Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss: Sir Gawain as an Anitfeminist Figure

Written by Thornton Muncher

“‘All wrecked and ruined by their wrongs; if only

we could love our ladies without believing their lies.

And those were foremost of all whom fortune favored,

excellent beyond all others existing under heaven,’

he cried.

‘Yet all were charmed and changed

by wily womankind.

I suffered just the same,

but clear me of my crime.’”

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines 2420-2428

Throughout the entirety of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the author crafts an Arthurian narrative that engages with facets of the chivalric code and women’s sexuality, and both are especially emphasized in this quotation. For context, this quotation occurs near the end of the poem in the fourth section after the Green Knight reveals to Gawain that his entire journey—including the beheading game, the kissing game, and his entire stay at Lord Bertilak’s castle—has been a test of his character and representability of the character of Arthur’s Round Table. The Green Knight expounds on his explanation and tells Gawain that “it was loyalty that [he] lacked; / not because [he was] wicked, or a womanizer, or worse, / but [he] loved [his] own life” more than the honor of the Round Table (2366-2368). The only way for Gawain to “clear [his] clouded name” is through confession, and this quotation is a selection of lines from his confession to the Green Knight (2388). Though Gawain does offer a confession to the Green

Knight, his declaration places the blame instead on the women of the narrative and exposes his misogynist theology, which is representative of the antifeminist tradition in the Middle Ages.

The author writes Gawain’s speech as a direct address to the Green Knight, and it appears that Gawain is attempting to engage in an us-vs-them argument—“us” being the two men in the room (Gawain and the Green Knight) and “them” being the women of the narrative (Lady Bertilak, Morgan le Fay, and consequently all women throughout history, including the women of the Bible). Moreover, Gawain also tries to expand the “us” group by associating himself and the Green Knight with powerful, hegemonic masculine men from the Hebrew Bible: Adam, Solomon, Samson, and David. Readers can see this through the pronoun usage of “we” and “our” in line 2421. Through his confession, readers learn that Gawain believes that he and all men are allied because they have all been “wrecked and ruined by … wily womankind” just as Gawain has “suffered just the same” as the Biblical men throughout his journey (2420; 2426; 2427). According to Gawain’s logic, the world is not simply divided by good and evil or what is moral or immoral; instead, it is divided upon the line of performative gender and biological sex.

Additionally, while Gawain claims that his selected men of the Hebrew Bible were “excellent beyond all other existing under heaven,” a closer examination of the Biblical figures could reveal more about Gawain’s personal values (2423). For example, Adam refuses to accept responsibility for his actions in Eden and places all the blame on Eve.1 In the book of Judges, the hero Samson could certainly be interpreted as someone who fetishizes women based on race and attempts to colonize other civilizations. Finally, David, though often only celebrated for his military victory over the Philistine Goliath, appears to have raped Bathsheba and used his

political authority to have her husband killed in battle. If these are the men whom the narrator claims Gawain considers admirable, the narrator could be suggesting (even unintentionally) that Gawain is not “by far the most faultless fellow on earth” as the Green Knight suggests (2363).2

Above all else, it is paramount that readers notice the final line of the quotation: “but clear me of my crime” (2428). Gawain is not concerned with his misogynistic theology, the morally gray actions he committed throughout his quest, or even his supposed crime of loving himself more than the round table. Instead, he is frankly only concerned with preserving his reputation of moral perfection since his quest exposed him as “flawed and false” (2382). If Gawain were to be completely candid in his final quotation, it could read as something similar to this: “but clear me of my newfound reputation.” Throughout the narrative, Gawain is desiring to present himself as a chivalric man who protects women while seemingly not yielding to their expected sexual advantages (according to the antifeminist tradition); however, the opposite holds more truth. Through this line of his confession, Gawain shows that he is not primarily concerned for the safety of women—just the preservation of his own reputation—and blames all women (i.e., Delilah, Bathsheba, the wife of Lord Bertilak) for all of men’s failures. Ultimately, the antifeminist nature of the poem is only further highlighted at the end of the narrative as Gawain is celebrated by all the knights of Arthur’s court, who choose to adopt a green sash in honor of him as the ideal knight and chivalric man.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Translated by Simon Armitage, New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2007.