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Women in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"
Immediately, one is confronted with the apparent centrality of women in the society of Sir Gawain. King Arthur and his court are seen celebrating together, and the Queen stands before all as the representation of all chivalric excellence at the forefront of this otherwise all male society of knights. As one is respectful to the king, one must also be respectful to the queen -- if not more respectful, to show one's homage to Arthur.
However, although powerful images women may be symbolically important in the society of the poem, this does not mean that women are truly powerful players in courtly life. Rather, the female body is used as a 'test' of the homage a knight owes to his male host. Women serve as vehicles of male pride and honor, and facilitators of male knightly excellence, not as significant actors in and of themselves. As all the knights sit around the Round Table, during the New Year's celebration, the Green Knight of the title challenges any who will dare to strike a blow at him, provided he is allowed to strike back in a year's time. Sir Gawain cuts off the knight's head, and the knight leaves, with a promise from Gawain to extract his pledge next year.
Gawain, true to form, finds the Green Knight's abode and resides there, waiting and dreading the final strike. All the while, the Green Knight's wife makes attempts to seduce Gawain. Yet although the woman is apparently false (later, this is shown to be a deliberately staged test of Gawain's chaste honor to his host) Gawain is true to his values and the honor owed to even a less than hospitable host. For his valor of spirit as well as his manly courage, the Green Knight spares Gawain. But as inspiring as this story may be in terms of knightly valor, it is noteworthy that the female body, unlike the male body is never tested -- rather it is only a sexual test for Gawain, or a symbol of Arthur's power in the form of female beauty.
Works Cited
Anonymous. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." New York: Knopf, 2003.
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