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Kera Dukes

Dr. Alice Blackwell

ENGL 3020

November 11, 2022

The Failures of Knighthood

Knights are known for having qualities such as chivalry, bravery, and compassion. What

makes a great knight, and conversely, what does this mean for those who fail to meet these

requirements? Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” tells the story of a knight’s quest to

save his reputation and life. We see his mistake, his efforts to prove to the queen his worth, and

his overall character development. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is a reputable

noble knight who seeks the Green Knight to complete their pact. His story is similar to the

knight’s from “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale,” as Gawain develops character throughout his

mission. Although both pieces have different values of what it means to be a good knight, “Wife

of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight each provide an interesting

take on how the authors conceive the failures of knighthood.

The controversial ending to “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” is what attributes to the

knight’s overall characterization. In review, we can start to dissect what the story deems as

knightly. At the start of the story, readers are immediately told that the knight has raped a young

maiden. The only way he can save himself from being put to death is by traveling across the land

to find out what women desire the most. He soon discovers the answer from a hag: women want

to dominate their husbands, and then the knight must repay her for helping him. She demands

that they get married, which is not something he particularly desired. His new wife asks him if
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she should become beautiful and promiscuous, or hideous and loyal. Tired of her antics and just

glad to be safe from reparation, the knight decides she could have it her way. The way the knight

carries himself throughout the story is that of a man who just wants to complete a mission to save

himself from punishment bestowed upon himself for his heinous crime. His actions have not

been proven to be very chaste or chivalrous, as evidenced by his crime. Solving the queen’s

answer as to what women desire most, at the very least, makes him correct, but did he learn a

lesson? The only thing at stake was his life, and to fulfill a quest half-heartedly for one’s own

personal gain is shallow, according to Irony in the Wife of Bath’s Tale: “Although he is a knight

he has still to learn that he cannot do just as he pleases, it is worth noting now that the lesson he

is to be taught is hardly a profoundly moral one…” (Slade 244). The rape of the young mistress

is never mentioned again, yet his crime is forgiven and he is left unscathed. The knight’s refusal

to choose which form the hag should take shows his carelessness of the situation: “I do no fors

the whether of the two, / For as you liketh it suffiseth me” (Chaucer 1240-1241). Upon finding

the answer to the queen’s mission, there is nothing left to tie his person down. The hag’s fatal

error occurred when she gave him the answer before marrying him, and knowing this, the knight

took advantage of her. We can see the true nature of the knight through these actions. Towards

the end, he shows no growth or wants to change; the knight is free from punishment. It might

seem as if there is no way the knight could possibly redeem himself from his terrible mistake.

There may have been a solution for redemption, but since the knight chose not to go out of his

way to show a bit more compassion, this makes him a failure of a knight. In Chaucer’s tale, the

knight’s downfall and overall indifference to fulfilling his knightly duties show readers the

intentions of the knight all along.

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Gawain’s development in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reflects the kind of knight he

ends up being despite making a mistake along the way. In contrast to the knight from “Wife of

Bath’s Prologue and Tale,” Gawain embodies many positive qualities of a knight, such as

generosity, friendship, chastity, chivalry, and piety. All of these qualities are exhibited in his

actions throughout the story. When he offers to fight the Green Knight in place of King Arthur,

he displays chivalry. Bravery is displayed in his willingness to meet the Green Knight a year

later. When Gawain is to be seduced by a lady, he does not slip into temptation because he is

chaste and respectful. However, some of the negative qualities Gawain shows are pride in his

good nature and deceitfulness. He accepts the green girdle from the lady without telling the lord

when the lord and Gawain had made a deal. This is Gawain’s downfall, and he ends up failing

the quest he was put up to by the Green Knight:

The narrative in general is an account of a serious test of Sir Gawain's chivalry, loyalty,

and honour. First of all, having accepted the Green Knight's challenge, he is faced with a

serious dilemma. If he backs out, he loses his honour, and if he does not, he is certain he

will lose his life. And within this test he is faced with an almost equally serious dilemma,

the lady's seductive advances. If he gives in to her seduction, he loses his honour, and if

he does not, he is discourteous towards his hostess. (Jucker)

Gawain’s dilemma is a catch twenty-two. Perfect or not, Gawain’s faults are used as a way to

show that a true “good” knight is one who is human and sometimes makes mistakes. Sir Gawain

and the Green Knight is centered around the qualities of a knight and adventure, whereas “Wife

of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” is a satire of a morally corrupt knight who displays no decency

towards women. The knight from “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” completes his quest yet
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fails at becoming a better person, while Gawain fails his quests and accepts his failure as

something to grow from. The knight wears the girdle proudly as a sign of his failure:

“Look, my lord,” said Gawain, the lace in his hand.

“This belt confirms the blame I bear on my neck,

My bane and debasement, the burden I bear

For being caught by cowardice and covetousness. (The Green Knight 2505-2508)

At the end of the story, Gawain returns to the kingdom to be greeted by cheerful crowds of

people awaiting his return. Once they find out his quest had been failed, nothing more than a slap

on the wrist was endured by Gawain.

Both knights faced downfall due to different circumstances. Whether it be a moral

downfall or the failure of a quest, both knights reveal their flaws in unique ways. The author of

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight understands the restrictions knighthood puts on knights to be

perfect in every way. Yet, Gawain is a true hero for his acceptance of his mistake. Chaucer’s

“Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” satirizes a corrupt knight to explain the concept of the

ridiculousness of medieval society at the time while telling the story of a morally corrupt knight.

The knight’s downfall was revealed at the very start of the tale, which even offered a chance for

the knight to redeem himself, yet he did not. Each piece leaves an open-ended question for

readers to ponder at the end. What would have happened had Gawain not lied about his

possession of the lady’s girdle? What would have become of the knight from “Wife of Bath’s

Prologue and Tale” if he put effort into the queen’s question; could he have become a more

understanding knight?
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Works Cited

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” The Longman Anthology of British Literature, Volume 1A,

edited by David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar, Longman Publishers, 2010, pp

222-277.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.” The Canterbury Tales. Harvard’s

Geoffrey Chaucer Website, Harvard University, 2006,

chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/wife-baths-prologue-and-tale-0, Accessed 28 Oct 2022.

Jucker, Andreas H. "Courtesy and politeness in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Studia

Anglica Posnaniensia: International Review of English Studies, vol. 49, no. 3, Dec. 2014,

pp. 5+. Gale Literature Resource Center,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A417895816/LitRC?u=lln_alsua&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=db

f3aba8. Accessed 11 Nov. 2022.

Slade, Tony. “Irony in the Wife of Bath’s Tale.” The Modern Language Review, vol. 64, no. 2,

1969, pp. 241–47. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3723432. Accessed 12 Nov. 2022.