Hunting and Temptation Scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Essay Example

Hunting and Temptation Scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Written by an anonymous poet in the late 14th century Middle English (Cooke and Boulton 42), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an alliterative romance poem and as suggested by the title, it dwells on Sir Gawain’s early adventures as a knight (Lezerd). Apart from its romance taste, the poem reads as a tale of heroism, chivalry, as well as brave knights; it is laden with symbolism that makes it an engaging reading (Brewer 1). The poem consists of three hunts, three temptations and three distinct animals, all of which are significant to the themes and plot of the story (Putter 327); the hunting scenes, in particular, are numerous and extremely elaborate. It is obvious that the author was motivated to spend such great effort and space in such action scenes; this paper will examine the meaning and significance of the hunting and temptation scenes in the poem. It is an acknowledged fact that medieval people loved fables, particularly stories of animals with human qualities as portrayed by the rooster in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; medieval people believed that certain animals were capable of emotions, spirituality as well as intelligence. An exploration of the popular believes about the habits and temper of animals that were hunted by the medieval people is crucial to drawing parallels between the hunt outside and inside the castle, between the lady of the house and Gawain (Savage 1). The medieval huntsman distinguished the hunted animals into two classes, ‘beasts of venery’ and ‘beasts of chase’; the first class comprised of the male and female red deer, the wild boar and the wolf while the second one consisted of the male or female deer and the fox. Generally, the fox was known for its slyness and duplicity while the deer was considered honourable yet elusive to the hunt; the boar, while elusive, was capable of facing its assailant and striking back. In the poem, the story revolves around testing Gawain’s chivalry as while Bercilak hunts three animals, the deer, the boar and the fox, Gawain is pursued by the lady in the castle (Reutter 80); it is evident that the author has drawn parallels between the hunted animals and the temptations of Gawain in the castle. On the first day, the hunt is for a deer, which metaphorically represents the innocence and purity of Gawain as a highly decorated knight; the author offers a considerably lengthy and detailed description of the hunt and the eventual capture of the deer to highlight its symbolic significance. Nevertheless, the author offers even a more elaborate description of the slaughter and butchering of the meat, to emphasize its metaphorical significance; butchering of the deer symbolizes the fate that awaits Gawain at his encounter of the Green Knight. Inside the castle, the Lady first tempts Gawain, by entering his room and lying flat with fine adroitness and feigns sleep (Armitage 59); just like the shy deer in the first hunt, Gawain evades confrontation with the Lady. The correlation with the deer hunt is implied clearly, that Gawain is avoiding the lady and her seductions since he does not want to risk offending her; as a chivalrous knight that he is, Gawain is conscious of the fact that he must protect his honour (Brewer 6). Giving into the temptation of getting seduced by Bercilak’s wife would not only be an insult on the Lord of the castle, but also on the chivalrous knighthood code; consequently, Gawain remains as coy as the deer and opts to feign sleep rather than to face the Lady. In this scene, the relation between temptation and wooing is evident as just like the Lord pursues the hunted animals, so is Gawain by the Lady of the castle (Burnley 4). The second hunt is a wild boar, a fierce animal that is extremely difficult to catch and kill; the fierceness of the wild boar symbolizes Gawain’s reactions to the incessant advances from Bercilak’s wife. Gawain is steadfast in his resistance of the temptation of Bercilak’s wife, just like the wild boar is resistant to Bercilak’s hunt and capture, particularly because he must stay true to his reputation as a chivalrous and worthy knight. Unlike the deer, the boar is not an easy kill as it faces it assailants and fiercely fights back by tearing the dogs that attack it thereby hurting them in the process (Armitage 58). Just like the boar, Gawain faces the lady and instead of feigning sleep, he gives her a gracious welcome; the lady’s attempt to taunt Gawain by questioning his chivalrous manners is met with gentility at first but after a little pushing, Gawain snaps and bites back. The author establishes a correlation between the animal of the hunt and Gawain; since the boar is a beast of venery, it is noble in its resistance of the hunt, and so does Gawain in his noble reactions to the Lady’s temptation. The Willy and cunning fox is the hunt for the third day and it represents the witty way that Gawain resists temptation; nonetheless, Bercilak’s wife manages to trick Gawain into accepting the Green girdle (Myer 188). Gawain’s acceptance of the Green girdle as a gift from Bercilak’s wife represents his complacence and fall from perfect chivalry and knighthood because he ends up lying about the incidence to Bercilak, which is a great moral error (Danner 272). Back to the hunting, it is quite unexpected or unconventional that the foul fox is the hunt for the third day, especially coming after two impressive noble hunts of the deer and the boar. In fact, the author points out clearly that the fox is not only a thief, but also willy and shrew, thereby singling it out as a tainted beast; the fox remains true to its nature by proving difficult to track and kill. While the fox is leading the hunters on a chase that lasts through the entire afternoon, the Lady tempts Gawain again only that this time she is taking drastic measures to counteract Gawain’s resistance as in the previous failed attempts to seduce him. The Lady is not pretending at all and is keen on going for the kill as her breast and back is all bare in an alluring manner (Armitage 81); rather than merely enjoying her Lord’s absence, the Lady is just as resolved on her prey as Bercilack is upon the devious fox. In this context, Bercilak’s pursuit of the fox is equated to the Lady’s pursuit of Gawain in the castle; similarly, Gawain’s witty replies can be correlated with the desperate fox’s attempt to escape through trickery, which eventually lands it upon Bercilak’s waiting sword (Savage 5). Despite having successfully rebuffed the Lady’s sexual advances, Gawain fails in his bargain with Bercilak when he accepts the gift of the Green girdle; he unwittingly falls into the hunter’s trap by doing so. Since the deceitful fox lands into the hunter’s trap through its attempts to avoid the very trap, it is clear that Gawain will run straight into danger through his attempts to avoid harm from the green knight. Ultimately, it is evident that the elaborate descriptions offered by the author in the hunting and temptation scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are not only intentional, but also significant to both the plot and themes of the poem. The three animals of the hunt, the deer, the wild boar, and the fox were associated with certain human attributes in the medieval Middle English, which the author exploits in drawing parallels with Gawain in the poem. On the first day’s hunt, the author equates hunting to wooing as just like the deer, Gawain remains coy and opts to feign sleep rather than to face the Lady, which would be an insult both on the Lord of the castle and on the chivalrous knighthood code. On the second hunt, just as the boar is noble in its resistance of the hunt, so is Gawain in his reactions to the Lady’s temptation. In the third hunt, just as the deceitful fox lands into the hunter’s trap through its attempts to avoid the very trap, Gawain fails in his bargain with Bercilak when he accepts the gift of the Green girdle thereby falling into the hunter’s trap. Works Cited Savage, Henry. “The Significance of the Hunting Scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 27.1, (1928), pp. 1-15. Brewer, Elisabeth. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Sources and Analogues.” Cambridge: D.S Brewer. 1992. Print. Armitage, Simon. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. London: Faber and Faber. 2008. Print. Burnley, John. “The Hunting Scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” The Yearbook of English Studies 3 (1973): pp. 1-9 Lezerd, Nicholas. “There's life in the green giant yet: Nicholas Lezard on Simon Armitage's superb translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” Theguardian.com. 2008. Web. 6th Aug, 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/08/simonarmitage Putter, Ad. The knight on his quest: Symbolic patterns of transition in 'sir gawain and the green knight'. Medium Aevum, 66.2, (1997): 327-328. Danner, Bruce. "Epic Tears: The Dislocation of Meaning in Faulkner's "the Bear"." The Mississippi Quarterly 59.1 (2006): 271-94. Cooke, W. G., and Boulton, D'A J. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Poem for Henry of Grosmont?" Medium Aevum68.1 (1999): 42-54. Myer, Thomas. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Line 1771." The Explicator 53.4 (1995): 188. Reutter, Vicki. “Sir gawain and the green knight”. School Library Journal, 50.3, (2004): 80. Read More