Gawain, the Knight at Night

So it's been a while since I blogged but todays discussion revolving around Gawain and his relationship with the queen intrigued me a little. First off, I'd like to say that, as a knight, Gawain is responsible for holding a very high moral standard. We discussed the 5 5's in class, and although many virtues were not included, one could assume that honesty and integrity are characteristics thats knights should display. I'm not an expert in typical medieval marriages, but I'm guessing that a wife should not hook up with someone other than her husband, and a knight (especially as awesome as Gawain) should not hook up or possibly even have sex with a married woman. What really makes the situation worse is that Gawain is a guest and allows the host's wife to come to his bed. Could it get any more messed up? Sure. To reward Gawain for his deceit and scandalous nature, the King rewards him with some hunted game everyday. Real good Gawain, real good. However, there maybe (and most likely will be) a consequence for Gawain's actions, or his lack there of. Seeing as how the writer of Gawain and the Green Knight was said to be quite religious, I imagine that the "wrongs" that Gawain commits now while come back to bite him in the end. Karma dude, it's comin after ya.

The next thing I want to talk about this the 5 of 5's of 5 pointed...star...thing.... Something else I wanted to include with the whole "hands discussion" was that the hands are used to pray (at least physically). I'm not sure if this is a legitimate symbol that actually plays a part in the authors original concept, or if it is simply a coincidence, but I can safely say that physically, our hands play a major role in our lives, and even more so back then. Now onto the "5 Joys of Mary". I really don't see how this fits in anywhere or for any reason. The joys of mary really aren't relevant to anything in the story (so far as I can tell). This leads me to believe that the author, as religious as he was, probably snuck this into the story to simply include biblical material. Maybe he did this because of his Christian nature, or maybe he did it because, well, he was just kinda writing on the fly and had to come up with something. There probably is a deeper meaning behind the 5 joys, but my measly freshman mind cannot comprehend it. Next, the senses... Well I can actually see how this could be an important aspect of medieval life. Back in the 400-500's, science wasn't so well established, so basically everything that could be taken in from the world around you seemed to be superficial (at least to us know). The senses were something that were not totally understood by medieval men and women but they played a huge role in day to day life. For example, in battle, knights relied upon their sense of touch, sight, and hearing. It was these senses that made a knight capable of battle, so I can see where this fits into the star of awesomeness, or pentagram, whatever. I can't remember all of the virtues that were displayed in class (I should have taken notes) but I do remember that Chastity, Friendliness, Chivalry and Free-Giving were most of them. Oh, and piety..just remembered that. Anyways, call me crazy but I believe that friendliness would include respect for another man and his property and treasures. For some reason, sleeping with your host's wife doesn't seem to fit in with any of the categories that were listed as virtues in the penta (-penta?) gram. Sure you could argue that Gawain hooked up with the 'Ol fair lady because he was because chivalrous and she wanted to be with him, but really? Being the courageous and great knight that he is, I think Gawain could turn down a lustful wife. Besides, a one night stand with a cheating wife seems like a better thing to give up than virtues that have shaped Gawain's very own persona and individuality. He's basically destroying his own credo for a couple smacks on the lips. Great choice...(sarcasm).

WC: 700+