Kisses in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

       One question that continued to interest me was the use of different themes of chivalry that were heavily influenced by Christian ways. However, there was also the issue of the gender roles that were constantly depicted in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Especially when Gawain was being played not only by Lord Bertalik and his wife it showcases the of chivalry and gender identity. In Carol Dinshaw's article "A Kiss Is Just a Kiss: Heterosexuality and Its Consolations in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" she breaks down the idea of heterosexuality during this time period and emphasizes the importance of the heterosexual norms with the act of a man kissing another man, and how the reaction is to this display. 

       Throughout the poem we get different scenes that challenge Gawain's gender role and his chivalric  duties. One that Dinshaw points out is the when he meets Lord Bertilak at his castle and is offered hospitality. When both Bertalik and his wife begin the game of seduction they both seemed to be hunting their prey, being Gawain. Dinshaw continues to compare the reversal of roles as Bertalik comes back from his hunt to present to Gawain and his reward, while Bertalik's wife goes to Gawain's room to do her hunting. Dinshaw states that "the heterosexual subject is in crisis: Gawain's subjectivity, his identity is unfixed in the bedroom, and that identity's unlacing is precisely represented, in its corporeal aspect, in the violent dismemberment of the hunt" (Dinshaw; p. 211). It showcases another part of the Gawain's challenge being seen as the prey of this incident during his challenge, that he is not only being played by his aunt for his chivalry, but also for his masculinity by a female. 
       The kisses that continued to be given to Gawain by Bertalik's wife show a the heterosexual intimacy that was normally expected. However, he seemed to be manipulated by the wife because she even challenged  Gawain's persona since he had not tried to advance on her but to prove himself he fell into her trap and kissed her. Again his role had changed because he was the one seduced and gave in, illustrating his vulnerability. Dinshaw even states that "[t]hese kisses, the narrative consequence of the seduction-exchange plot, push even further the poem's analysis of heterosexual identity arising from that plot: they suggest that solid hetero-identity can be split apart without a cataclysmic dissolution" (Dinshaw; p. 215). Basically, that all these kisses given to Bertalik don't mean a homosexual act, but instead were based on his honor as a knight to fulfill the pact that they agreed to at the beginning, therefore it did not cause as much as an uproar within the court. However, he was acting in a more vulnerable manner because both Bertalik and his wife were able to take advantage of him and expose what seemed like feminine traits.

        Dinshaw took an interesting approach to help an audience understand the importance of gender roles during this time period and his chivalric duty to find the Green Knight. Her analysis on the use of hunting and feminizing a masculine character was very intriguing, and it gave me more of an understanding of Gawain's embarrassment after finding out he was played by everyone. and the use of the kiss in the poem. Although it was not common, it seemed very interesting to see gender roles emphasized by the use of a kiss throughout this story, and how important masculinity was to prove your worth as a man. 

Work Cited

Dinshaw, Carolyn. "A Kiss Is Just a Kiss: Heterosexuality and Its Consolations in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. " Diacritics. 24.2/3 (1994):205-226. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 14 Sept. 2012.