The Chivalrous Ideal and Courtly Love free essay sample

The chivalrous ideal and courtly love in the English Medieval Period Sir Gawain and The Wife of Bath Research paper by Alina Mais Understanding the terms â€Å"chivalry† and â€Å"love† as portrayed in the English Medieval Period A quick search of the English dictionary serves us an explanation of â€Å"chivalry† as firstly used to simply indicate a body of knights or horsemen equipped for battle. Secondly, it is employed in the sense of knighthood in the abstract; knighthood as a class or order; the position and quality of a knight. Thirdly, â€Å"chivalry† is used in a broader sense to include the whole knightly system of the later Middle Ages, with its particular religious, moral social codes and traditions. Professor Hearnshaw of London University quotes, in his study on chivalry, two French historians which state that â€Å"chivalry was a system which modified and completed feudalism. It was not an institution, but an ethical and religious association, shedding a ray of ideal beauty through a society corrupted by anarchy. (Bemont and Monod, Medieval Europe ) Whether or not this ideal was brought to real life is a matter that I will not insist upon in this particular study. It is suffice to say that even the Church itself was infected at the time with blatant immorality. My self- proposed quest, further in my research, is to demonstrate how much of this ideal can be uncovered in Sir Gawain. The matter of â€Å"true love† as we have grown to know nowadays is far from being valid in the Medieval Period, adultery being one of its main characteristics. To better understand such a concept I have turned to Andreas Capellanus’ â€Å"The Art of Courtly Love† in which he starts with the definition of love as being â€Å"a certain inborn suffering derived from the sight of the opposite sex, which causes each one to wish above all things the embraces of the other and by common desire to carry out all of love’s precepts in the other’s embrace. † The â€Å"precepts† include jealousy and adultery, love and marriage were sadly divorced. The emergence of Gallantry Gallantry, in the erotic sense of the term, that ultimately led to establish courtly love, was the last component that completed chivalry. At first the military monks were, much in theory, devoted to the Virgin Mary and to veneration of the holy women of the calendar. Their mission towards the ordinary woman was solely to protect from the violence and ferocity of outlaws of that time. Fast forwarding to less stressful times after the conflicts between feudalized Christendom and the hosts of its pagan invaders were settled, and we find that the fortress has become more of a home and a centre of social interaction. In this context, feminine graces had an opportunity to thrive. The position of women underwent a significant transformation due to the arrival of the well known romancers of those times – the troubadours, who altered the domestic life. They did so, not by influencing women to love and treasure their spouses but by encouraging them to love outside the sanctified contract. The troubadours considered marriage as an obstacle and could not have thought to break the bonds of feudal conventionality. Ladies were encouraged to seek and find the liberation of unlawful charm, and were benevolently initiated in the ways by which jealous husbands could be outsmarted and their predictable anger avoided. These so called rescuers of ladies provided, and openly recommended in ardent verse the paramour. Likewise, knights and squires were expected, as part of their chivalric obligation, to acquire the favour of a lady. Having won this favour they had to make it the primary priority of their lives. Chivalric gallantry , was therefore an enormous structure of bigamy, in which every lady was expected to have both a husband and a paramour; and every knight, besides the wife to whom for business reason he was bound, a ‘divine being’, whose demands he promptly acted upon. Although this behaviour was considered righteous, as Capellanus regarded the matter as making â€Å"a man shine with so many virtues and teaches everyone so many good traits of character† ; both poet of the Pearl and Chaucer have left us with illustrations that point out the erroneous conduct, one by suggesting the ideal manner of carrying out a temptation and one by mocking the reality of courtly love in a fabliaux type of way. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, particularly The Wife of Bath’s tale contradicts almost everything that the guidelines of Capellanus’ stand for. I will, as a secondary challenge for this research, try to put in plain words what were exactly those guiding principles that both the Wife of Bath and the wife of Bernlak, ignore. Rendering the chivalrous ideal in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight We have already acknowledged the three elements of Chivalry: war, religion and gallantry. Each of the three correspondingly underlined and acclaimed three values as vital to the true knight. The three primary virtues of Chivalry, based on its military character, were courage, loyalty and generosity. The three secondary virtues, developed from religion, were fidelity to the Church, obedience, and chastity. The three tertiary virtues, social in their spirit, were courtesy, humility, and beneficence. The ideal insisted on a truthfulness, a trustworthiness, and devotion to plighted word, a fidelity to commitment, from which no allurement of advantage and no plea of necessity could cause any digression. The Poet of Sir Gawain, undeniably an artist, has the evident intention of portraying his ideal Knight and this is obvious throughout the whole tale. Sir Gawain is the very gem of Medieval English romance, and perhaps it may not be too much to claim for it as high a place in medieval romance generally. Whereas for Chaucer, the poet of London, Arthurian romance was a thing of the past, for the West-Midland poet of the Pearl it was still a living source of inspiration. Whatever the material he utilized, he managed to impress by adding his own genius and personality. Gawain is depicted as the Christian Knight ; originally he may have been even the Knight of the Holy Grail. One of the most striking passages describes the knight’s shield, whereon was the pentangel, â€Å"the endless knot ; † And all these fives met in one man, Joined to each other, each without end, Set in five perfect points Wholly distinct, yet part of one whole And closed, wherever it end or begin. And so the pentangle glowed on his shield, Bright red gold across bright red stripes, The holy pentangle, as careful scholars Call it. (Part 2, ll. 656-665) and Gawain bore the image of the Virgin, that when he looked at it his strength might never be weaken. He is a gallant knight, a prince of nurture and courtesy, Lord! said Gawain. How lucky I am, Lady, not to be the knight you speak of: To take that kind of honor on my own Would be sinful; I know myself too well. By God, Id be glad, if it pleased you, to offer you Some different service, in word or deed To serve such excellence would be endless delight. (Part 3, 1241-1247) Fearless and undaunted ; yet in the end he fail s. To save his life he accepts from the temptress the magic girdle, and falsely conceals the gift. Gawain hesitated, his heart Reached for protection, like a thief for a gem: He could come to that chapel, and take that stroke, And with this glorious device walk off Unharmed. (Part 3, 1855-1859) He prevails, however, in that he has resisted the lady’s more critical trials, and has successfully gone through temptations, without puting in danger his ideals of chaste life. And here we have the poet’s lesson. â€Å" Life is aye sweet,† he wrote in another poem ; though Gawain erred in thus loving life, Im false, now, forever afraid Of bad faith and treachery: may trouble, may sorrow Come to them! Oh knight: I humbly confess My faults: bless me With the chance to atone. Ill try to sin less. (Part 4, ll. 382-2388) yet he passed unscathed through the greater danger. The poet exemplified through Gawain that the knight’s vows of chastity must be real, and that Gawain, pre-eminently gallant. To the poet of the Pearl, the ideal Knight must be spotless and undefiled. The glorification of English chivalry-its highest idealism-is set forth in this greatest of all the romances of chivalry. He belonges to a school of poets, who dedicated their genius to the teaching of high morality as the essence of true chivalry. The love of the beautiful enhances the poet’s love for what is goodly and righteous. The origin of some great Order of Chivalry may have been associated with the theme of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. At the end of the unique manuscript of the poem we have the famous motto â€Å"Honi soit qui mal pense †, as though to suggest that the story bore on the Order of the Garter. In a later version of the romance we are distinctly told that hence arose the Order of the Bath. We are perhaps justified in holding that not only did the poem commemorate the foundation of some great Order, but that the figure of Gawain was drawn, however flatteringly,from some notable contemporary. Courtly love as seen by Chaucer and The Pearl Poet The Gawain poet and Geoffrey Chaucer, as I have mention before, both examine and describe the reality in which courtly love’s guidelines are defied. Using satire, the Gawain poet discusses the expectations of courtly love through Gawains visit to the Green Knights castle, and Chaucer mocks the rules of courtly love in The Wife of Baths Tale. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is presented as the typical, revered knight who bravely keeps his word and exemplifies the characteristics of courtly love. His reputation extends throughout the entire country, which is why he is so well received at the Green Knights home. The lady especially longed to look on the knight (Part 2, line 941), wanting to gaze at his handsome face and hear exquisite romantic words flow out of his mouth, as was expected from such a grand knight. She goes to his room, excited to pass an hour in pastime with pleasant words (Part 3, line 1253). The lady expects Gawain to woo her with praises of her beauty and morality, for surely someone as handsome as Gawain cannot help but dwell on thoughts of women and love all day and night. However, she is sorely disappointed and leaves musing, Now may the Giver of all good words these glad hours repay! / But our guest is not Gawain forgot is that thought (Part 3, lines1292-1293). In other words, since Gawain complemented her on nothing more than her courtesy and kindness of heart (Part 3, line 1267), it is not possible for him to be a glorious knight. The next day, the lady returns to Gawains room, hoping to hear the loving words she yearns for. But again, Gawain is coy and utters tries to carefully avoid her advances . Gawains attitude is out of the ordinary ‚ a knight normally flirts arrogantly and romances boldly. Gawains modest and humble attitude does not belong coupled with a knights strong body and insults the aggravated lady. She questions, Teach by some tokens the craft of true love. / How! Are you artless, whom all men praise? / Or do you deem me so dull, or deaf to such words? (Part 3, lines 1527-1529). The lady wonders if perhaps Gawain does not find her attractive enough and that is the reason he is not romancing her. According to courtly love, a man and a woman must be equally paired, and for Gawain to refuse to woo her is the equivalent to her not being good enough for him. On the third day, the lady once more approaches Gawain and declares, Who can be cold toward a creature so close by your side / Unless you have a sweetheart, once you hold dearer, / And allegiance to that lady so loyally knit / That you will never love another, as now I believe (Part 3, lines 1780, 1782-1784). Here, the lady proffers a last explanation as to Gawains lack of affection because another rule of courtly love states, No one can be bound by two loves (Capellanus). However, he has no lover, which is even harsher towards the lady because it insinuates that she is not lovable. Gawains actions completely bewilder the poor woman because they contradict everything that it is expected from courtly love. What is more, Gawain commits another faux pas by being lazy at the castle. While the master is out hunting from dawn to dusk, Gawain dallied at home all day with the dear ladies (Part 3, line 1560), which further reduce the expectations of courtly love attributes from Gawain. One of the most important duties of a knight is to always stay busy and active, performing heroic feats and proving how great they are. Through Gawains laziness, the poet is suggesting that a title alone does not equal moral achievement. And simply because Gawain wears armor does not ensure eloquent speeches of love. Despite the heavily important views of celebrated courtly love, the rules ironically are not explicitly followed by the honored knights and fair damsels. Similarly, Chaucer gives great insight on the rules of courtly love through The Wife of Baths Tale, in which a venerable knight rapes a young woman. This atroucious deed completely contrasts the actions of a moral knight, hinting again that morality is not inherited like wealth or a family name. The end of this tale also raises several interesting questions about the relationship between beauty and character. The knight promised the old woman he would do one thing for her, but when she proposes marriage, he protests rudely. My love, quod he. Nay, my dampnacioun! / Allas, that any of my nacioun / Sholde evere so foule disparaged be' (lines 1073-1075). The knight made a promise, and chivalry and keeping ones word go hand in hand with courtly love. However, marrying the old hag and jeopardizing his family line is against the rules of courtly love, because It is not proper to love one whom one would be ashamed to marry (Capellanus). The old woman is definitely below the knights social class and he does not hesitate in informing her of the thoughts on his mind. Thou art so lothly and so old also, / And therto comen of so lowe a kinde, / That litel wonder is though I walwe and winde. / So wolde God myn herte wolde breste! (lines 1106-1109). This harsh outburst explains that the woman would not just be a bane to his daily existence, but would essentially ruin his life and break his heart. The extent to which courtly love determined ones spouse forbids the marriage of this unlikely pair. Therefore, this moral dilemma raised by Chaucer forces the audience to decide which is better: keeping ones word or maintaining ones image? The old woman then explains, Crist wol we claime of him oure gentilesse, / Nat of oure eldres for hir heritage (lines 1123-1124). She continues that Christ should be the source of integrity, not ancestors. Ther shul ye seen expres that no drede is / That he is gentil that dooth gentil deedes (lines 1175-1176); in other words, a noble person is one who does noble deeds. Her speech leads to another very important aspect of courtly love, the control of the woman. Although the man in a relationship in the Middle Ages was in charge of the necessities like food and money, the woman was the head of the emoti onal relationship. The old ladys moving speech causes the knight to seriously reconsider his attitude and to later allow her to make the important decision of who she wants to be. Here, Chaucer is stressing that some aspects of courtly love are practical, like women dominating the emotional side of a partnership, while other rules assume too much, like saying a beautiful person obviously has great integrity. Although entertaining and humorous, both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wife of Baths Tale serve a higher purpose by challenging courtly love. Hundreds of other pieces of literature exist to celebrate the union of dazzling princesses and gallant knights after trials and tribulations, but only a few discuss the practicality of courtly love and the confusion and dilemmas that ensue.