Women Roles in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Sir Gawain

It is clear that she plays a very aggressive , dynamic role in this reading, a more masculine role. Unfortunately, men are commonly known to have more authority than women, however Lady shows much more authority here than Sir Gawain. Her control of language empowers her, which gives to the shift in gender roles. As well, her sexuality which is used to her advantage this proves to be a weapon of control in her gender role alteration that she is playing. The Lady generally proves her  authority over Gawain through not only sexuality, but through language. Not only the way Lady acts towards him, but the way she speaks to him is very assertive and extremely aggressive. It is very uncommon, especially to see and hear a women act this way to a man in this time

A close reading of the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reveals a very antifeminist view. The poem, told in four parts, tells of common medieval folklore. The stories seem to be of different plotlines, but start to intersect in interesting ways – that is, the character of Morgan Le Fay begins to frame the stories together. The half-sister of King Arthur, she holds intense hatred for her half-brother and his court. It is her thirst for the downfall of Camelot that makes this character infamous, and, surprisingly, her success and the strength of her ability that give a bad name to women. Through the examination of Morgan Le Fay’s character, it is clear that a successful woman is always an illusion.

The role of women was a key role in medieval times. In the poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, two women represent this role. They are Lady Bertilak, who is Lord Bertilak’s wife, and Morgan La Faye. It all starts when Sir Gawain is welcomed to Lord Bertilak’s castle and then he meets these two women living there. At all times, Bertilak requests Gawain to feel at home and socialize with these women without problems. Bertilak trusts Gawain even though he would be away and Gawain would remain alone with women. However, his nameless wife uses many different ways to chase Sir Gawain and take advantage of her condition as the host’s wife. Lady Bertilak is a superior being that

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is an example of medieval misogyny. Throughout Medieval literature, specifically Arthurian legends like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the female characters, Guinevere, the Lady, and Morgan leFay are not portrayed as individuals but social constructs of what a woman should be. Guinevere plays a passive woman, a mere token of Arthur. The Lady is also a tool, but has an added role of temptress and adulteress. Morgan leFay is the ultimate conniving, manipulating, woman. While the three women in this legend have a much more active role than in earlier texts, this role is not a positive one; they are not individuals but are symbols of how men of this

In today’s world, specifically in the twenty-first century, men are known to dominate society—especially in a workplace. This domination portrays women to be fragile individuals; however, after reading Marie de France’s “Lanval,” readers learn that the gender roles are interchanged—women are men and men are women. In “Lanval,” Queen Guinevere, King Arthur’s wife, is depicted as an authoritative woman—specifically over Lanval, the knight. Queen Guinevere wants Lanval to take part in an adulterous relationship—she wants to be his mistress: “Lanval, I’ve honored you sincerely, / Have cherished you and loved you dearly/All my love is at your disposal/ What do you say to my proposal? /Your

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a classic example of the behaviors of a medieval knight and how the code of chivalry works within the courts and towards women. When Sir Gawain visits Bertiak’s castle, he respectfully treats the elderly woman and Bertiak’s beautiful young wife with the same level of dignity. “To the elder in homage he humbly bows; the lovelier he salutes with a light embrace. They welcome him warmly, and straightaway he asks to be received as their servant, if they so desire” (lines 973-976). The treatment of women is an essential part of the code of chivalry. If Sir Gawain had only given attention to the pretty young woman, then he would not have been abiding by the knight’s code of honor. He also keeps the code of chivalry intact when he says “Lover have I none, nor will have, yet awhile” (line 1790). Sir Gawain says this to Bertiak’s attractive wife, when she tries seducing him in the bedroom, which proved Sir Gawain’s loyalty to Bertiak, upholding his chivalric code. Honorable Sir Gawain demonstrates the knightly code of chivalry throughout the poem.

During a high point in medieval chivalric romance, both Marie de France’s Lanval and the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tell fanciful tales of knighthood, chivalry, and spiritual and temporal (courtly) love. Both Lanval and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight portray their female characters as possessing considerable power and influence, within the events in the story and in the structure of the plot. Indeed, the female characters in both works function as the catalysts of the events within the stories, and also as instruments for each author's conveyed meaning. While Lanval presents its female characters in an unorthodox reversal of gender roles, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight employs the female characters as moral and spiritual trials for the hero, Sir Gawain. I will examine how the fairy princess and Queen Gwenevere in Marie de France's Lanval present a reversal of gender roles as was traditionally understood; she presents femininity as powerful, inspiring, and morally dynamic (for a woman can be ideal, or she can be corrupt). I will compare this to the representation of Lady Bertilak and Morgan le Fay in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which they are used to convey a “Biblical” warning for an ecclesiastical audience; particularly that of moral failure and the temptation of the flesh.

In Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, not only does the most prominent female character receive more respect from men, but readers -- unlike those of Gilgamesh -- are able to see and understand what she is feeling. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the most significant woman featured is referred to as "the lady" and represents a

In the fourteenth century, chivalry was in decline due to drastic social and economic changes. Although feudalism-along with chivalry-would eventually fall for other reasons, including a decrease in cheap human resources due to a drop in population caused by plague epidemics and the emergence of a mercantile middle class, the Gawain author perceived a loss of religious values as the cause of its decline. Gawain and the Green Knight presents both a support of the old feudal hierarchies and an implicit criticism of changes by recalling chivalry in its idealized state in the court of King Arthur. The women in the story are the poet's primary instruments in this critique and reinforcement of feudalism. The poet uses the contrast between the

On the contrary, this type of modesty would invoke feelings of pity.Regardless of what others were thinking at the time, Gawain is determined to bare the cross of his deed in order to gain high renown among his peers and the devotion of the king. King Arthur's demonstrates his appreciation through his words of praise and the feast celebrating Gawain's courage.This is because he is expected, as a knight, to excel at humility and modesty due to the importance of the Christian state of mind in this epic poem. Gawain is a humble knight with a brave heart and many human flaws. Along with humility, the many traits of a good Christian Knight, such as chastity, are shown through Gawain’s encounter with Lady Bertilak. When speaking to lady Bertilak, Gawain admires her in a respectful and sacred approach. “As myself ever can, however long I may live/ would be absolute folly, noble lady, on my word/ I will carry out your desires with all my power/ as I am in all duty bound, and always will be/ the servant of your wishes” (Fitt 3.1544-1548). He assures her that for as long as he shall live, he will remain her noble servant attending to her every wish. Interestingly, although he has promised her to do as she pleases; he rejects her desire of a sexual encounter. He shows humility towards her for he is “completely unworthy” (Fitt 3.1244) of her seduction. He wants to remain true to his word, but cannot come to terms of allowing himself to

Vern L. Bullough's article, "On Being a Male in the Middle Ages," addresses how vital it was for a man living in the middle ages to be sexually active in order to maintain a masculine identity by explaining:

During the Medieval times of England, society was created as a pure patriarchy by the Christian church, and nearly everything was made male-dominated where the men held the power and their female counterparts held little to no power at all. Arthurian texts such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight showcase many of the characters mostly following these traditions with the men being portrayed as strong-hearted knights who follow a code of chivalry, and the women as passive and submissive beings to the men. However, Arthur’s half-sister Morgan Le Fay is featured in Sir Gawain, and she does not play any parts given to her as a woman, as she is portrayed as an enchantress and an evil, manipulative woman, which is an archetype that was given to women who did not follow their given gender roles. Morgan Le Fay subverts the traditional roles for women by having her own power in the play, and overall presents herself as the antithesis to the church and the patriarchy of the Medieval times.

As the poems of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight show, women have always had power, yet not as overt a power as wielded by their masculine counterparts. The only dynamic of women’s power that has changed in the later centuries is that the confines and conditions in which women have wielded their power has become more lax, thus yielding to women more freedom in the expression of their power. The structure, imagery, and theme in the excerpts from Beowulf (lines 744-71) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (lines 2309-30) support the concept of more power in the later centuries, by contrasting the restriction of Wealhtheow and the power she practices in Beowulf with the Lady’s more direct assertion of power in Sir Gawain

Through persuasion, the women are able to get what they want from men. The queen uses persuasion to get power over the knight’s fate. After the queen constantly begged the king to show the knight mercy, the king fell to her wants. The king’s original plan was to execute the knight which is an example of physical power but the queen’s persuasive pleas broke the king’s hold on the knight. As the knight, traveled to find what women want most, he completely missed that the queen had made it obvious while saving his life from the king.

Throughout mankind, in most societies the male has the role as the superior gender and ruler of all things in his kingdom. Whereas, women have taken the more supportive and submissive role. Although, women and men get married to each other equally in the name of holy matrimony, it doesn’t always work that way. Men in medieval culture, were celebrated for, and expected to possess, the qualities of bravery, strength, and fierceness in battle while women were meant to bring peace through marriages. The role of women during the middle ages have been put on demonstrated by medieval literature works such as, “Beowulf” and displayed in the film “13th Warrior”.