At the same New Year feast, the main female character is also present. Queen Guinevere has made her first and last appearance. She is described as an extremely beautiful, sitting quietly in decorous platform by the side of her husband. Other than her loveliness that being brought to the fore, she is just a mere observer who seems to be well aware of her actions. To the point that it seems strange that there are no terror or anxiety expressions described in her face when experiencing the decapitation of the Green Knight. On top of that the poet decided to give her no voice and incapability of moving as if to further accentuate her passivity within her husband court. Since the only feature the poet stresses about Guinevere is her beauty, resulted in leaving her character no choice but being only a possession or a pretty emblem of her husband. In a way, she is also used as an instrument to prove the chivalry of her husband, as evidence from the first thing King Arthur do after experienced the uncanny situation created by the Green Knight and that is a consolation to his Queen, intentionally to ease her fright. (which has never shown) –“Dear lady don’t be daunted by this deed today, /it’s in keeping that such strangeness should occur at Christmas/ Between sessions of banter and seasonal song” (Armitage, line470-473). This is a decent proof of King Arthur achievement in his knighthood; those are treat lady with respect and protect the weaker and defenseless. All in all, the character of Guinevere acts as a supporter of chivalric code of her husband. At this point, Queen Guinevere represents an ideal feminine beauty in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that is not only consisting of an outstandingly beauty but also passivity, being silent and restriction in all actions. The importance and role of female characters are once again suppressed and reduced.
Another important female figure in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is Lady Bertilak, wife of Lord Bertilak of Hautdesert castle, where sir Gawain resides during his travel to the Green Chapel. She takes a role in putting sir Gawain through a test of loyalty towards God and his chivalric code. She plays a so-called ‘game of desire’ with him. She tries to use Gawain’s own desire against himself to destroy his honor of a real knight by the lady becomes more forwarding and more alluring in order to persuade Gawain to have sexual intercourse behind Lord Bertilak back. Obviously, this woman is depicted as evil slattern, a symbol of sin and lust. More beautiful she exceeds Guinevere; more dangerous she is to Gawain’s virtue of knightly conduct. Interestingly, she is one of the chief characters but her name is never mentioned throughout the whole poem. Even her husband just simply calls her my wife, which signifies her being counted among her husband’s belongings. This is undeniably indicates that female individuality is being set aside by the poet. And if you further observe her character, you will find that she is the only woman who actually has a voice. It supposed to give her real power and freedom to make choices and takes actions, different from Queen Guinevere. Ironically, her power given by the poet can shows through only with specific condition. For instance, she only exists within the wall of her husband territory; she can use her female sexuality power only when she is in a private room. When she’s out at the court, she is just another beauty under the veil. Moreover, the real reason for her being that bold is actually because she is taking Lord Bertilak’s order. So it means she doesn’t have that much of a power after all. Her identity and authority of herself are still dominated by male power. She needs to depend on her husband to prove her existing. Female action is restricted by men once again.
The last female character revealed in the poem is Morgan, a powerful sorceress disguised in the body of an ugly old maid accompanying lady Bertilak in the castle. Morgan is later revealed to be a plot generator. After sir Gawain is told by Lord Bertilak that he has been tricked by the Lady. He declaims against all women by saying that they are sly and not worth the trust, they might lead men to death by their seduction. So Morgan is a crystal clear example of how female who gains a lot of power and freedom, could destroy the chivalric. If sir Gawain is defeated by his own desire when she manipulates lord Bertilak and his wife, it could lead to a humiliation of a knighthood and King Arthur himself. Eventually, Morgan is just another puppet who ultimately proves the strength of the knighthood.
Overall women characters represented in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; both stated and allusion, are desirable objects of all men. Sarcastically, still, women are much less valuable than men. In the poem, Women who have a lot of freedom and influence over men like lady Bertilak or Morgan are seen as the cause of chivalric code collapse. So the poet signifies that society needs women to be under controlled. In order to do that women’s identity has to connect with their husband. So the similarity between all female characters in the poem is they are all lack of individuality. Often times, their roles have been reduced to instruments to test out the power of chivalric code. In brief, they are somewhat like a reflection of the knights whether they are accomplished as honorable knights or not. So women who willing to be dictated by men, like queen Guinevere, is much more preferred in the society. Even though the poet tries to dwindle away the importance of women whether by mentioning their name just few times or giving her no voice, but there is still the only one that sir Gawain has a special relationship with. She is Virgin Mary, the only women sir Gawain willing to diverse his role of a controller to be depending on her instead.
by
hanahana34 (student)
