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Bertilak’s wife appears to fall into the common archetype of a temptress. She has an almost disarming frankness in how she pursues Gawain, threatening to tie him up. Her sexual pursuit of Gawain turns increasingly manipulative as she places him into a position where his chivalry, which demands he must please a noble lady, must conflict with his Christian values of chastity. Gawain himself places her beside famous temptresses from biblical lore, including Delilah and Bathsheba. However, she resists slotting neatly into this role. For one, her actual seduction of Gawain fails, rather the promise of cheating death causes him to stumble. Second, she seduces Gawain at the behest of both her husband Bertilak and ultimately Morgan Le Fay. We do not know her true personality or desires, rather we merely witness her cleverness while playing an assigned role in what Bertilak reveals is an elaborate test of the chivalry of Arthur’s court.
