Women in Arthurian Legend

There is a period in Erec et Enide where Erec is considered disgraced because of his affection for Enide. They are equal in their relationship and this is considered unhealthy by the other knights. During this period it can be construed that Enide had agency and had control over her husband’s life as well as her own. However, for all to be well in a patriarchal setting the equality in their relationship must be offset and she relinquishes her agency in order for her husband to regain respect. This loss of agency is exemplified through her forced silence, “Great is her despair and dismay, for she does not dare to address her lord, who often threatens and chides at her and charges her to hold her peace” (Chrétien de Troyes book 2). Even the exceptions where women have some agency it is limited and not acknowledged

While in Sir Gawain And The Green Knight the wife’s apparent adulterous advances are in fact due to loyalty toward her husband, they include her in the theme of adultery prevalent throughout Arthurian narrative. This constitutes another traditional role of women in the Arthurian setting, that of the unfaithful wife. In the majority of King Arthur narratives Guinevere is or is accused of being unfaithful to Arthur with his friend Sir Lancelot.

This is not present in Sir Gawain And The Green Knight because of the setting within the midst of Arthur’s reign, however readers are reminded of the infidelity of women commonly associated with stories of King Arthur by the married woman who makes advances to Gawain. Men being unfaithful is not regarded negatively in Arthurian legend, in fact married kings raping women is mentioned casually as justification for a child from a peasant family becoming a knight. This positive result of adultery is contrasted with the tragedy and death generally resulting from adultery on the part of the woman. In Morte D’Arthur, Guenever’s betrayal with Lancelot is the cause of war and depending on the interpretation on Avalon, Arthur’s death. Since the Green Knight’s wife is not actually being unfaithful as she appears to be, there is no tragedy, but her actions are reminiscent of the role of women as unfaithful wives in Arthurian tradition. Adulteress is one of the many negative roles women occupy in Arthurian narrative.

The seemingly uncomplicated character of the Green Knight’s wife manages to encompass the various roles women hold in Arthurian narratives. She is simultaneously a temptress, a servant to her husband, an adulteress and an object of desire. That she represents the role of women and yet remains a nameless character who lacks agency demonstrates the negative portrayal of women within Arthurian tradition..