‘Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is actually an epic about female power rather than masculine

virtues.’
At first glance, Gawain and the Green Knight might be seen only as a story that discusses
masculinity: promotes it, challenges it and question it within the character of Gawain. Yet is it possible
that, though we follow a male protagonist throughout the epic, the core of the poem is actually an
exploration of feminine power, and its impact on a patriarchal world? Indeed, it must be understood that
the focus on each gender is not mutually exclusive, and yet considering the emphasis Medieval poetry had
on the chivalry and general merit of man, the commentary on women is surprising and revolutionary- in a
work named for two knights, no less.
The poet highlights the importance of the ladies, especially Guinevere, within the dynamics of the
court with some subtlety in comparison to the glorification of the knights; yet it cannot and should not be
ignored. When a game is played before the feast the poet writes that the “Ladies laghed ful loude thogh
thay lost haden”1. Though on the surface the line simply suggests that men are often victorious in
challenges, what it might instead demonstrate is a freedom that women alone possess. Like Sir Gawain,
all the knights are held to the same standard – they are expected to be both courageous and skillful;
Gawain’s shield, with its “pentangle”2 emblazoned on it, is not only a symbol of Gawain’s virtues, but the
high expectations men are pressured towards achieving. The “ladies” of the court are to a great extent free
of such pressures – they are allowed to have fun, and instead of needing to win in a mere parlour game
can “lagh ful loude” even when they lose. The lines about the game being played therefore may act as a
microcosm for the world of Medieval England generally, for if women are not bound to the necessity to
constantly prove themselves ‘worthy’, as Gawain is forced to throughout the epic, they are the sole
bearers of a certain freedom, which is arguably a kind of power. Yet not all women’s power is ‘hidden’ in
such a way; The lengthy description of her in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight illustrate what women
look like when they have gained a more perceptible power. Guinevere’s surroundings surely signify her
high status, the “smal sendal besides, a selure her over” 3 suggesting a sense of exclusivity that indicates
she is special amongst the courtiers, but the poet’s word choice of “graythed” 4, like a precious stone,
shows that she is also rare and beautiful as a jewel. The themes of jewels is carried on with the lines “That
were enbrawed and beten, with the best gemmes”5, informing the reader that not only is she herself like a
jewel, but the rich cloth hanging around her are also embedded with beautiful stones; the imagery this
offers the reader is a glittering one, of not only Guinevere but the area around her a sight to behold and
admire. And yet even surrounded by these choice cloths and expensive jewelry the poet emphasizes that
she still shines the brightest, “the comlokest to discrye” 6 and “a semloker that ever he sye/soth myght no
man say”7. By “man” the poet could mean people in general, but it still brings to light the power of beauty
that women have over men, due to their consequent ability to attract male attention. Medieval anatomical
theory dictated that though “man is master of his own actions because of his ability to deliberate about
them”8, his rationality is only at risk when met with feminine beauty, and lovesickness is a result of that
rationality breaking down as a result – a phenomenon that women are exempt from because their brains

1
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, from The Works of the Gawain Poet, (Penguin Classics: London) 2014, Line 69
2
Ibid Line 620
3
Ibid Line 76
4
Ibid Line 74
5
Ibid Line 78
6
Ibid Line 80
7
Ibid Lines 82-3
8
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae
are too ‘flighty’ for such profundity.9 Although this theory does show how the intelligence of women was
undermined and this is indeed a misogynistic society, it also implicitly acknowledges that the physical
appeal of women has the power to render men completely irrational. And though Guinevere herself does
not play an active role in this epic, her existence is important due to the similarities between her
appearance and that of Lady Bertilak: “Ho was the fairest in felle – of flesch and of lere,/ And of compass
and colour, and costes of all other,/ And wener then Wenore, as the wye thoghte,/ Ho chese thurgh the
chaunsel to cherisch that hende.”10 Though the Lady’s physical description is not as detailed or arguably
as impressive as that of Guinevere, the simple comparison “and wener than Wenore” indicates a small
superiority of the Lady Bertilak over the Queen herself, at least in Gawain’s eyes, which immediately
casts her as the role of the “desirable” within the epic. In fact, a reader could even adopt the view that
“Guenevere is deliberately linked by spatial and verbal continuities with the Lady, for the Lady's first
appearance is peculiarly designed to trigger our memory of Guenevere, whom she simultaneously
reproduces and supplants”11. Thus, the poet plants a seed earlier on in the poem so that the reader can
draw a link between the two and recognise the feminine power in both of them. In Gawain and the Green
Knight, women in court are presented as powerful in their own ways, without the weaknesses of either
being plagued by high expectations for physical capabilities and unwavering courage, or (according to
Medieval thinking) the effect beauty has on the mind, both tribulations that the main male protagonist
Gawain faces and to an extent fails.
Arguably, Morgan Le Fey’s possession of magic might undermine the power she has simply as a
woman, but it is still noticeable that this crucial plot point turns the idea of patriarchy and traditional
masculine power on its head. The Green Knight explains that “Ho wayned me upon this wyse to your
wynne hall/ For to assay the sorquydrye, if hit soth were./ That rennes of the grete renoun of the Round
Table”12, the words “wayned” and “assay” particularly bringing out the power that Morgan Le Fey holds,
that she could be in such a position to order men to do her bidding and even test Gawain in such a way –
of course, by extension, questioning the integrity of the Round Table as a whole. Indeed, she only had the
power to do this due to her grasp of magic, which is said to derive from “the maystres of Merlin” 13, who
is pointedly also a man. On the other hand, though, all the magic does is facilitate the illusion of Lord
Bertilak, who was presented to Gawain and Arthur’s court as the Green Knight; her magic had no effect
on Gawain’s actions, but simply set up the challenge for him. These power dynamics are certainly
interesting because of the flipping of traditional gender roles – it is a woman who is omniscient and the
source of power in the situation, using a man for his physical appearance in order to trap Gawain.
Furthermore, the phrasing of “Morgue the Goddess/ Therefore hit is her name” 14 uncovers another kind of
power: that of a name. The Green Knight uses it earlier on in the epic - “The Knight of the Grene Chapel,
men known me mony:/ Forthy me for to fynde if thou fraystes, fayles thou never” 15 – in order to establish
that Gawain has no choice but to complete his task. Though ‘Morgan Le Fey’ does not hold the exact
same power in this situation, it puts a name to the “transpersonal” 16 being that she is. The name represents
the threat to the harmony and balance of Arthur’s court as well as the assumption that Gawain is truly an

9
Jacqueline Tasioulas, Beauty and the Mind (2021)
10
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, from The Works of the Gawain Poet, (Penguin Classics: London) 2014, Lines
934-936
11
Geraldine Heng, Feminine Knots and the other Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,
12
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, from The Works of the Gawain Poet, (Penguin Classics: London) 2014, Lines
2456-8
13
Ibid Line 2448
14
Ibid Lines 2451-52
15
Ibid Lines 454-5
16
Stephen Manning, A Psychological Interpretation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 1964
‘ideal’ knight – and thus is a consolidation of power in a way. Thus, Morgan Le Fey acts as symbol for
the ability that woman have for grasping the power that men possess: demonstrating the absurdity of the
patriarchy.
Even though it is revealed to us that Morgan Le Fey was the ‘puppet-master’ within the epic, the
most active female character throughout is undoubtedly Lady Bertilak, who perhaps cannot be deemed
the cause, but maybe the catalyst, of the breakdown of Sir Gawain’s ‘perfect’ image. A prominent part of
the characterization of Gawain, and indeed the traditional ‘knight’ figure in general, is the quality of
honesty, and it is this which Lady Bertilak attacks with her nightly visits to his bed chamber. Gawain first
makes physical contact with her when he kisses her hand: “When Gawan glyght on that gay that
graciously loked…He kysses her comlyly and knightly he meles” 17. The poet uses the word “comlyly”
perhaps to keep Gawain’s ideal image intact, to acknowledge that at this point in the story the reader is
still meant to see Gawain as chivalrous in every way. And yet he has already been taken in by her beauty,
comparable to that of Guinevere, and thus she is “a personal source of temptation for Gawain” 18. Indeed,
he is honourable enough to refuse any sexual advances on her part, showing that he is not motivated by
lust, but instead of persisting Lady Bertilak shows that women are not limited to the power given to them
by physical appeal. That she says “I schuld chepen and chsoe to cheve me a lorde,/For the costes that I
have known…/ Of beaute, of debonerte, of blythe semblaunce” 19 is arguably not to ingratiate herself or
coax him into committing adultery, but subtly allowing him to prioritize his virtue of chivalry over his
quality of honesty, so that by the third night he chooses to indulge her over telling the truth to Lord
Bertilak. The poet’s choice to leave the reader unaware of Morgan Le Fey’s, or indeed anyone else’s
involvement in Lady Bertilak’s ploy allows us to consider her motives as a character, and consequently to
acknowledge her individual power; It is arguably by her efforts alone that Gawain is faced with his true
challenge. What a reader may conclude about the flaws in the ideal that Gawain represents therefore also
suggests how the power of men and women can be matched, and even in a patriarchal society men can be
not only challenged but overpowered by a woman.
In conclusion, it is proven in the events within Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that women can
successfully wield power that men both can and cannot possess, using it to throw the patriarchal and
idealist world of Camelot into chaos, and therefore a feminist reading of this epic (which on the surface
may be merely an exploration of male virtues) is a strong interpretation. The effect that this reading has is
only augmented by the medium of a legend retold time and time again, juxtaposing a traditional story and
form with social commentary that was ahead of its time.

17
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, from The Works of the Gawain Poet, (Penguin Classics: London) 2014, Lines
970-5
18
Stephen Manning, A Psychological Interpretation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 1964
19
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, from The Works of the Gawain Poet, (Penguin Classics: London) 2014, Lines
1271-1273