Paul Matteo
Eng. 611
Prof. Mueller
9 June 2015
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Lesson
In comparing Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with The Knight of the Sword, I was struck
by the differing assumptions evinced by Sir Gawain/Gauvain in each. This lesson will focus on
the cultural differences inherent in each and what these differences say about the culture from
which they come.
I would begin by assigning The Knight of the Sword for homework. Students would read the
entire story for content, looking up any unfamiliar words and writing down any questions they
had. In class, we would go over their questions and check for understanding. The close reading
in class would focus on pps. 73-77. In groups, students would brainstorm about what they know
about knights for 2 minutes. Then these characteristics are compiled into a class list. Then each
group would compile of meaningful events, statements, or behaviors by the lady and Gauvain .
Lastly, students will attempt to explain what these events, statements, or behaviors tell us about
the society from which the come. Among the examples students could cite are:
1. The host arranges for his daughter to share a bed with Gauvain and entreats her to do
Gauvain’s bidding. (73)
2. They embrace until Gauvain “was on the point of consummating his desires” (73).
3. The lady reveals that it is a trick whereby Gauvain will be killed for “misbehaving” (73).
She asks him to cease with his attentions.
4. Gauvain refuses, justifying his behavior by saying the story would get out and he would
be shamed for forgoing his desire based merely on the wishes of the lady in question.
(74)
5. Later, when they meet the knight in the forest and the lady forsakes him, Gauvain tells us,
“the nature and love of a dog are worth more than the way a woman behaves” (77). And
“women have been thus since God made them” (77).
The kinds of analysis students might arrive at are:
1. Fathers have absolute and unquestioned control over their daughters, and they can
sacrifice their daughter’s virtue to entrap wayward knights.
2. Gauvain has no thought or concern as to whether he is bound to control his passion.
3. The woman must love Gauvain because she reveals the plan to save his life.
4. Gauvain will not stop because he is afraid others will find out and he will be shamed for
not taking his prerogative. Since we can assume he will not reveal the story himself, it is
the lady who is untrustworthy.
5. Women are disparaged for being untrustworthy because it is their legacy from Eve.
Students would write a paragraph about gender roles in this culture for homework.
The readings in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight focus on the three episodes that take place
with the lady in the bedchamber. The first section covers lines 1178 to 1308. In this, the roles
are reversed. The lady wishes to consummate the meeting, but Gawain refuses to do so. What I
found interesting in The Knight of the Sword are the assumptions made by the knight and by the
lady. The knight does not act with those qualities, such as noble purity, that I assume all knights
to embody. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain’s behavior is more in keeping with
standard connotations of chivalry.
In groups, students first define any difficult words and write down questions they have.
These is first discussed among them, and then opened up to class discussion. Then students look
through the text for statements, events, and behaviors made of both the lady and the Gawain that
are important. Among the evidence students might choose are:
1. The lady’s first words include such insinuating words as “slip in,” “taken,” and “I shall
bind you in your bed.” (33) Gawain answers, “permit your prisoner to rise.” (33) We are
told these things are said in jest, but the sexual imagery is clear.
2. Later, the lady chides him by telling if he were a model knight, he would have kissed her.
He grants her request, and we are told, “she…takes him in her arms, leans down her
lovely head, and lo! He is kissed. In this meeting the lady is both the instigator and
aggressor. Although Gawain willingly kisses her, the perception is that she is
unrestrained one.
In their second meeting in lines 1469 – 1557, the lady is at his bedside again. Students may
find meaning in the following:
1. We are told she comes “with guile in her heart, /Came early where he lay; /She was at
him with all her art /To turn his mind her way. This reinforces her as the deceiver. She
reminds him he should kiss her, “As accords with the conduct of courteous knights.”
(39).
2. He demurs, saying “Such freedom, I fear, may offend you” (39). Her rejoinder, “You
are stout enough to constrain with strength,” (39) invites him to satisfy his desires.
3. The writer names her goal of seduction by telling us, “She tested his temper and tried
many a time,/Whatever her true intent, to entice him to sin” (41). The outcome is that the
temptress is unsuccessful. They kiss once and she departs. It is the lady who is sinful,
while the knight remains pure.
The third encounter occurs in lines 1733-1869, where the situation changes. Students will
again look for important evidence among which may be:
1. The lady comes again to his bedside, “Her face and her fair throat freely displayed;/Her
bosom all but bare, and her back as well” (45).
2. Sexually charged words are again used, “pricked,” “swelled,” and “surging” (45).
3. While the lady “Made so plain her meaning, the man must either take her tendered love
or distastefully refuse” (46), Sir Gawain will not “belie his loyal oath to the lord of that
house” (46).
4. The lady asks for a gift, which Gawain cannot give. Then she offers him a ring, which
Gawain refuses. The real temptation comes when she offers him her enchanted girdle,
saying, “For the man that possesses this…There is no hand under heaven that could hew
him down,/For he could not be killed by any craft on earth” (48).
The meaning for students to find in these passages could show that:
1. The lady is clearly the “temptress,” a term the text uses more than once. This reinforces the
Bible teachings and promotes patrimony.
2. Sir Gawain remains sexually restrained and pure, tempted though he be. This upholds the
notions of chivalry.
3. Where he falls short is in faith, or perhaps bravery. He knows what he has let himself in for
when he accepts the Green Knight’s challenge. He fails by trusting neither God nor himself
enough. He does not want to die, and he is willing to resort to enchantment to insure that.
The final part of this lesson would be a paper comparing and contrasting the two stories.
Work Cited
Anonymous. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: Norton Critical Edition, 2010.
Print.