Lady Bertilak The lady of the house she was one of the most important characters in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Although her name was not mentioned in the poem, she was the wife of Lord Bertilak (Master of the castle). Lady Bertilak- beautiful, skilled conversationalist, young with a seductress mannerism played the role of the temptress in order to break Gawain’s Christian faith. During the fourteenth century, religion played such an important part in everyone’s life that the women were compared to the Virgin Mary- someone who represents love, obedience, honor, and life. Lady Bertilak was the opposite of the Virgin Mary. To characterize Lady Bertilak, she had a demeanor that personifies lust, someone who will not think twice about deception and will use any weapon (body) to get what she wants. I chose Lady Bertilak because of her unique way of getting what she wants: her smarts, her articulate yet deceptive mannerism she has developed throughout the poem. Per her husband and Morgan le Fay’s request while her husband was out hunting on early morning trips, Lady Bertilak is to entertain and break Gawain’s faith. Morgan le Fay an elderly matron who resides with Lord Bertilak and his wife is one whom they hold great honor toward has organized a challenge for to see if one of King Arthur’s knight were brave enough to strike off the Green Knight's head and may keep the Green Knight's ax, but that man must accept a return stroke in one year.The challenge or Christmas game as they called it was to terrify Guinevere unto death; however she as well as the rest of the court were astonished by the presence of this Green colored knight. Gawain accepts the challenge and cuts off the Green Knight's head. The knight picks up his severed head and leaves, telling Gawain to look for the Green Chapel. Toward the end of the year, Gawain sets out in search of the Green Chapel. He finds a castle in the wilderness. The lord of the castle asks him to stay until New Year's Day, because the Green Chapel is nearby and he will be willing to escort him there. The lord proposes an agreement: while he is out hunting and Gawain is staying at the castle, that the two men will exchange whatever they have gained at the end of the day. Lady Bertilak uses her alluring approach of appearance to seduce Gawain in his chambers three times her advances were not reciprocated by Sir Gawain. Using the games of courtship and seduction, Lady Bertilak was a tool used to break his chivalric and his Christian duties that upholds his moral purity. The first day Lady Bertilak waits for her husband to go hunting and she enters into Sir Gawain’s bedroom while he is asleep in bed with the intent to lure him into having sexual relations with her however he resists her temptation. She is very persuasive and doesn’t take no for an answer she doesn’t leave until she gives him a kiss. Later he gives the kiss to Lord Bertilak in exchange for the deer he has brought him. The second day Lady Bertilak awakes and patiently waits for her spouse to leave once again to hunt when she enters into Gawain’s room, however this time he is dressed and aware of her arrival. She is dressed in more seductive attire; he then again resists her and exchanges her with a kiss. The hunt was for boar this day in which he exchanges two of Lady Bertilak’s kisses with Lord Bertilak. The third day worked as a charm she came to his room once more in a luxurious gown with her hair exposed and face make up, she was even more beautiful than any other day. Although, Sir Gawain a man of faith, honesty, integrity, and loyalty, he was confronted with an item that was too great to resist her Girdle. Lady Bertilak offers him her girdle and tells him it will protect him from harm. Her husband came home ready to do an exchange with Gawain the fox he had hunted however, having taken the girdle he did not disclose of this to Lord Bertilak. Gawain did not exchange anything this night. He was afraid so he lies and breaks the promise to Bertilak. Which was a sin not only was he lying but he was now relying on the green girdle to protect him from the Green Knight. A temptation none the less masterfully manipulated by his conspirators. They needed a situation that would place Gawain in a compromising position that would catch him off guard. Not realizing he had been compromised, because it is customary to place trust in his host and hostess, Gawain was rendered vulnerable and Lady Bertilak exploited that vulnerability to the fullest. Realizing he has been manipulated by a lady who knows the forms of seduction and the importance that reputation plays in a knight’s self-concept must now try to regain his faith. He must now find a way to counteract in order to behold his knightly values. Gawain keeps his appointment at the Green Chapel with the Green Knight he is escorted there by one on Lord Bertilak’s knight. Upon approaching the chapel he encounters the knight and prepares to accept the stroke owed to him. The Green Knight raises his axe to cut off Gawain's head, but twice he draws back. The third time, the Green Knight barely cuts Gawain on the neck only leaving a small lesion. The Green Knight reveals that he was Gawain's host Lord Bertilak of Hautdesert and that his appearance as the Knight was made possible by Morgan le Fay. He tells Gawain that the first two blows were for the first two days of their agreement, when Gawain fairly repaid him his wife's kisses. The small cut was for accepting the belt and concealing it. He congratulates Gawain on his bravery, calling him the worthiest of King Arthur’s knights and excusing his transgression on the third day. Gawain responds by taking the girdle off and cursing it, then he asks to regain the host’s trust if possible. The Green Knight laughs. He gives Gawain the girdle to keep and asks him to come back to the castle and stay there longer to celebrate New Year’s he tells Gawain that Morgan le Faye is also Gawain’s aunt and Arthur’s half-sister as well as Merlin’s mistress .