ROLE OF WOMEN IN BEOWULF

The poem Beowulf centres on the masculine. It is written from a male perspective because its principal

characters are male, and it is heavily influenced by male-dominated themes such as valor, male heroism

and violence. The role of women is either as peace-weavers or they play an ornamented role.

For example Wealhtheow, who is Hrothgar's queen, is an embodiment of hospitality and good taste as

she hosts the banquets in Heorot. She is everything that a queen should be: generous, tasteful,

proper, and kind. Wealhtheow is a peace-weaver and takes an active role in diplomacy, generously

presenting Beowulf with a valuable gold collar and asking him to serve as counselor to her sons.

Wealhtheow is the perfect host. She is beautiful and richly attired, courteous, proper, and "excellent

in virtues" (623). Following decorum, she offers the first cup of mead to King Hrothgar, her husband.

She then proceeds through the hall, serving as she goes, but pays special attention to Beowulf,

greeting him appropriately and thanking God for sending the great warrior

ROLE OF WOMEN IN SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

In the thirteenth century when Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written Christian traditions created a

male-dominated society in which women had very little power. The paradigm of women in this era was a

delicate paradox: they were treated with idolatry and reverence, but were not respected as capable beings in

their own right. Much of the chivalric code that knights prided themselves on was based on the assumption that

women could not achieve much for themselves, and therefore men had to achieve it for them. However, the

plot of this poem indicates that women had the ability to achieve their needs and use their influence as they

desired. Through the characters of Morgan le Fay and the Lady Bercilak (referred to as “The crone and the

coquette”) one can witness the true power of women to achieve their ends through the manipulation of men

even in the patriarchal society of Camelot (1317).  Sir Gawain’s speech to Lord Bercilak reinforces that women

are the driving force of action in   Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Many of the themes are traditionally masculine ones- heroism, a quest, warlike conflict- but it is imperative

to note that the genesis of the story would not have occurred if it was not for the motives of the woman,

Morgan le Fay. Morgan le Fay is a sorceress who is Arthur’s half sister.: “The mistress of Merlin, she

caught many a man” (2448). Lord Bercilak tells Gawain that the reason he came to Arthur’s court in

disguise was on her command, “She puts the shape on me to puzzle your wits/ to afflict your fair queen,

and frighten her to death” (2459-2460). One is not certain why Lord Bercilak is doing Morgan Le Fay’s

bidding- it seems unlikely if not impossible that he would because of ‘courtly love’. It is more probable that

he is a man that she has “caught”, whether through physical attraction or through enchantments, “None

holds so high degree/ her arts cannot subdue” (2454-2455). Although many reading this poem would say

the major clash was between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, these two men are only pawns in a larger

conflict between the women Morgan le Fay and Queen Guinevere.

One of the key players in this larger conflict is Lady Bercilak. Ultimately the onus is on her to test Gawain’s

virtues through temptation. Eventually Gawain accedes to her charms by accepting one of her gifts, a

green girdle. While it seems that the feeling that Gawain has towards Lady Bercilak is mostly of a chaste

courtly love, it appears he also has a physical attraction to her, “The faults and frailty of the flesh

perverse/how its tenderness entices the foul taint of sin”(2435-2436). Lady Bercilak takes advantage of

Gawain’s attraction to her in order to control their interactions and use them for her purposes. It is clear in

this passage that Gawain blames the Lady Bercilak for his failure to adhere to the contract, “But if a

dullard should dote, deem it no wonder/ and through the wiles of a woman be wooed into sorrow” (2414-

2415). In his speech, Gawain acknowledges that he was outwitted by Lady Bercilak but given all of the

great men who have also been bested by women he, “thinks [he] may be excused” (2428). One can see

the cunning of Lady Bercilak as she systematically explores and capitalizes on Gawain’s weakness- his

fear of dying. She initially tries to give him a ring, but changes her tactics when she realizes he is not

tempted by material goods. The gift of the green girdle assuages his fears and provides the opportunity for

Lady Bercilak to show Gawain’s fallibility, and her own control over him.

In this passage Gawain admits that he was outsmarted by Morgan le Fay and Lady Bercilak, “Both [Lady

Bercilak] and that other, my honoured ladies/that have trapped their true knight in their trammels so

quaint” (2412-2413). But these women were more than just intelligent players in the plot of the poem Sir

Gawain and the Green Knight-they use their abilities and desires to fuel the events of the story. These

women are examples of how women can possess freedom and control even within the highly

constraining, patriarchal construct of medieval times.

Code of Chivalry: there was not an authentic Code of Chivalry as such. The Code of Chivalry was a

moral system which went beyond rules of combat and introduced the concept of Chivalrous conduct -

qualities idealized by the Medieval knights such as bravery, courtesy, honor and great gallantry toward

women. The Codes of chivalry also incorporated the notion of courtly love. The Code of Chivalry was the

honor code of the knight. The Code of Chivalry was an important part of the society and lives of people

who lived during the Medieval times and was understood by all.

Courtly love: was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry.

Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various

services for ladies because of their "courtly love". This kind of love is originally a literary fiction created for

the entertainment of the nobility, but as time passed, these ideas about love changed and attracted a

larger audience. In the high Middle Ages a "game of love" developed around these ideas as a set of social

practices. "Loving nobly" was considered to be an enriching and improving practice.

ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE CONTERBURY TALES

Chaucer had a keen perception of the attitudes and philosophies which were emerging and shaping the

roles specific to people's lives. Among these were ideas and customs which had dictated extremely

submissive lives for women. One of his characters, the Wife of Bath, contradicts many of these oppressive

customs and asserts her own assessment of the roles of women in society and in relationships. However,

while attempting to assert female dominance over men, the effect the Wife desires is to bring men and

women to a more balanced level of power.

No attempt to change the minds of others with regard to social order could possibly be effective without

a statement of the shortcomings of the current order. She does state several clever examples of how her

society currently treats women unfairly. She states that double standards for women and men are too

common and are deeply rooted in culture. She says that the teachings of Christ tell her, "That by the

same ensample taughte he me / That I ne sholde wedded be but ones" (p. 117, ll. 12-13). She knows

though that many holy men have had more than one wife and states:

I woot wel Abraham was an holy man,

And Jacob eek, as fer as evere I can,

And eech of hem hadde wives mo than two,

And many another holy man also. (p. 118, ll. 61-64)

In this manner, the wife addresses the justification for looking down on women who have been married

more than once. She shows that they are comparable in morals to men who have also had more than

one spouse.

Women are also subject to what would now be termed Catch 22s in their relationships with men. These

inescapable paradoxes from which men are exempt are also part of what the wife believes is keeping

women subservient. As part of her invective against one of her husbands, the wife explains how women

are often put in no-win situations. She says, "And if that she be fair, thou verray knave, / Thou saist that

every holour wol hire have" (p. 122, ll. 259-60). She then shows how women are stigmatized even if they

are ugly, because then they become the ones with insatiable sexual appetites:

And if that she be foul, thou saist that se

Coviteth every man she may see;

For as a spaniel she wol on him lepe,

Til that she finde som man hire to chepe. (p. 173, ll. 271-74)

"Of five husbands scowling am I," (p.118, l. 51) the wife explains in order to show the experience from

which she makes her bid for change in relationships between men and women. She also states that three

of them were old and rich and two young and wild. The older ones, she says, were good because she

could bring them under her control through her tirades against the ways women are treated. Further,

once they had passed on, she was left with enough property and wealth to ensure that she was

comfortable. But she does not achieve her goal until later when she actually fights with her fifth husband

and, by requiring him to admit her dominance, brings them to an even level in their relationship.

The wife explains that the fifth husband was particularly cruel in his assessment of wives. He also

asserted his dominance over the wife by showing off his education in a particularly nasty manner. He

reads to her from a book of wicked wives. The fight that eventually brings them together is begun when,

out of pure frustration and anger, the wife rips three pages out of his book. The quarrel turns physical but

leads to the husband's realization that he must yield to her. Once this occurs, though, he and the wife

enter into a new level in their relationship where they respect and are kind to each other:

After that day we hadde nevere debat.

God help me so, I was to him as kinde

As any wif from Denmark unto Inde,

And also trewe and so was he to me. (p. 135, ll. 828-31)

The wife then achieves what she wanted through all her shrewish behavior: the realization of a

relationship in which the partners mutually respect each other and share the power.

The realism of the wife's life with five husbands, the cruelty, and the eventual understanding she

reaches with number five are all mirrored in the witty tale she tells. She begins by showing how, even

under the rule of King Arthur and his chivalrous knights, women are at the mercy of men by having the

knight rape a young maid. Immediately, though she begins to weave in her philosophy by showing that

the queen could get the king to leave the knight's life in her hands. Further, the task given the knight by

the queen, to find out "What thing it is that women most desiren" (p. 136, l. 911), is important because in

reality very little attention is paid to what women want. This places the focus of the story on women's

need's rather than men's.

The relationship that develops between the knight and the hag also illustrates the wife's intention of

showing that submission to the desires and needs of women does not result in the male being dominated.

Actually, the end result is again two people who are happy and secure in their love for one another and

respectful of each other's power. The knight concedes in the end that he is not able to choose between

having her ugly and trustworthy or beautiful and lecherous. He finally gives her the power to decide for

the two of them what would be the best:

"My lady and my love, and wif so dere,

I putte me in youre wise governaunce:

Cheseth yourself which may be most plisaunce

And most honor to you and me also." (p. 143, ll. 1236-39)