In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,
Sir Gawain is tempted three times by the beautiful wife of his
host.
The first time he meets her is on the morning after
his arrival at her husbands estate. He lies late in bed and she enters his room without
knocking. His hostess flirts with him outrageously and claims to have captured "her
knight" exposing thereby her complete confidence that he will in every respect do
whatever any damsel requests of him, as befits a chivalrous gentleman. Caught between
chivalry towards his hostess and honor towards her husband, his host, he treads a
razor's edge of words, "Gawayne behaves most discreetly, for the remembrance of his
forthcoming adventure at the Green Chapel prevents him from thinking of love (ll.
1205-1289)" and in the end escapes by only having to receive from the woman a single
kiss. This he "returns" to her husband when he arrives later in the day from the hunt,
according to the agreement between Sir Gawain and his host. He declines to reveal from
whom he had first gotten the kiss that he returns to his host, citing that such a
revelation was not a part of the deal.
The following
morning, the scenario is again replayed between Sir Gawain and his host's wife. She
again steals into his room and tries to force herself on him. This time, she calls upon
his reputation as a romantic and bids him to teach her of love. Sir Gawain eludes her
net by declaring his hostess to be more educated therin than he and "Thus did our knight
avoid all appearance of evil, though sorely pressed to do what was wrong (ll.
1525-1552)" He escapes this second meeting with nothing more incriminating than two
kissses, which he again "returns" to his host.
The third
and last morning's meeting between Sir Gawain and his Hostess is by far the most
tempting. When she again comes into his bedchamber, their meeting is so cheerful and and
gay that "had not Mary thought of her knight, he would have been in great peril (ll.
1731-1769)"
When it becomes clear that Sir Gawain will not
give in to temptation, his hostess asks if he has pledged himself to another woman. He
assures her that he has not, and that he has no wish to do so. At this the woman sighs
with romantic drama and asks of him a token of rememberance, "if it were only a glove,
by which she might "think on the knight and lessen her grief" (ll. 1770-1800)." Since
Sir Gawain has nothing but the clothes on his back, he regretfully informs his hostess
that he has nothing to give.
At this point, the woman
decides to press a gift of her own on Sir Gawain. First she tries to give him a gold
ring with a beautiful, shining stone. He insists that since he has nothing to give her
in return, that he cannot accept the gift. Thinking that "'because it seems too rich,
and ye would not be beholden to me, I shall give you my girdle that is less valuable"
(ll. 1801-1835)." She gives him a green lace girdle that endows any man who wears it
with invincibility.
At first, Sir Gawain refuses the girdle
as he had refused the ring. However, when he learns that 'he who is girded with this
green lace cannot be wounded or slain by any man under heaven.'(ll. 1836-1865)," his
desire for self preservation gets the better of him and he accepts the gift and the
promise to keep the same a secret.
No comments:
Post a Comment