Hero in Literature and the Hunt Symbolism

¶ … Hunter and the Hunted:

Courtly Love and the Many Faces of the Hero

Literature abounds in depictions of the hero.

Solomon, Esther, Gawain, and countless others call to mind tales of strength, valor, and passion. Whether a text's purpose is religious, instructional, or purely a matter of entertainment, a single character stands out. Emotion is often overpowering, as too, are the choices between what is right and what is wrong. Morality plays an equally important role in each of these "superhuman" stories. Frequently, the path of virtue is crossed by the highways of desire. A hero may take the high road, or he may take the low road, but which choice is correct depends upon the specific circumstances of the narrative, and upon the central figure's point-of-view. A bewildering array of problems, impossible tasks, and larger-than-life villains can turn closely-held beliefs inside out, and cause a hero to commit acts that, in other situations, might be condemned or even punished. Love, a common theme of the heroic tale, is generally of the forbidden variety, or involves the breaking through of seemingly impassible barriers. The sacred is contrasted with the profane. The physical with the spiritual. The commonplace with the extraordinary. The Biblical Song of Solomon and the Book of Esther deal with the themes of love and society, or rather, how love can mold and even transform social conventions. In contrast, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, concerns the idea of an "anti-social" love that is, nevertheless, exalted by the Medieval Code of Chivalry. Sir Gawain is a classic tale of Courtly Love, the chivalric ideal of the knight who will stop at nothing to obtain the hand of his "unattainable" lady. In each of these three stories, the hero of the piece must contemplate or perform actions that may, at first glance, seem immoral, or even amoral, but which are essential to the fulfillment of the tale, and thus, to the satisfaction of the hero or heroine's desire.

First in time among these pieces, the Song of Solomon is a poignant piece representing the desire of a woman for her beloved. Over and over again, strong sensory images are employed to convey the very real passion that is felt by the narrator. As the object of the heroine's love is a king, the choice of metaphor comes from the courtly world of the Ancient Near East. Specific reference is made to the kinds of objects that would, at that time, have signified wealth and celebration. Over and over again, one reads phrases such as," Thy love is better than wine" or "Our vines have tender grapes," or, "How much better is thy love than wine!" Wine is a "forbidden fruit," a thing of value that brings both pleasure and pain. In the Bible, wine is both praised as an aid to merriment, and condemned as a substance that excites violent passions. The most holy of individuals, those who wish to dedicate themselves to the Lord must, "drink no wine nor strong drink... [in order to] be a Nazarite (i.e. A person who is specially devoted to God)." In numerous passages, the pleasures of love are compared to other "pleasures of the flesh" as incense, jewels, and rare ointments. Solomon, the object of the writer's desire, is regularly represented as a warrior-king leading his people victoriously into battle. Though not directly likened to war, it is clear that the poem is meant to convey the similarity between those conquests that are achieved through force of arms, and those victories that belong to the struggles of the heart.

Inevitably, among all the martial and kingly imagery, one gets the sense that Solomon must, on some level, shirk his duties as a monarch in order to be with the narrator of the piece. Secrecy is important - the ability to slip off unseen to join one's beloved. Hardly is this a socially-accepted marriage that is celebrated and sanctified in full public view. Much as the traditional hero demonstrates his skills in battle alone, so too is Solomon, in this case, described as a figure apart. As well, the heroine of the poem is set apart from all other women: "As the lily among thorns," what is thy beloved more than another beloved," and, "There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number," and the heroine excels them all. One would suppose a king to be king equally over all his subjects, but here that is not so. This one woman occupies a special place in Solomon's heart, takes him away from his responsibilities as a monarch, and causes him to do things that, in most other situations, would be considered selfish, or even immoral. Nevertheless, Solomon is a true hero; a true hero not only to the author of this piece, but to all women who seek a man who will love them completely and to the neglect of all else. Solomon is a hero because he serves as the model for the ideal lover.

In a somewhat different vein, the Book of Esther is also concerned with the love of a king for a particular woman, and with that monarch's responsibility toward those over whom he rules. Yet here, Esther uses love itself as a weapon, wielding it to save the lives of her people. Haman, the man whom Ahasuerus, King of Persia, had placed "above all the princes that were with him," had commanded that all of the Jews in the empire be killed. However, Ahasuerus' own queen was a Jewish woman, Esther, and Esther had been raised by her cousin, Mordecai, also a Jew. At length, Esther interceded with the King on behalf of all the Jews of Shushan. This tale is interesting in that personal vanity, or self-love, plays such a central role. Haman condemns the Jews to death because Mordecai, on religious grounds, had refused to bow down to him, Therefore, Haman's love for himself is pitted against the right of others to live and to worship as they please, and also against the duty of a king to all of his people, for according to Persian custom, no law once made can ever be rescinded - The Jews will be put to death whether or not the King has a change of heart. Again, it is a monarch's very human love for a particular woman, that brings him into conflict with the laws and traditions that he is meant to uphold in the name of all of his people. To save the Jews, he must transgress his own law. But, if he does not commit this illegal act, he will bring great sadness to his own beloved, and so by extension, to himself.

Even more interesting, is the fact that Esther encourages her husband to violate his own law, even though such willfulness on the part of a woman had led to the banishment of the previous Queen, Vashti, at the beginning of the story.

Vashti's banishment is not because of her disobedience but because of the potential effects of her disobedience. If Vashti were not punished, her decision could be the start of a major revolution. Other women might Vashti's banishment is not because of her disobedience but because of the potential effects of her disobedience. If Vashti were not punished, her decision could be the start of a major revolution. Other women might look to her as their model; her example would then empower them to rebel against the domination of their husbands.

So, Esther's act of will is not merely a challenge to the "law of the Medes and Persians," but it is a deeper, and fundamental, attack on the order of society itself. By playing the heroine, Esther, like her counterpart in the Song of Solomon, is urging her beloved to break one law, and risk subverting others, all in the name of the few against the many. Furthermore, as in the previous Biblical selection, it is the personal, private feelings of King that animate his actions. Selfishness is lauded above selflessness, albeit for what most, in the case of Esther and the Jews, would understand to be a desirable goal. Weighed together in the balance, Haman's love for himself and for the laws of the land is but little when compared to the enormity of the King's love for Esther, and his desire for his happiness. In the Book of Esther, the self-love and love for others react upon each other, producing in one case, an evil design, and in the other, a noble outcome. Each kind of love is also transmuted into the other. Haman's "selfless" respect for Persian law is used for a purely selfish end - his own vanity, while King Ahasuerus' very private love for his Queen ends up benefiting an entire people, and as some might say, even the empire as a whole, because it results in the removal of a very evil man from a position of power.

Both of these Biblical accounts introduce somewhat the Medieval concept of Courtly Love. Solomon and Ahasuerus are each compelled to act, in a sense, against society in order to satisfy the objects of their love. In each case as well, that love is juxtaposed against a background of destruction and carnage - Solomon as the victorious leader of his host, and Ahasuerus, as possibly, the unwitting instrument of an entire people's annihilation. On the other hand, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the hero, Sir Gawain, conforms to a much more typically medieval model of the warrior/lover. Sir Gawain, a perfect knight from King Arthur's Court in Camelot, confronts evil head on. The reversal of normal roles and expectations is almost immediate. Gawain, setting out to battle the Green Knight, spends a night in the castle of Hautdesire, awaking the following morning to find the Castellan's wife stealing into bed with him.

She immediately begins her attempt to seduce him, telling him "Ye ar welcum to my cors, / Yowre awen won to wale" ("you are welcome to my body, to pursue your own course of action," Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 1237-38). She tests Gawain's verbal dexterity, his resistance to her sexual demands, and his faith to his promise to her husband to return whatever he "wins" during his days in the castle in exchange for the fruits of his hunt out of doors.... The hunt within the walls mirrors the one outside, while the lady's bold pursuit of Gawain inverts traditional expectations of gender behavior.

Even more than in the two Biblical examples, the heroine of this story is a dangerous temptation.

However, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the moral choices are far more evident to the hero than they are in the other tales. Gawain knows that he has come to Hautdesire to battle the forces of evil. He knows that Betilak's wife's attempt to seduce him is a violation of the laws of marriage, and also of the code of Chivalry, in that, by giving into her wishes, he would be committing adultery. Yet, Bertilak's game offers a way out, a way in which Gawain, the noble knight, can be true to his honor, and in which he can satisfy the desires of all concerned. By making the "conquest" of his wife into a game; a game in which the winners will, at the end, exchange their prizes, and return to each man what is rightfully his, Bertilak allows Gawain to commit adultery, and yet not to commit adultery all at the same time. For if Gawain sleeps with the Castellan's wife, it is but an aberration, a move in an essentially unreal game, set in what is, ultimately, an unreal world. Everything about Sir Gawain displays the medieval storyteller's penchant for creating worlds of fantasy that seem real enough, but which observe their own laws and conventions.

The honor of Sir Gawain is his best value... His honor is the catalyst for what happens through the rest of the poem.... To Gawain... valor is necessary. It is also honorable....He basically keeps his honor even in the face of great temptation. As when the Lady of the house tries to seduce him. Nevertheless he falters in trying to protect his life. But he does redeem himself by admitting his duplicity to the Green Knight, and learning from his experience.

For Sir Gawain, honor and integrity are the greatest virtues of all. These qualities, like individual human beings in the medieval social order, can be ranked one above the other. Gawain began his quest in an attempt to save his liege, King Arthur, from what he believed was certain death - and a totally unnecessary death at that. If accepting the advances of another man's wife would preserve the life of his lord, then so be it. The same would apply to any other, lesser moral dictates that Gawain might consider violating, or in fact, actual violate. Once again love, and the wild passions that arise therefrom, have caused a hero to act in unconventional ways, though in the end, it is through these actions that a greater and better order is preserved.