Gawain and Women

          

Gawain and Women

          In "Amended Text, Emended Ladies: Female Agency and the Textual Editing of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," author Paul Battles makes the argument that, since the original manuscript, editors have skewed the role women play in the poem. He displays his argument by citing editorial inconsistencies relating to role of Lady Bertilak, the status of Morgan le Fay, and the overall absence of women in the poem. While there were some difficulties in reconciling the differences between the original manuscript, Battles’ own edited versions, and my version of the story, I found his argument to be at times compelling and at times obsolete.

            Battles begins his argument by claiming that the role Lady Bertilak plays in some version of the poem is undermined by the editor. The author states, “There is a persistent strain in Gawain scholarship that minimizes the Lady’s role in testing the hero” (Battles 330). He furthers his point by saying, “She is often characterized as either meekly carrying out her husband’s commands or blindly obeying her lust…” (330). Battles disagrees with the marginalization of Lady Bertilak by arguing that she plays a central, and informed, role in the attempted seduction of Gawain. He asserts that Lady Bertilak has to know the scheme because she hints at it here and there during her and Gawain’s conversations. Further, the reader’s are explicitly told she knew of the overall plot when Lord Bertilak revealed the scheme at the end of the story.

            I tend to agree with Battles’ point. Lady Bertilak was a clear player in the scheme of testing Gawain’s virtue. She had to know Gawain was on his way to face her husband’s axe. Why else would she coyly hint, and tell Gawain that the green garter she’s trying to give him will make him, “safe against anyone who seeks to strike him” (1853)?

            The author goes further by claiming that in edited versions of the poem the role of Morgan le Fay is greatly downplayed as well. When speaking of critics Battles says, “Most have found it difficult to accept that Gawain’s real opponent all along has not been the mysterious Green Knight–or his alter ego, Sir Bertilak–but an ugly old crone whom the hero casually dismisses almost as soon as he sees her” (Battles 331). He cites different versions’ uses of punctuation, specifically between lines 2444-46, to support his claim that Morgan is marginalized. As it stands the line reads, “I am called Bertilak de Hautdesert in this land. Through the power of Morgan la Fay, who lives in my house, and [her] skill in learning …” (Battles 333). Battles claims that the period after the first line creates an unnecessary division in Bertilak’s statement, which leads him to ramble on about Morgan le Fay. By contrast, removing the period and allowing the lines to come together as one sentence Morgan is given more power, for Bertilak wouldn’t be seen as explaining Morgan’s prominence and skills as a side note.

            Again, I agree with Battles; Morgan le Fay was the main perpetrator of the scheme. I find it odd that as the mastermind of the plot to test Gawain she is rarely mentioned; and when she is it’s almost like Bertilak is saying, “By the way, this is Morgan; this is what she does; but I’m the important person in all of this!” Even though Bertilak went to challenge the Knights of the Round at the request of Morgan, his statement that Morgan lives “in his house” makes it seem like she’s a subordinate, or servant of his; which greatly marginalizes the woman, whom for all intents and purposes, caused this whole story to take place.

            Lastly, Battles cites an emended version of the poem and its blatant removal of women from its context. Towards then end when Gawain returns to Arthur with the garter, now worn as a sash, the King proclaims that, “all Lords and Knights” who belong to the brotherhood wear the sash. However, Battles claims that in the manuscript the line states that, “all Lords and Ladies” wear the sash. On the replacement, Battles writes, “Nevertheless, emending ladis to ledes is a clear example of unwarranted editorial intervention that diminishes the importance of women” (Battles 337).

            I found this facet of Battles argument to be obsolete, for the version of text we read for class doesn’t include this replacement. In fact, our text reads, “as they laugh in lovely accord, / that the lords and ladies who belong to the Table, / every knight in the brotherhood, should bear such a belt” (2514-16). If the replacement Battles is referring isn’t found in a common college textbook, then perhaps the version he’s citing is out of date, which causes this facet of his argument to be uncompelling.

            Overall, I think Paul Battles makes a pretty good case for the marginalization of women caused by over zealous editing. Between Lady Bertilak’s seduction attempts and Morgan le Fay’s initial plot, it seems as though the women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight played a larger role in the testing of Gawain than did the (supposed) main antagonist, and yet they’re seen as either giddy and lustful, or old and unimportant.