sir gawain and the green knight
...f challenges which test his moral conduct and ultimately Gawain realizes his own faults thereby demonstrating that he is disparately human and hence capable of error. Markman ebulliently praises Gawain for enduring such tasks and ultimately learning from them and furthermore states, “Gawain is the representation of the very best man who ever lived.” Clearly, he denotes Gawain as a knightly paragon, yet in doing so Markman fails to address the role of women in the text. Ultimately, it was Morgan la fey with the aid of Lady Bercilak who plotted these challenges in an attempt to test Gawain’s true character. It was through their skillful ingenuity that allowed for Gawain’s character to unveil. Hence, these women serve as Gawain’s counterparts, they are in essence the reason why we the readers discover Gawain’s true nature and without addressing their crucial roles, Gawain’s character would never be the focal point. Also, Markman states that when Gawain is eventually informed of his faults by the Green Knight himself, Gawain is really angry with himself not the lady for his shortcomings. Contrary to Markman’s interpretation, I believe that Gawain is actually shifting the blame from himself to Lady Bercilak. Gawain’s tirade appears to be anti-feminist as he places the Lady in a long line of other biblical temptresses including Delilah and Bathsheba. Gawain explicitly states that women ruined men (line2420) and that it is in there nature to be perfidious. This speech is somewhat misogynistic and it may even reveal the underlying misogyny of the poet himself as well as the critic. Also, the biblical archetype Mary is represented by the pentangle and it is through Gawain’s relationship with Mary in which he derives his courage and prowess. Yet at one point in the text, Gawain accepts the green girdle as protection for himself which supplants the pentangle. Thus, Gawain falls from being a noble, loyal and fearless knight to a cowardly man who redirects his faith. Perhaps the meaning of this text serves to reinforce the importance of believing in God and the weakness of human flesh rather than glorifying Gawain’s character as Markman seeks to demonstrate. Markman assumes that Gawain possesses superior knightly qualities such as courage, courtesy and loyalty which serve to amend his role as the ideal knight. Perhaps the question which needs to be addressed is to what extent does Gawain possess these knightly virtues? Moreover, is Gawain really an archetype of an ideal knight? Markman infers that throughout the text we see Gawain’s courage demonstrated by his willingness to accept the monstrous challenge of the green knight and, thereafter, by his actions at the green chapel. His court...