Women In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Throughout history, the majority of famous literary works are written by men. This means that a great many male authors, at some point or another, wrote about women. This meant that they only had two points of reference for any female character: the way society viewed women, and the women in their lives—the very ones that were trying to fit those same societal standards. Women’s portrayals of other women are different. They tend to deviate from the general tropes found in literature. This is especially true for authors during the medieval era, when the roles of men and women were much more rigid than they are today. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows how medieval society viewed women and where they believed feminine power lay; it does so

in the way the poem contrasts with Marie de France’s Lanval and her portrayal of women.
We see the author’s portrayal of women when Lady Bertilak comes to seduce Gawain for the first time. Following her initial meeting with Gawain at the feast the previous night, the first indicator of her personality was the “slyly made sound” she made when she opened Gawain’s bedroom door (ll. 1182). The author’s diction is paramount in this line because the reader is aware that Lady Bertilak is trying to remain quiet, yet, out of all of the words the author could have chosen to indicate this, he chose slyly. This personality trait is further established as she tries more and more cunning methods to seduce Gawain into committing sin. Her second attempt at seduction is more forceful when she says,
A knight so courteous and considerate in his service
Really out to be eager to offer this pupil
Some lessons in love and lead by example.
Why, are you, whom all men honor, actually ignorant,
Or do you deem me too dull to hear of dalliances? (ll. 1525-1529)
Here, she approaches Gawain with a mix of flattery and insult to his reputation. Her flattery is evident in her repeated use of educational terms like “pupil” and “lessons” (ll. 1526-1527). These terms imply great masculinity on Gawain’s part and a great deal of sexual experience to be able to instruct the lady of the house in the art of love. Interwoven within the complimentary language, she also calls his masculinity into question because of his repeated rebukes on her advances. By asking if he is ignorant of the topic at hand, she implies his virginity and thus gives him an ultimatum: either his reputation is false and he is no honorable knight, or he is and should prove her spurns wrong.
Her final attempt is the most cunning. After it becomes evident that Gawain will not fall for her amorous advances, she offers him an expensive piece of jewelry, knowing that he will refuse it. This makes it easier for him to let his guard down when she offers him the green girdle. She makes sure to mention the powers hidden within the belt, and ultimately entices him into committing sin against Lord Bertilak. Throughout the exchanges between Gawain and Lady Bertilak, it is evident that her power as a woman lies, not just in her cunning nature, but also in her ability to seduce Gawain into sinning as well as her status as Lady of the manor.
She uses both traits to attain her goal and ultimately becomes the hero’s downfall, much like “Adam”, “Solomon”, “Samson”, “and David” had been ruined by women (ll.

2416-2418). Gawain also acknowledges the power she hold over his as Lady of the house when he “was careful to be courteous and avoid uncouthness” rather than outright refusing her or openly rebuking her advances (L. 1773). However, it is also evident that her power extends only so far as the men in the story allow it. While she does attempt, and ultimately succeeds in, seducing Gawain, she does so at her husband’s behests. Lord Bertilak admits to knowing about the “courtesies, and conduct, and kisses/ and the wooing” and reveals that “it was all [his] work” (ll. 2360-2361). He allows her use of her feminine wiles so as to further the game. It is also important to point out that throughout the text she is not given a name until her husband, as the Green Knight, reveals himself to be Lord Bertilak. Up to that point, she is only referred to as “the lady.” Her only two identities are as a seductress and wife. She is given very little agency and is ultimately a one-sided character, unlike Gawain’s multiple facets. She is also a stark contrast to another medieval woman of power: the fairy lover in Marie de France’s

Lanval.
Marie de France depicts the Fairy lover as loving, generous, compassionate, and unwilling to allow injustice if she can prevent it.

She is also given greater agency, and therefore greater power, than Lady Bertilak. The Fairy lover appears, of her own volition, at Lanval’s greatest hours of need. Her first appearance occurs when Lanval is at an immensely low point, having given away a great deal of his wealth out of generosity and refuses to request compensation from King Arthur, who over looks Lanval until he offends Guinevere. She, along with her maids, helps him restore himself and treats him like the prince he is. De France makes this clear in her use of repetition, stating, “Now Lanval is well cared for” (ll. 140; 154). By repeating this line, she makes sure to let the reader know that the Fairy lover has saved him from ruin and now looks after Lanval. She also offers herself to him as his lover, but does not do so slyly or with ulterior motives like Lady Bertilak. She offers herself openly and out of real, passionate love for him. She also sets the rules for their relationship, ordering him “not to let any man know about this” and threatening to abandon him immediately if he does (L. 145). The fact that the Fairy lover, not only sets the tone of the relationship, but also financially support Lanval lets the readers know who is actually in charge in the relationship. This is despite her saying that she will “obey [his] command” and “satisfy all [his] desires” whenever and

wherever he wants (ll. 127; 168).
The second time she appears to save him is when Lanval is on trial for having lied and offended the queen. At this point he has betrayed their relationship by revealing it. As such, she does not actually have to save him. Lanval was not on trial for his life; if he lost he would have been banished from court. However, the Fairy lover returns to save Lanval, revealing herself to all and testifying in court,
I have loved one of your vassals:
You see him before you—Lanval.
He has been accused in your court—
I don’t want to see him suffer
For what he said; you should know
That the queen was in the wrong.
He never made advances to her (ll. 615-621).
In these lines Marie de France makes clear choices about the Fairy lover’s character. It is clear that she loves Lanval, but her compassion is also clear in that she doesn’t “want to see him suffer” (L. 618). Her sense of justice is also evident in this passage. She did not have to mention that Guinevere lied about Lanval making amorous advances on her, yet she called out the queen’s lie. The Fairy lover consciously makes these choices, unlike Lady Bertilak who only seduced Gawain at the behest of her husband. Even Guinevere, despite being cast as the seductress, shows agency in this poem.
Throughout Lanval, Marie de France makes is clear that she also believes that women’s power lies in sex and status. In this tale, Guinevere is not a side note of the story. She is a major character who makes conscious choices. She chooses to seduce Lanval and when he refuses her she chooses to lie to her husband, “saying that Lanval had dishonored her” (L. 315). In fact, throughout this lai, the “hero” is the one with no agency. All of what happens throughout the story happens to Lanval, he does not pursue it—unlike Gawain. By choosing to write the story in this way, Marie de France alters the portrayal of women by providing a tale where the woman is the actual hero. The Fairy lover saves Lanval, not once, but twice. She whisks him away on her horse. She intervenes on his behalf. Despite her ethereal beauty and how delicate she is portrayed throughout the lai, she is no damsel in distress.
In the end, both poem showed similar views of women, in that they both depicted women’s power as a sexual one as well as one that lies in a woman’s class or status in society. However, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight limits the woman’s power vis-à-vis men controlling how she can wield it. Lanval, by contrast, shows that women can use their power when and how they see fit, regardless of if it is convenient for the men in their lives. Both tales, despite their differences, give the modern reader a good idea as to how people viewed women during the medieval era.