What is it about?
The article argues that Middle English Poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" has an added layer of meaning beyond those that have been identified by past critics: vulgar, but essential.
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Why is it important?
Undoubtedly, many readers have felt that there might be something a bit "off" about this canonical poem. This article suggests that their hunches might have been correct -- and that perhaps we should take our intuitions a little more seriously.
Perspectives
This article may be more "out there" than most traditional scholarship, but it, like the poem itself, is intended to be a little campy. I hope that it pleases at least some readers.
JACQUELINE STUHMILLER
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: “Shame to Him Who Thinks Evil”: the Deviant Pleasures of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, August 2025, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004707481_011.
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