Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

story than as the beginning? What force could possibly render thenotions of alterity felt by Sir Gawain completely irrelevant?The answer to these questions posed in this work of Medievalromance is love. No pun intended. A love that removes motives ofalterity by overshadowing the superficial differences and enlighteningthe deep oneness or sameness shared by all humanity. That love, andthe facets and characteristics of it which define such an intimaterelationship, is the factor which exists in the connection betweenGiant and Knight in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that enables apath to a nonviolent and mutual understanding. This kind of loveis accurately characterized as “altruistic love [which is] any generalor nonerotic sense to include the other within the realm of theperceived self” (O’Neill 107). This kind of inclusion which lovesits object for that object as it is “to undergo a process which mightbe termed ego-decentering”(O’Neill 107) something which takes theopinions and socially constructed views of what should be and ratherunderstands something, someone really, as they are. By showing sucha harmonious resolution between two supposedly contrary figures,that the author of this text, the identity of whom is lost to ourpresent knowledge that challenges cultural conventions of the timeand presents a more agreeable, open-minded, and synthesized visionfor humanity.The negative side of this is that the anonymous author had thechips stacked against such a beautiful optimism actually coming tocultural fruition. The culture of Medieval England in particularwas a highly regimented and tradition-minded society, with oneconvention or another delegating appropriate and inappropriatebehavior for every situation one could think of. All forms nobility,including knights and maidens of the court, are the noteworthyvictims of such rigidity. Codes of chivalry are notorious for theirdisciplined perspectives on how such experiences as love should beexperienced.lauren apt 43