Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by James J. Wilhelm and Yvain the Lion Knight by Chrétien de Troyes are both Arthurian stories which focus on the tales and chivalric adventures of two very brave knights, Gawain and Yvain Although the stories are very different in their adventures and in their conflicts, key elements and roles appear in both stories, chivalry. is a main element of the story and gives the reason and logic behind how the knights and Arthur's court are organized But it's not just a man's world in the novels. Arthurians. A key element of these stories is to love and care for the women around you. The goal of fighting as a knight is to defend the king and lady that the knight loves, or simply them. women in general. In many romances, women tend to be the ones saved or. must be defended because the female role is normally portrayed as weak and helpless, however in the case of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Yvain the Lion Knight, the female characters are not always the damsel in distress. Although Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Yvain the Lion Knight express femininity in different ways, both texts show the reversal of gender roles by giving female characters more powerful roles such as Morgan the Fairy, the wife of the Host, Lunette and the ladies. in the woods who help Yvain. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the main conflict arises when Arthur's court is challenged by the Green Knight sent by the mighty Morgan. la Fay. Gawain takes up the challenge and cuts off the Green Knight's head; Little did he know that the Green Knight would be able to raise his head and challenge Gwaine to the same fate a year later. Gawain, being a man of his word, agrees to take on the challenge and plans to go in search of the Green Knight's chapel a year later. On his way to meet the Green Knight, Gawain stays at a kind guest castle where he meets the host's wife who seduces him and tests his truthfulness. This is the first time we see a strong female character in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. While the host is hunting, the host's wife chases Gawain. Because Gawain is a guest in their home, he is resting comfortably in his bed when the host's wife breaks into his chambers and attempts to seduce Gawain and tries to get him to sleep with her. The host's wife said to Gawain: “My husband and his followers are hunting far away. The servants sleep downstairs with the maids. The door is slammed and the bolt has been pulled; now I have at home the hero that everyone adores and I will spend my time as long as it lasts, collecting tales. My person is your pleasure, all your wishes benefit from it; hospitality makes me your servant and I will not fail in anything” (Wihelm, 442). Here it is clear that this female character seduces Gawain and does not allow him to leave the bed because she wants to sleep with him. This is a direct example of how gender roles are reversed in this story because this woman takes on a normally very masculine character. Normally, a man flirts or seduces a woman, as men are generally seen as "controlling" or "responsible" for sexual activities, but this is not the case for Gawain. While the woman tries to seduce or "hunt" Gawain, the host himself is on the hunt, which creates a parallel comparison andvery interesting cinematography in the text and between the two scenes. The description of one of the hunting scenes given in the text is as follows: "They let the high-headed deer pass safely, as well as the deer with widely branched antlers, because the generous lord had forbidden, out of season, any man to molest one of the male deer. The does were surrounded by a “Hey!” » And a “Ho!” "While the deer were driven with noise to the clearings" (Wilhelm, 440). This scene is significant because it symbolizes the scene of seduction between Gawain and the Host's wife. The hunted doe is representative of Gawain and the hunter is representative of the host's wife, which is a direct example of gender role reversal, and this also gives power to the host's wife because she holds the power in the situation and is the one who initiates and harasses Gawain for sexual purposes. Another very powerful female character that emerges in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, who is also really behind the whole story, is Morgan the Fairy. Morgan the Fairy is a powerful and magical woman who actually lived on the Host's estate and is a lover of Merlin. Morgan the Fairy made the host the Green Knight in order to frighten the Queen of Camelot, Guinevere. Queen Guinevere symbolizes the perfect Arthurian lady, she is beautiful and poised and is often the damsel in distress, and is seen in the same light in other Arthurian legends, such as Lancelot or The Cart King by Chrétien de Troyes. Obviously, if Morgana the Fairy attacks or if she doesn't like Guinevere, she is attacking the ideals of chivalry and the way women are perceived through them. Guinevere and Morgan the Fairy are opposite characters: one is the queen of Camelot, but has no real influence and simply gives in to the societal pressures of being a married woman; while the other is an independent, powerful and magical woman who does not uphold chivalric ideals. Overall, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a text that fully embodies the idea of ​​gender inversion and features many strong-willed female characters. In Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, the gender roles are also reversed. In Yvain the Lion Knight, Yvain goes on a quest after hearing about another knight's tale of traveling to a faraway place where he encountered combat with a red knight and ultimately lost the battle. Hearing about this Red Knight, Yvain decides to embark on his own quest to try to defeat him. After arriving on the right ground and performing the same movements as the previous knight, Yvain lures the red knight into battle. During the battle, the Red Knight is injured and retreats to his castle, Yvain pursues the Red Knight to his castle, but when he first enters the castle, one of the doors closes on his back of Yvain's horse and kills his horse. Meanwhile, another door closes in front of Yvain, trapping the knight between his dead horse and a door, inside the Red Knight's castle. While Yvain panics and worries about certain death, a savior comes to his aid. Lunette, one of the queen's ladies of the castle, finds Yvain and tells him that the Red Knight died because of his mortal wounds during the battle and now the rest of his court is coming to kill Yvain. Surprisingly, Lunette had a magic ring that she gave to Yvain to make him invisible and save him from being killed by the Red Knight's court. This is clearly a reversal of gender roles, in most novels women would be in danger and a big, strong knight would step in and save the day. But the opposite is happening in this.