes [Sir Gawain’s] way will be given to [Bertilak] in exchange.† (Sir Gawain†¦, ln 1105-1007). In this deal we slowly see Gawain loose his honor as paralleled with Sir Bertilak’s hunt. The first animal that is hunted by the knight is a deer, while this is happening we see The Lady come into Gawain’sRead More Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay1588 Words   |  7 Pagesthat of Eve, a temptress who would bring both happiness and despair to her man. One interesting twist to this story is that, like courtly love, possession of power seems to be shifted into the hands of the women. The wife of Bertilak operates unassisted against Gawain in the bedroom as the hunter and the aggressor. The great feminine power in the story, however, comes from Morgan le Fay, the evil stepsister of Arthur. She is strong enough to move into Bertilaks castle, turn him green and order himRead MoreSir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay1636 Words   |  7 Pagesthat of Eve, a temptress who would bring both happiness and despair to her man. One interesting twist to this story is that, like courtly love, possession of power seems to be shifted into the hands of the women. The wife of Bertilak operates unassisted against Gawain in the bedroom as the hunter and the aggressor. The great feminine power in the story, however, comes from Morgan le Fay, the evil stepsister of Arthur. She is strong enough to move into Bertilaks castle, turn him green and orderRead MoreSir Gawain And The Green Knight1826 Words   |  8 PagesGawain and the Green Knight, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale present dynamic views of the â€Å"art of love† in medieval times. In Sir Gawain, the â€Å"love† between Sir Gawain and Lady Bertilak at first appears to be genuine; however, we learn that both characters were using each other guided by ulterior motives. Lady Bertilak jabs at Gawain’s masculinity in order to achieve her goal. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue questions the meaning of love while the narrator discusses her own experience to portrayRead MoreThe Roles Of Women And The Green Knight2290 Words   |  10 Pagesmostly used as peace-makers. In The Wife’s Lament, a poem written later than Beowulf, women are still ruled by men but are starting to exhibit their own voice. Eventually, women’s power and their voice is much more prominently depicted as seen in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Keywords: roles, peace-makers, voice, power Women’s Roles in Medieval Writing In the present day there is little knowledge of what women’s roles were during Anglo-Saxon time, therefore, the written words thatRead MoreSir Gawain and the Green Knight and Romance Conventions Essay2226 Words   |  9 Pagessource by having King Arthur accept the Green Knight’s challenge, and then Gawain interrupt the King just before he is able to do so, as opposed to the rash Caradoc who leaps forth to take up the challenge immediately. As Benson writes, by making this change from the source, Gawain â€Å"is thus no longer a free agent.† As demonstrated even by the seating in the hall , it is inevitable that Gawain should take the place of King Arthur, since for King Arthur to take the challenge is â€Å"not semly†(l. 348), andRead MoreSir Gawain And The Green Knight2319 Words   |  10 Pagesor chivalric love between noble lords and ladies, couples conventionally exchanged gifts and tokens as symbols of their affair. In Sir Gawain and the Green K night, Lady Bertilak who, throughout the poem attempts to seduce Gawain, asks for a token and offers him two of her own. The three tokens—the glove, the ring and the girdle—represent a scale of temptation by which the lady seeks to discover what might tempt Gawain to compromise his commitment to Bertilak, her husband. Sir Gawain resists the firstRead More Sir Gawain vs Beowulf Essay2076 Words   |  9 Pagesdiffering in the way they attempt to achieve this success. Gawain remains true and looks to humility to guide him, whereas Beowulf is very prideful and selfish, loving nothing more than boasting about his virtues. Regardless, both go through tremendous changes throughout their quests, dealing with repercussions, and many challenging obstacles along the way. Initially, Gawain’s strongest trait is humility, Beowulf’s is pride. In the beginning of Gawain and the Green Knight, a mysterious warrior entersRead MoreSir Gawain And The Green Knight Symbolism Essay1130 Words   |  5 Pagesbeginning of the text, the green girdle represents security to Gawain, but by the end symbolizes dishonor. The symbolism of Lady Bertilak, girdle changes throughout the course of the poem. She tells Gawain that the green girdle has the power to keep whoever wears it, protected from harm. Gawain views the girdle as his chance at survival and decides not to exchange the girdle with Bertilak, thus breaking the terms of the mens agreement. This symbolizes Gawain’s ambition to stay alive, even at the expense