Whiteford, Peter. “Rereading Gawain’s five wits.” Medium Aevum 73(2004): 225-235.
Peter Whiteford begins his article by referencing A.D. Horgan, who suggests that the significance of the pentangle in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is the “symbolic expression of the poem’s idea,” “central to the understanding of the poem.” Whiteford does not believe that those before him have explained in great enough detail the meanings behind the pentangle, even though they have claimed its importance. The reader more easily deciphers three of the five pentads. Whiteford states them as; “the five wounds of Christ, the five joys of the Virgin, and the five virtues.” These are all highly debated over, with many contrasting beliefs as to the meanings.
Whiteford believes that the poet is using the pentangle to signify “Gawain’s ‘fyue wyttez’ that acknowledges the artistry and design of the poem,” and “that the phrase should be taken as referring to the inner wits, or ‘gostli’ wits, that is, to ‘the powers of the mind that process sensory information’ (MED, s.v. ‘wit’, 4 d). There is a general consensus that Gawain’s five wits are his five senses; sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Whiteford mentions R.W. Ackerman who makes a connection between Gawain’s five senses, the five wounds of Christ, and the five joys of Mary through common contextual evidence.
Ackerman associates the five senses with an individual’s tendency to sin. If this is a true connection than Gawain, who was perfect in all of these senses is an individual void of sin, which is not true. Ackerman states that Gawain’s poet “meant it to be understood that his hero was free from venial sin.” Whiteford believes that there is no way the poet would fashion one of his characters to be sinless, due to his orthodox upbringing. Whiteford believes that instead of Gawain as a sinless character, his reputation is well renowned. The main question here is of how much importance Gawain’s five senses have to do with the entirety of the story.
There are many instances throughout the text where Gawain uses the term wits in reference to how he perceives his surroundings. He appears to have more extrasensory perception rather than merely sensory perception. Whiteford states that “although the MED does record uses of ‘wits’ for which the external senses is the appropriate meaning, it is equally clear that ‘wits’ can refer to ‘the powers of the mind that process sensory information’.”
In accordance, many now believe that Gawain’s wits go beyond bodily senses, and enter into the judgmental role of the inner wit. Whiteford mentions, not in agreement, but for reference, the five inner wits that were popular in penitential and instructional literature. The list includes; will, mind, imagination, understanding, and reason. These ideas were brought to life by the revival of such classicists as Aristotle, Avicenna, and Averroes. Their ideas “led to a renewed interest in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in the question of how the soul acquires knowledge,” and “the development of the notion of the inner wits was part of the this effort to produce a coherent doctrine of cognition.”
In the culmination of the idea, “the inner senses were seen as providing a bridge between the external senses and the intellect, or between sensory perception and abstract thought.” The theory states that there are five faculties within the three ventricles of the brain. Beginning in the first ventricle, the first faculty is communis, or common sense, the function of combining and receiving sense perceptions. The second faculty is imaginatio, or retentive imagination, which stores our combined impressions. These faculties pass to the middle ventricle where we find imaginativa, or composing imagination, which creates new images from previous images stored in our brain. The fourth faculty is aestimative, which we form judgment towards the images we have created. In the rear ventricle, there is virtus memorialis, the memory, which stores information for the faculties of the middle ventricle. Whiteford states, “The inner senses, then, act as a kind of conduit between the material world that is apprehended immediately by the senses and the human intellect which, being immaterial, cannot directly apprehend material objects.”
How this all connects with the poem eventually comes into realization. The pentangle represents the physical, social, intellectual, moral, and spiritual dimensions of its bearer, Gawain. There are two instances in which Gawain must make a decision, and they both depend upon how mentally focused he is. The first is when Gawain’s guide offers him the opportunity to turn back on his quest for the Green Knight. Gawain’s clear mindedness in this instance, helps him make the correct decision to continue. When Gawain is tempted by the Lady Bertilak his mind his confused with her beauty and sexual appeal, and he therefore is led astray to take her girdle. Gawain realizes how easily he allowed himself to be led astray, causing self-reflection on his part. This shows that Gawain is not perfect, and he even states that he is “of wyt feblest.”
This article was at first confusing, delving into philosophy and extrasensory perception. It became somewhat clearer at the end of the article, as more connections were evident. I did have to make a continual effort not to get lost, and not wonder if the author would eventually relate all of the information back to Gawain. In the end, the author did offer unique ideas that I would never have contemplated without his personal insight.
Cassia Herndon 10/06
