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A Lonely Lady

The Lady of Shalott was a lonely lady. Relegated by a curse to always be in the shadows weaving a web and watching Camelot through a mirror. Eventually, it got to be too much for her as she became “’half sick of the shadows.”’ She died for breaking the rules of the curse by looking out the window and in death she is still lonely looking for companionship as the letter on her breast says “Draw near and fear not, - this is I / The Lady of Shalott.” The curse made her so lonely and isolated that even in death she is still hoping for people to be around.

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Private Can Affect the Public

King Arthur says in his speech to Guinevere, “I hold that man the worst of public foes / Who either for his own or children’s sake, / To save his blood from scandal, lets the wife / Whom he knows false abide and rule the house” (242). 

I took this to mean that family and a married relationship, things that are usually relegated to the private sphere, can have an effect on the public sphere. I am curious to see other interpretations of the quote though!

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Is King Arthur True?

Percivale refused to respond to Pelleas’s questioning the Queen and the Knight’s honor, choosing to stay “mute” (208) and say “not a word” (208) in response to both questions. However, when Pelleas asks if the King is true Percivale immediately responds, in indignation and asks if Pelleas is mad (209). Do ya’ll think this could be because Percivale truly believes that King Arthus is true or if he is afraid to say something blasphemous? Or maybe some other reason?

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All in a Name

The major driving force that moves the plotline forward is the Sparrow-hawk’s refusal to give his name to Queen Gwen. If he had just let his dwarf say his name then Geraint would not have chased after him and met Enid. When Geraint defeats him the Sparrow-hawk finally reveals his name saying, “’Edryn, son of Nudd! Ashamed am I that should tell it thee. My pride is broken; men have seen my fall’” (66)

While advantageous to Geraint (and the plot) that Edryn didn’t reveal his name in the beginning, I found myself wondering why it was so shameful for Edryn to reveal his name?

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Some Dissonance at the Round Table?

When Vivien brings up Lancelot and Guinevere’s adultery as a case against the Knights of the Round Table Merlin only responds “’let them be’” (132). He avidly denounced all the other claims she made against the other knights but with this claim, he doesn’t. I took this as their relationship being such common knowledge that if he were to deny it he would be a liar. What do ya’ll think this could say about not only Merlin’s but everyone else who believes in the Round Table and their willingness to put the Queen and Lancelot’s transgressions aside?  

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Arthur and Gawain

One recurring theme I noticed, was Arthur’s willingness to give in to Gawain’s requests. Arthur doesn’t want to go to war against Lancelot but Gawain convinces him to whe Arthur says, “‘wit you well, Sir Gawain, I will do as ye advise me’“ (500). I took it as Arthur being scared to lose Gawain’s favor becaise he already lost most of his table’s favor. Was this the best way a king should act? Or should he have done what he wanted to do?

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Where’s Arthur?

Maybe it’s just because I’m not well-versed on the riles of being a king in King Arthur’s time, but I found myself wondering why didn’t he fight for his wife’s honor? He mentions missing Lancelot and if ‘“he were here he would soon put me in my heart’s ease’” (408). Why does he want Lancelot to fight for Guinevere instead of volunteering himself to fight? He mentions later that he does joust (415) so why wouldn’t he to save the life and honor of his wife?

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The Code Leads to Sin?

In “The Tale of the Sangrail” there is one scene where Sir Lancelot sees knights in black being defeated by the knights in white. He helps the black knights because “to help there the weaker party in increasing of his chivalry” (348). According to the chivalric code, he should help the black knights because they are being defeated.

However, after leaving the fight, Sir Lancelot comes across an old man who tells him, “’Ah, Lancelot, of evil wicked faith and poor belief, wherefore is thy will turned so lightly toward deadly sin?’” (349). According to this old man, it was a sin for him to help the knights as they did not fight for God’s side like the knights in white did. Later on, we find out that this old man was trying to deceive him but what do ya’ll think is the significance in making Lancelot doubt the chivalric code he lives by?

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Yellow

Sir Gareth defeated a green knight, a red knight, a blue knight. Later on, he gets associated with the color yellow, being called, “Sir Gareth of Orkney in the yellow arms” (163). What is the significance of the color yellow? 

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Actual footage of Sir Gringamore when he “plucked him [the dwarf] fast under his arm, and so he rode away with him unto his own castle” (148). 

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Balin and Balan

When reading the “Balin and Balan” section of “Le Morte Darthur” I was confused as to why they were unknowingly pitted against each other on the island. Why did the knight offer to switch Balin’s shield out, was it because the people of the castle knew Balan wouldn’t fight Balin if he knew it was his brother? I could have missed something in my reading but the whole reasoning behind deceiving the two brothers to fight each other was lost on me. Does anyone have a reason as to why they could have wanted Balin to switch his shield?

Either way, when Balin asked who the knight he was fighting was heard it was his brother and said, “‘that ever I should see this day,’ and therewith he fell backward in a swoon” (47) it made me think of this:

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A Hero?

If Gawain in “The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle” is the epitome of knighthood and chivalric code then the knight in “The Tale of the Wife of Bath” is not. From raping a woman being ungrateful for the chance the Queen has given him to save his life, he has portrayed subpar morals. In a direct comparison between Sir Gawain in “The Wedding” and the knight here, Gawain marries his loathly lady in public without giving it a second thought. Whereas, the knight in “The Tale” “privately” married his lady and hid “like an owl”. He seems to have very few if any, heroic qualities. I’m curious to see what ya’ll think do you think he’s the hero in the story? Or the loathly lady? Or maybe there is no hero?

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Public v. Private

In a previous class discussion, we mentioned the struggle of public versus private life and how knights would struggle between the private more feminine life, and the public more masculine life. When Dame Ragnelle gives Sir Gawain a choice to either have her be beautiful during the day in public or at night when they’re alone he has a hard time choosing. He laments, “To have you fair at night and at no other time - / That would oppress my heart keenly / And I would lose my honor. / And if I desire to have you beautiful in the daytime, / Then at night I would have unsatisfying intercourse” (496).

Ultimately this decision between public versus private is too difficult and he tells her that he puts “the choice in your hands” (496). Was Gawain’s failure to chose between public or private life a failure when looking at it through a chivalric code lens? Ultimately, when he gave her the power it worked out for the best as she got sovereignty and the curse was broken. But his inaction in the moment, was that living up to his moral code?

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The Green Knight Goes Against Chivalric Code

Chivalric code is super important to Sir Gawain. He brings it up multiple times and when he flinches when the Green Knight swings an ax at his neck he considers that the least honorable thing he could have done and feels a lot of shame because of it.

However, the Green Knight likes and respects him more because he flinched. The Green Knight says, “you just loved your life! And I blame you the less for it” (471). Since Gawain shows that he doesn’t want to die, even by just an involuntary flinch, the Green Knight respects him and sees Gawain as more honorable then if he had not flinched. Why do ya’ll think this is? Since the Green Knight is supposed to be the villain if he’s the one who agrees with Gawain’s actions, does that mean that Gawain flinching was wrong?

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Gold

In part 2 of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” there are a lot of description os Sir Gawain and things associated to him as being “gold” (426). In a story where colors are important, do you think that associating Gawain with gold reinforces his position as the good guy and hero in the story?

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The Color Green

In the first part of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” there is a very lengthy description of the Green Knight and his horse from pages 414 to 416. He is described as from “head to toe, ink green” (415). However, the descriptions of his physical appearance also describe him as “awesome” (414) and “enormous” (414), he is obviously already an impressive figure without being green. I am curious as to why he is green, what’s the significance of that color? I’m interested to read on and hopefully get some explanation as to why he’s green!

Lowkey accurate picture of the Geen Knight:

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Role Reversal

The women in Lanval arguably play more important roles than the men in the story. The queen threatens Lanval’s life by accusing him of treason and his lady love is who comes, rescues him, and takes him away to Avalon. This switching of roles between the man and the woman withing Lanval and his lady’s relationship is something new that we haven’t seen in our readings so far. WHy do ya’ll think Marie chose to switch their roles?