Homosexuality In Sir Gawain Essay

As Lady Bertilak ponders the idea of Sir Gawain rejecting her because of another lover, he responds: “Be Saynt John,' / And smethely con he smyle, / 'In fayth I welde right non / Ne non wil welde the while” (1788-91). He says that he has no lover and does not want one. This is perhaps because he is unsure of who he wants. This represents his inability to express how he feels. Sir Gawain might want Sir Bertilak instead of his wife, though he cannot explicit ponder this idea. The poem must aim to make visible the strategies of normative heterosexual behaviour and move away from any other threat opposed to it (Dinshaw 206). The rejected threat of possible sodomy displays the boundaries of proper/improper behaviour (Boyd 89). The poem decides what is normative and what is not.
For example, Sir Gawain accepts the girdle and it is said that he wears it so that its magical powers can protect him; Nonetheless this is to naturalize heterosexuality in the poem. They authors want to separate the idea that he wears it because he

Sir Gawain's manhood is at stake in the bedroom scenes, and inevitably he is portrayed as a more feminine character afterwards who enjoys giving kisses to Bertilak. The heterosexual culture of the poem attempts to eliminate any possibility of homoerotic relations by inserting defence mechanisms against Sir Gawain's actions. Nonetheless, the kisses given to Sir Bertilak by Sir Gawain are elusive to these defence mechanisms as the possible sodomitical relations are visible. Though the authors attempt to protect Sir Gawain's fragile masculinity by sticking to the heterosexual culture, the exchange of kisses between Sir Gawain and Sir Bertilak cannot be ignored for their evident