Humor-driven Social Commentary in the Medieval Period. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" highlights the faults of knights and of chivalry. "The General Prologue" highlights the shift away from serfdom.
by
gamergirlpee225gmailcom (student)
Dr. B
British Literature
26 September 2021
Humor-driven Social Commentary in the Medieval Period
The medieval period was an interesting time for literature as literacy was not common except among the aristocracy. The authors of the time would simply write down the oral tales from before, adding whatever they needed for their written version. It was also a time of social and political unrest. The rise of the merchant class was a drastic shift away from the feudal system. Literature during this time tended to be funny. Humor and humorous commentary is a prevalent theme throughout most of its secular literary works. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is an Arthurian tale and is a perfect example of social commentary in medieval literature. Its commentary on chivalric code and the hubris of the crown is timeless and can still be learned from today. It also holds comedic value in its humorous depiction of Sir Gawain's quest. "The General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales is a perfect example of humor in medieval literature. Chaucer uses humor generously throughout The Canterbury Tales allowing it to be a more palatable series of stories that comment on social issues. However the story also serves as a very thorough social commentary on many different peoples during the medieval period.
"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is a representative piece of medieval literature because of its commentary on the chivalric code. The entire story spits on the idea of chivalry and hierarchy with the Green Knight. He is a random entity of immense power who blatantly ignores the king and refuses to recognize the frivolous traditions of his court and then insults the entire court (pp. 208-10). After this Gawain takes on the quest, which is just a test of honesty that he inevitably fails trying to save his own life. Once he is sufficiently humiliated he wears that humility as a badge wanting to remember he isn't a perfect example of chivalry but Arthur's court takes it as a symbol of pride and continues to shout about their greatness (pp. 205-56). The whole story is still funny though. The times the Green Knight interrupts the action of the scene to make a mockery of Arthur and tradition are genuinely humorous. In a broader sense the entire story is funny in an ironic way. We have a knight who must go on a quest to get his head chopped off and half of the entire story is dedicated to him lounging in a castle he was invited into. It is so important that he is a knight because knights are aristocrats. They have power in medieval society and this story looks at that power and says it means nothing because knights are people too. The author of this particular version of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" was definitely using their position to comment on honor and chivalry. The harsh treatment from the Green Knight to Arthur's court and the humiliation of Gawain are so contrary to a normal knight story. Normally the knight would be a praised hero, treated like a king at every opportunity, learning no lesson along the way as he was perfect from the beginning. This doesn't happen. The author explicitly has Gawain learn a lesson about honesty and how chivalry is a flawed system.
