Upon first impression, the so-called anti-feminist ranting in lines 2414 to 2428 of the fourteenth century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight appears patently misogynistic; however, in analyzing...Show moreUpon first impression, the so-called anti-feminist ranting in lines 2414 to 2428 of the fourteenth century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight appears patently misogynistic; however, in analyzing the poem as a whole using Dominique Battles's pre-Conquest and post-Conquest dichotomy together with a close analysis of the linguistic and specifically the semantic qualities of the speech in relation to the rest of the text, it is possible to view this ostensibly anti-feministic diatribe in a new light. In this thesis, it is argued that this uncharacteristically gruff speech that the otherwise courteous Sir Gawain articulates can be placed in the category of cursing or swearing, where the literal meaning of the words are given less valuation than the underlying semantic conveyance of an emotional and psychological catharsis.Show less
