I cannot help but wonder why Gawayne receives such short shrift at Mallory's hands. In all the Arthurian Tales, Gawayne appears as the near perfect knight (bar Percival and Galahad); however, in Mallory, Gawayne appears rather crass and far from heroic. When he and Awayne and Marhaute go on their quests with the three ladies of the fountain, it is Gawayne who loses his lady. At first I thought I had blanked out and I backtracked to see where I lost her. However, my quest was not realized. Then towards the end of the tale, I realized that Gawayne had actually mislayed her. That is a little strange. Furthermore, I cannot understand why Gawayne treated Sir Pelleas so shabbily. Something does not add up. I am unable to follow Mallory's depiction of Gawayne. There is something vindictive in the representation that I am missing. Is there another fan of Gawayne's who is equally disappointed?
In Mallory, Arthur seems to be all over the place with his grey eyes and frightening visage. Whereas Guinevere is mild and gentle, and Merlin more of a flibbertigibbet. The second book concerning the war with Rome is very similar to Geoffery which I presume was his source.
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Gawain hasn't been all that goody-goody lately ... in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, he rather screwed up a bit. Maybe Malory read SGGK and is responding to that poem by helping Gawain along in his fall from grace in Arthurian stories? Or maybe he needs a foil to Lancelot and other, better knight, and he finds cutting down Gawain the best approach?
ReplyDeleteAs in my post about Morgan le Fay, maybe this is just one part of an evolution of the character of Gawain. We've seen him as the epitome of a knight, then as a more questionable knight (a womanizer, in a couple stories), then as an even more questionable knight who fails Morgan's test (SGGK). Malory's depictions of Gawain seem part of this progression, especially if we note Malory's tendency to push characters further in one direction or another. Gawain degenerates, Morgan is blackened, Guinevere is sweetened up, Merlin is "more of a flibbertigibbet," and etc. etc.
Tara-- I'm not sure I agree that Gawain can be said to have failed Morgan's test in SGGK or that he is anyone but our (the reader's) hero in that text. Everything he does is sort of... non-egregious and perfect in knightly grace; he learns a lesson, and at the end of the poem is humble and penitent.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I like your thought about "Malory's tendency to push characters further in one direction or another." In many of the texts we've read, Gawain, our knight exemplar, is either used as a symbol for knightliness (chivalry, courtly grace, battle-ready, friend of the people) in order to make a statement about knightliness; or as a foil for another knight who surpasses the best secular knight because of some special spiritual feature. You could see that kind of ambivalence in some writers becoming disdain in others.
By now you will probably have encountered Stephen H. A. Shepherd's note to the Tale of Sir Gareth about Malory's darkening of Gawain's character and how it appears to reflect different national traditions about Gawain, with English texts generally presenting a more heroic Gawain while French texts generally show him as more wicked. In no small measure this will contribute to the working out of the plot that pits Lancelot's kindred and allies against Gawain's kindred and allies at the end of the tragic Arthurian history as transmitted by the Morte Darthur...but we'll get there anon!
ReplyDeleteI think what happened was that Malory wanted to build up Lancelot and if Gawain is the perfect knight then we wont fall for it. Therefore, he has to make him a 'jealous' knight in the middle of the book while he is creating another more than perfect knight. At the end he comes back to earth and Gawain is restored.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, regarding SGGK, I dont think Gawain really failed the test set up by Morgan...after all he did not dishonor his host, just had the green belt.
I agree with Tara that Malory is responding to SGGK, but I also think he, Malory, read The Quest for the Holy Grail. Gawain has a passage in SGGK that is very similar to one Lancelot has in Quest, where there is a long description of his virtues (and failings). In SGGK the narrator devotes some space to Gawain's virtues and at the end of the story the green knight explains Gawain's sin was of loyalty , and that he understands he wanted to save his life, but that he remained "the most faultless fellow on earth". In Quest sin/virtue is a black or white situation...this green knight is more merciful, more flexible about sin, Gawain confessed and made penance and was deemed ok...in SGGK sin is a much more gray area than Quest. Lancelot confessed like ..was it four times? until he was permitted to see the Grail. Tough hermits, easy green knight.
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