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by Bethany Wells
When interpreting literature it is common to consider theme, plot, setting, style, tone, symbolism, and characters. Characters are usually described by painting a mental picture of their outward appearance, giving insight to their thoughts, or using other characters' words about them. When depicting a character's physical appearance, the clothes they wear are often described. The use of clothing descriptions in literature brings the characters' personalities to life by showing not only what they wear on the outside, but also what they wear on their hearts.
Because literature is often historical, it is important to take into consideration the clothing styles of the period when interpreting the characters based on what they are wearing. For instance, it is common to see a woman with her hair down now but, until the 1960's, it was rare to see a woman without tightly coifed hair or a head covering of some sort. A woman with her hair down would be seen as provocative and loose.
Color, also, plays a large role in understanding a character's personality. Although the colors of garments today are chosen based on what suits the designer's personal taste and the wearer's mood, colors in previous eras were based also on the heraldic or symbolic meanings of the colors themselves.
There are six colors used in heraldry: or (gold), argent (silver), gules (red), azure (blue), vert (green), and sable (black). Or is a metallic color representing generosity and elevation of mind, while argent, also metallic, represents peace and sincerity. Gules represents brave, just warriors and martyrs, azure truth and loyalty, vert hope, joy, and love, and sable, constancy or grief (Levin).
In the general prologue to Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the wife of Bath is described as wearing tightly laced red hosen, a riding skirt, and new, but supple, shoes with spurs (Chaucer, lines 447-478). During Chaucer's life (ca. 1343-1400), clothing was generally fitted to the body and was fastened with lacing and buttons. Skirts were very long and the hosen was rarely seen unless the skirt was lifted high (Hill, 30).
Because the wife of Bath's hosen is mentioned, one would assume that she did lift her skirts rather high, or that her riding skirt was quite a bit shorter than a normal skirt. Hosen was usually in a bright color, so the mention of the color red is not uncommon, but the symbolism of the color red would suggest that she had power. The power suggested by her red hosen could be compared to the use of red in business ties. Men who wear red business ties expect to be seen as more powerful and are more likely to get what they want. She uses this color, though perhaps usually unseen, to get what she wants from her men. In other times, and perhaps in the time of the wife of Bath, red has also been equated with sexual love. Her mention of having five husbands, three of whom were good and the other two bad (line 202), would make this inference more likely.
The materials used in the wife of Bath's garments and shoes suggest that she was very well to do. Leather shoes that are new, but supple are hard to come by at a bargain price. The three husbands she mentions that were "goode" were also "riche and olde" (line 203). The fortunes of such men who were willing to marry such a woman could easily be used to purchase such a frivolous wardrobe as she has.
Judging by the clothing the wife of Bath wears, it can be inferred that she is a woman who is willing to marry any man if he has enough money. She needs someone who can support her elaborate wardrobe needs, but also one who will die soon because she is always chasing after the other men who are younger and stronger. Her goal in life is to get what she wants without caring who she tramples on to get it.
During the later part of Chaucer's life, an unknown author wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In this story, the brave Sir Gawain fights the giant Green Knight who is described as a very large man with wide berth, but a small waist, dressed in
A coat cut close, that clung to his sides,
And a mantle to match, made with a lining
Of furs cut and fitted-the fabric was noble,
Embellished all with ermine, and his hood beside,
That was loosed from his locks and laid on his shoulders.
With trim hose and tight, the same tint of green,
His great calves were girt, and gold spurs under
He bore on silk bands that embellished his heels,
And footgear well-fashioned, for riding most fit.
And all his vesture verily was verdant green;
Both the bosses on his belt and other bright gems
That were richly ranged on his raiment noble
About himself and his saddle, set upon silk,
That to tell half the trifles would tax my wits,
The butterflies and birds embroidered thereon
In green of the gayest, with many a gold thread. (Lines 152-167)
The coat mentioned is known as a cote-hardie in period history.
The garment is a fairly close fitting tunic, which buttons down
the front and the lower sleeves and is made in varying lengths.
The mantle is a great hooded cape often trimmed with fur (Wilcox,
38). Here, the cape is made of green ermine and is lined, a symbol
of quality. Men's hose of the period would be made as two separate
legs attached at the waist to the garment worn under the cote-hardie,
known as the pourpoint (Lister, 127).
All of the garments the Green Knight wears suggest that he has a good fortune. Silk is a very costly fiber to produce, so costly that it is not cultivated in the United States because of the labor necessary to reel it (Gawne, 367), but green silk embroidered with butterflies and birds is used in abundance in his garments and the garments of his horse. He also wears footwear with gold spurs designed for riding horses and a belt embossed with gems. Gold was as uncommon in the middle ages as it is now and having riding spurs made out of it shows that he must have been quite rich. His belt, also referred to as a girdle, is encrusted with gems, another sign of great wealth.
The opponent of the Green Knight, Sir Gawain, was apparently a crusader. He is wearing Turkestian silk, a treasure from the East. When the crusaders brought back heavily embroidered accessories, it brought about a surge of popularity for embroidery. Ladies embroidered pouches, bags, shoes, and other accessories to copy the styles from the East. One textile art that was introduced into European society through these treasures is appliqué, the embellishment of garments by sewing small pieces of fabric to another larger piece in a design (Wilcox, 40).
The "kingly cap-a-dos, closed at the throat" is another type of cape, this one heavier and shorter than the mantle worn by Sir Gawain. It is lined with a lustrous fur, which implies richness beyond that of Sir Gawain.
A description of how armor is put on follows the beautiful cape. His feet are fitted with steel shoes and he is well clad from his feet to his hands to his neck with plate armor and chain mail. The armor of the period was made by piecing plates of metal together using chain mail and leather strapping for flexibility. The shoes and gloves were both flexible because they were hinged and consisted of overlapping pieces of sheet metal (Finkelshteyn). His fastenings were made of gold, because gold does not rust. Over all of this, he wears a surcoat of a bright color. At his side, his sword is bound with a "brave silk band." A knight would wear the colors of a lady who chose to bestow them on him to keep him safe.
A woman does offer Sir Gawain her colors in the course of the poem. In lines 941-994, a group of ladies come to display themselves to Sir Gawain. He finds one of them loveliest of all and she later visits him while he sleeps. She offers him her body and all that it offers, but he refuses. She comes to him every day and gives him kisses until the day he is to depart for the Green Chapel. On that day, she offers him the gift of a ring. He refuses her, but then cannot deny the gift of her green girdle, which she unfastens from about her hips. The word "girdle," in this case, describes a heavily embroidered wide silk band fastened about one's waist with lacing, knots, or a buckle. It is not, however, limited to a wide silk band. A girdle in the middle ages can be simply an ornamented rope, which is tied around the waist (Lester, 243). It was not until 1925 that the word signified a lightweight elastic corset (Barnhart, 318). The lady promises that the girdle will protect him from the Green Knight.
Both of these men are knights, and by their clothing it is evident that they take pride in their occupation. By choosing all one color, the Green Knight shows that he knows what is important to him.
The love, joy, and hope symbolized by his color, green, are virtues highly sought after. Hope and love are mentioned in the Bible as being two of the three virtues that remain forever, the greatest of which is love (I Corinthians 13:13) because God is love. If this is what was foremost in the mind of the Green Knight, he was a noble man indeed.
Sir Gawain, by wearing treasures brought back from the crusades shows an entirely different picture. He had fought in the "holy war," and had come back successful, but he does not show himself to be a more righteous man than the lord at whose home he is staying by it. He does not refuse the advances of the lady, who is the wife of the Green Knight, he merely stops them short. His mind is not on heaven; it is on things of the world.
Although the clothing descriptions alone are not enough to accurately sketch a character's personality, they do offer insights into their hearts that the text would be void of if the descriptions were not written in. The wife of Bath is a much more dynamic character with the descriptions of her attire than she would be had the reader not known that she wore red hosen and lifted her skirts high enough to show it. Both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are understood more clearly when the clothing is explained.
The messages sent to others by the clothing people wear today
are even more varied than they were during the Middle Ages. One
thing remains the same: the phrase so often used when discussing
food applies to clothing as well. It is true that "you are
what you wear."
WORKS CITED
Barnhart, Robert K., editor. The Barnhart Concise Dictionary
of Etymology. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1995.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales.
Finkelshteyn, Norman J. "Armour and Warriors of the Silk Road." Silk Road Designs. <http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/3505/index.html#copy> accessed 11/21/2000.
Gawne, Elanor J. and Bess V. Oerke. Dress. Fourth Edition. Peoria: Chas. A. Bennett, Co., 1975.
Hill, Margot Hamilton and Peter Bucknell. The Evolution of Fashion. London: B T Batsford Ltd, 1967.
Lester, Katherine Morris and Bess Viola Oerke. Accessories of Dress. Peoria: The Manual Arts Press, 1940.
Lister, Margot. Costume: An Illustrated Survey from Ancient Times to the Twentieth Century. Boston: Plays, Inc., 1968.
Levin, Craig. An Investigation Into the Symbolism of Heraldry in the Legend of Tristram and Isoud. <http://pages.ripco.net/~clevin/tristram.html> accessed 11/19/2000.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Wilcox, R. Turner. The Mode in Costume. New York: Charles
Scriber's Sons, 1958.
Completed by Bethany Wells on November 22, 2000.