The Host's Wife In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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In the poem collection, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, Gawain stays with a host for while he is on a mission of sorts. The wife of the host goes after him, and seduces him using conniving and rhetorical skills. While looking into the author’s view of women and their roles, a proper argument here entails that the host’s wife is, in fact, the most power character in this storyline. The host’s wife seems to use a large amount of activity. Unlike Guinevere, who behaves in a passive manner and remain silent among the people of Camelot, the lady of Hautdesert is extremely outspoken. Gawain finds the host’s wife even more striking than Guinevere. The host’s wife wears skimpy clothing that exposes her bosom and back; her hair is done up extravagantly. Another way in which she is different from other woman of this time period is the way in which she crawls into Gawain’s bed after deciding to seduce him. She does not wait for him to come to her, as a proper lady of this time should have.…show more content…
She selects her suitors for herself and follows her own cravings, she is also quite skilled at arguing her point and “winning” conversations. When she fails to persuade Gawain to be with her, she questions his reputation and accuses him of disrespect; this proves to negatively affect Gawain’s emotions. The voiced encounter that arises amongst the lady and Gawain intensifies every day, and it appears likely that if Gawain had not left her castle, she would have won in the end. It could be argued that the lady is even more cunning and sly in an argument as Sir

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