Women have been stereotyped for thousands of years as the people who keep busy cleaning the house to be a good hostess for when their guests come to visit, the women who stay in the kitchen all day, or the women who are seen as sexual figures only. This is supposed to be “where women belong.” Stereotypes like these are accentuated in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Le Morte d’Arthur. In this essay I will talk about the stereotypical role that women play as sexual figures in each of these works.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain finds himself on a quest to find the Green Knight to fulfill a deal he made with the knight. However; on along his way he ends up at a castle and is tempted by the lady of the house. She offers him love every day for 3 days,
“You’re free to have my all, do with me what you will.
I’ll come just as you call and swear to serve you well” (212; line 1237-40).
Gawain politely declines each time but excepts kisses from the lady of the house instead. In this story we read about how the lady of the house comes into his bedchamber …show more content…
The women are both used for their bodies in these works. Even today writers use women for their physical appearances. For example, women are put into commercials to promote whatever they are selling. True, it does catch all of our eyes, but it is taking advantage of a woman’s body. Unfortunately, women in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight were not seen as strong individuals, women who can hold their own and get out of the “kitchen” once in a while. Guinevere could be seen as a strong woman because she stood up for what she was doing at any cost, resulting in her death. “And thus,” said all the ladies, “was ever her prayer these two days till she was dead” (Malory, 496). Even to the very end she knew what she was doing and took control of the situation. She later on banished Lancelot and never wanted to see him with her “worldly eyes”
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain finds himself on a quest to find the Green Knight to fulfill a deal he made with the knight. However; on along his way he ends up at a castle and is tempted by the lady of the house. She offers him love every day for 3 days,
“You’re free to have my all, do with me what you will.
I’ll come just as you call and swear to serve you well” (212; line 1237-40).
Gawain politely declines each time but excepts kisses from the lady of the house instead. In this story we read about how the lady of the house comes into his bedchamber …show more content…
The women are both used for their bodies in these works. Even today writers use women for their physical appearances. For example, women are put into commercials to promote whatever they are selling. True, it does catch all of our eyes, but it is taking advantage of a woman’s body. Unfortunately, women in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight were not seen as strong individuals, women who can hold their own and get out of the “kitchen” once in a while. Guinevere could be seen as a strong woman because she stood up for what she was doing at any cost, resulting in her death. “And thus,” said all the ladies, “was ever her prayer these two days till she was dead” (Malory, 496). Even to the very end she knew what she was doing and took control of the situation. She later on banished Lancelot and never wanted to see him with her “worldly eyes”