Women, Courtly Love and the Creation Myth in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a great epic written in fourteenth century Europe by the Pearl poet, emphasizes the opposition of Christian love to Courtly love in the 13th century through the dilemma of Sir Gawain, one of the great knights of the Arthurian round table. By examining the women in the poem, Gawain's dilemma becomes a metaphor for the contrast of these two distinct types of love. The poem looks upon the Virgin Mary as the representative of spiritual love, obedience, chastity, and life (Warner 9). In contrast, Morgan le Fay and Bertilak's wife appear to be representing courtly love, disobedience, lust and death. This conflict between courtly love and spiritual love demonstrates the drastically weakened religious values behind chivalry. An interesting parallel to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the story of original sin in the Garden of Eden. Gawain's temptation correlates to the temptation of Adam, which is rooted in the sins of the flesh. The women in the story seem to accentuate the downfall of Gawain, which mirrors the downfall of Arthur's court, as well as man's fall from grace in the garden. Originally, the first duty of a knight was to be at the service of his church. However, with the rise of c
The moral decline of Gawain can be clearly seen following his association with the Lady. On Christmas morning, for example, instead of finding comfort in the spiritual meaning of Christmas, Gawain finds comfort being seated with the lady. The bedroom scenes, however, depict the true moral battles of Gawain. During the three-day period, there is a spiraling trend. The events keep happening in the same way on a higher and higher level until Gawain is forced to give in to her desires. While he is able to see that his chastity is more important than his courtesy, he is still desperately trying to balance the two (DeRoo, 314). His inability to choose between them leads him to accept the girdle. While Mary, representing his spiritual love and faith, saves him from losing his chastity, "great peril between them stood, unless Mary for her knight should pray" (Adams, 241). Gawain still denies his love for her when faced with the love of the lady. Gawain's loss of devotion is the key to his downfall, for it was his faith in Mary, which gave him strength and courage. Gawain's temptation begins upon entering Bertilak's court, which is a totally different world to him. Although he is initially in a serious mood, he drops his guard at the sight of Lady Bertilak. All he wants to do is to escort her down the aisle and admire her loveliness. "When Gawain had gazed on that gay lady, with leave of her lord, he politely approached; to the elder in homage he humbly bows; the lovelier he salutes with a light embrace. He claims a comely kiss, and courteously he speaks; they welcome him warmly, and straightway he asks to be received as their servant, if they so desire" (Adams, 222). Strolling down the aisle beside Lady Bertilak is an older woman who serves as a standard for comparison, accentuating her beauty. "But unlike to look upon, those ladies were, for if the one was fresh, the other was faded" (Adams, 222). This comparison is a reminder of the moral statement associating women with sex, sin and death. Decay of the flesh is sometimes a perceived as spiritual decay, as with Eve who was cursed to have children and grow old as punishment for her sins. ourtly love, knights began to give their devotion to their mistress rather than God. This elevated the church's mistrust of women and the flesh. The characterization of Bertilak's wife
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Approximate Word count = 1588
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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