The Representation Of Women In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

"Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman…to usurp authority over the man” (I Timothy 2:11-14).

The Middle Ages interpreted the female ideal as silent and submissive, evoking images of Coventry Patmore’s misogynistic 19th Century poem “The Angel in the House”. That said, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, set in this era of misogyny and subjugation, has often been depicted as presenting females contrary to this perception, portraying the Romance genre as “essentially the theatre of its feminine figures”(Heng 501). However, this can be regarded as a misconstrued perception of the work as, rather than advocating feminine power, the Gawain-poet can be perceived as following the tradition of his age in positing

Despite being a continual presence she bears no lines whilst Lady Bertilak commands a majority of the text. The characters seem to be purposefully contrasted, with the “beautiful body of the hostess…compared with the grotesque ugliness of Morgan” (Liu 4). Friedman explains this as a method “to enhance the beauty of Gawain’s temptress” (qtd. Neimneh 239), referring to Morgan as merely “a foil”. This marginalization of a traditionally powerful figure works to undermine her strength, and reference to her ugly visage constructs an unappealing image of powerful

Similarly Morgan’s agency is marginalized to the extent of irrelevance as, despite being the schemes instigator, she is barely referenced, thus subtracting from her power. However, this marginalization is not always successful (Fisher) and thus some women are read contrarily. Guinevere is often regarded as “vital” (Neimneh 238) in her silence, however this may be reference to her as the ideal wife and Queen, a medieval Christian construct as portrayed in the Timothy quotation, rather than as