One of the elements of teaching ancient literature I most enjoy involves finding references in contemporary culture to the ancient texts. With an observant eye and consumption of a broad array of books and articles, anyone can find frequent references to the canonical texts. Just yesterday I began The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, by Arundhati Roy. On page 14, Roy describes a shrine to Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed, a Jewish Armenian merchant who loved a Hindu boy, renounced Judaism, embraced Islam, then also renounced Islam. Roy writes how Sarmad was "beheaded on the steps of the Jama Masjid... and his head continued to recite his poems of love even after it had been severed from his body... he picked up his speaking head, as casually as a modern-day motorcyclist might pick up his helmet..." (Roy 12). Sounds familiar, right?!
Let's look first at the concept of chivalry. Chivalry refers to the honor, deeds, and actions of a knight (chevalier, caballero), often in war and in tournaments on his cheval (horse, in French). A chivalrous knight goes on adventures which test his strength, bravery, and also his character. Sir Gawain intervenes and prevents King Arthur from accepting the challenge offered by the Green Knight. Sir Gawain demonstrates bravery, he might get his head chopped off, and loyalty--he effectively saves his king from beheading.
Once Sir Gawain accepts the challenge/beheading game, he has one year to allow the Green Knight to reciprocate -- in other words, to get beheaded himself! He spends several days as a guest of Bertilak and his wife, and is tempted by Bertilak's wife every day. She tries her utmost to seduce him, but he remains strong in the face of temptation and does not allow the seduction, even when she questions his manliness! Sir Gawain must be proud of himself for avoiding the temptation, but he didn't pass the real test.
Bertilak and Sir Gawain agreed to exchange their winnings at the end of each day. Sir Gawain received a deer, a boar, and a fox. Sir Gawain received kisses, and kissed Bertilak at the end of each day... The scenes of hunting, camaraderie, physical sport, are juxtaposed with the bedroom scenes. In the first, the animals are hunted; in the second, Sir Gawain is hunted! Just when he believes he has passed the test, he fails. When Bertilak's wife offers him her green girdle to save his life, he accepts it. But he doesn't give it to Bertilak at the end of day, as the game requires. He loves his life too much to be completely honest and fails the test of bravery.
I'll conclude this post with another recent reference to Sir Gawain found in the blog, Better Living Through Beowulf, by Robin Bates. She argues that "Donald Trump’s public relations lawyer Rudy Giuliani put on a performance for the ages this past Sunday, reminding me of no one so much as the fox in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight."
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Works Cited
Roy, Arundhati. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.
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