Virtue in Gawain

I am not that good at the verse version of Gawain. I like the prose version published by Dover. When I was reading this recently, I was struck by something interesting. When we look at the character of Gawain we are supposed to see virtue in his character. The problem is, we don't, at least not totally. Take the scene where the lord has gone hunting on the first day and left Gawain sleeping. Gawain wakes to find the wife of the lord, a woman, we are told in another place, that was “fairer even that Guinevere” (19) entering into his room. We are told that Gawain is “shamed” by the mere fact that the woman is entering his room while he is still in bed. Why is this the case? Because of his understanding of virtue.
We can spend countless hours looking up definitions for virtue. We can read many authors, including Marcus Aurelius and Augustine and still not come to a really helpful idea of virtue. That is because virtue, like faith and love, is primarily identified through actions. How does virtue look? This is the question that Gawain helps us with at this point in the story.
Gawain is shamed when the lady enters his room because he knows how it will look. It really doesn’t matter whether anything actually takes place between the two that is inappropriate. The very fact that she has come into his room is inappropriate. Gawain understands the nature of virtue to that extent. We would do well to learn this from him. There are situation and things that are simply inappropriate for us. The Bible warns us to “abstain from every kind of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22).
We put ourselves in and tolerate inappropriate situations all the time. Gentlemen should guard their speech around young ladies. There are things that may be appropriate for men to discuss in certain contexts by themselves, but should never be mentioned or discussed around young ladies. This is not being sexist; it is recognizing the biblical category of discretion; something we’ll address with the ladies as well.
Proverbs 2:10-12 tells us that “discretion will guard you ... from the man who speaks perverse things.” Here an antithesis is set between the man who has discretion and the man who speaks perverse things. The “perverse things” are things that should not be mentioned in mixed company. This can just as easily be said to the young ladies. There are things you should not mention in the company of young men either. Young ladies that lack discretion are likened to a pig with a gold ring in its snout in Proverbs 11:22.
Discretion is a sensitive issue but is very important for us culturally because our culture lacks so much discretion. The Greek concept of “obscene” (lit. off-scene) referred to an action that should not be witnessed. Oedipus gouges his eyes out and Jocasta hangs herself off scene because these actions are inappropriate for audiences. Our culture doesn’t think a film has been worth its ticket price if someone doesn’t die violently and as realistically as possible. And television is following the lead quickly. Series’ like CSI and House M.D. are doing their best to be gruesome with the death scenes. They and other series like Law and Order: SVU are crossing the line on inappropriate content for their stories all the time. Even the news programs are discussing this subject matter with regularity, although they tend to be more discrete in the details.
Returning to our text, we quickly see that Gawain’s shame does not keep him from getting entwined in further indiscretion with the lady. He asks her to give him a minute to get dressed before they talk, but does not hasten to avoid the situation when she refuses. He merely “jests” and pretends that nothing inappropriate is taking place. We may say that he stays in bed because he is not dressed and does not want to flee from her because she will see him in this state if he does. We can make immediate application here to the story of Joseph in Gen. 39:12. There we see that Joseph thought it more appropriate to flee naked than spend another moment with Potiphar’s wife. Here is where we get a sense of allowing one virtue to be elevated above another thus causing both to suffer. Gawain holds modesty as a virtue, as well he should, but not at the expense of propriety. He should not have remained in that room with the lady since she refused to leave and let him get dressed before talking.
We next see that a bad situation gets worse. Throughout the three days of hunting, Gawain allows her to kiss him each day. Gawain remains true to his covenant with the lord and gives the kisses each evening as he is bound to do, but never acknowledges where he received them from. Gawain knows that he has entertained indiscretion with the lady every day, talking about subjects such as love. It is interesting to note that as a guest, Gawain owed a certain amount of obedience to the lord and lady, as he acknowledges each day when she sits and talks with him. He is protecting his honor, in this sense. However, he is doing so in a way that elevates honor above truth and morality. This is similar to a situation we might find ourselves in. Your buddies dare you to throw a brick through an old ladies window. Knowing you should not, you refuse. Immediately they call you “chicken.” You decide that defending your bravery is more important than respecting another’s property and you launch the brick. You have just succeeded in throwing your worldview out of balance. Gawain has this problem and it is presented here for our instruction.
Virtues cannot contradict each other. If we elevate one virtue over the others we throw the balance out of our ethics.