Editing Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (section)

===Hunting and seduction===
Scholars have frequently noted the parallels between the three hunting scenes and the three seduction scenes in ''Gawain''. They are generally agreed that the fox chase has significant parallels to the third seduction scene, in which Gawain accepts the girdle from Bertilak's wife. Gawain, like the fox, fears for his life and is looking for a way to avoid death from the Green Knight's axe. Like his counterpart, he resorts to trickery to save his skin. The fox uses tactics so unlike the first two animals, and so unexpectedly, that Bertilak has the hardest time hunting it. Similarly, Gawain finds the Lady's advances in the third seduction scene more unpredictable and challenging to resist than her previous attempts. She changes her evasive language, typical of courtly love relationships, to a more assertive style. Her dress, modest in earlier scenes, is suddenly voluptuous and revealing.<ref name = Burnley>{{cite journal| last1 = Burnley| first1 = J. D.| year = 1973| title = The Hunting Scenes in 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' ".| journal = The Yearbook of English Studies| volume = 3| pages = 1–9| doi=10.2307/3506850| jstor = 3506850}}</ref>

The deer- and boar-hunting scenes are less clearly connected, although scholars have attempted to link each animal to Gawain's reactions in the parallel seduction scene. Attempts to connect the deer hunt with the first seduction scene have unearthed a few parallels. Deer hunts of the time, like courtship, had to be done according to established rules. Women often favoured suitors who hunted well and skinned their animals, sometimes even watching while a deer was cleaned.<ref name = Burnley/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ong |first1=Walter J. |title=The Green Knight's Harts and Bucks |journal=Modern Language Notes |date=December 1950 |volume=65 |issue=8 |pages=536–539 |doi=10.2307/2909298 |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|jstor=2909298 }} The harts ({{lang|enm|hertteʒ}}) and hinds ({{lang|enm|hindeʒ}}) first described in the poem are probably [[red deer]], a species with large antlers like the [[elk|American elk]], while the subsequent bucks ({{lang|enm|bukkeʒ}}) and does ({{lang|enm|dos}}) likely refer to the smaller [[fallow deer]]. [[Roe deer]] are only referred to as "other deer" ({{lang|enm|oþer dere}}).</ref> The sequence describing the deer hunt is unspecific and nonviolent, with an air of relaxation and exhilaration. The first seduction scene follows in a similar vein, with no overt physical advances and no apparent danger; the entire exchange is humorously portrayed.<ref name = Burnley/>

The boar-hunting scene is, in contrast, laden with detail. Boars were (and are) much more difficult to hunt than deer; approaching one with only a sword was akin to challenging a knight to single combat. In the hunting sequence, the boar flees but is cornered before a ravine. He turns to face Bertilak with his back to the ravine, prepared to fight. Bertilak dismounts and in the ensuing fight kills the boar. He removes its head and displays it on a pike. In the seduction scene, Bertilak's wife, like the boar, is more forward, insisting that Gawain has a romantic reputation and that he must not disappoint her. Gawain, however, is successful in parrying her attacks, saying that surely, she knows more than he about love. Both the boar hunt and the seduction scene can be seen as depictions of a moral victory: both Gawain and Bertilak face struggles alone and emerge triumphant.<ref name = Burnley/>
Masculinity has also been associated with hunting. The theme of masculinity is present throughout. In an article by [[Vern Bullough|Vern L. Bullough]], "Being a Male in the Middle Ages," he discusses Sir Gawain and how normally, masculinity is often viewed in terms of being sexually active. He notes that Sir Gawain is not part of this normalcy.