Essay Questions

How is the relationship between king and thane represented in The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle?

During King Arthur's reign, certain qualities were required from both the king and his knights. The knights were supposed to protect, and guard the king and his lands, to be loyal to him, and get revenge on those who dared attack anyone from the family. Back then, the blood relationship was not much important because anyone in the family was thought a brother. And anyone from the tribe was thought a family. On the other hand, the king was supposed to give enough lands to the knights. It was all based on trust and loyalty to one another. The Heroic Code, especially suggests that a knight shall have the strength and pride and we see that in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight as well. In The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle the relationship king - thane is perfectly illustrated through the virtues mentioned above. First, Sir Gawain shows his loyalty when he immediately gets to suggest a plan of how to get an answer of what women want best for his king, when he entirely depends on this otherwise he would be killed by the strange knight, Sir Gromer, and later on when King Arthur has the answer, but he can only obtain it through Sir Gawain, the latter shall agree to marry the ugliest creature ever. Without hesitating, without having even seen Dame Ragnelle, Sir Gawain agrees to marry her if that would mean to save his king. When it is about the welfare of the king, the self steps back - it is a relationship based on keeping your word, be true to others.

In what way is sovereignty in marriage represented in the poem and why was this concept important during the Middle Ages?

During the Renaissance the women were thought to have little control over their decisions. Men's authority over women was an overwhelming theme and it is what we have in The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle as a main subject. If not the man, the woman's family would decide for whom she would marry - and if she didn't her only other way was to become a nun. We see that apart from then now women can follow a large set of careers which were previously only arranged for men. The gender role was important because female sovereignty was quite limited - women could hardly choose how their lives would go. Women couldn't even vote back then. In The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle this is shown through Dame Ragnelle and her accomplished sovereignty through Sir Gawain. The subject is touched upon and illustrated - it shown on how important it is for women to choose for themselves. When Sir Gawain marries Dame Ragnelle, which at first seems to be the most disgusting thing for the knight, he gives her the freedom to choose for herself. Once again Sovereignty is the key solution to a trap question.