49 pages • 1 hour read
Roger Lancelyn GreenThe Adventures of Robin Hood
Roger Lancelyn GreenFiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1956A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Clothes and Livery
Clothes and livery in The Adventures of Robin Hood are recurring visual symbols used throughout the narrative to indicate identity as well as unity. As a literary device, clothes and livery come to support the overarching theme of The Creation of an Outlaw Society. The most significant set of clothing in the story is Robin and his men’s outlaw outfit in Lincoln green, described as “doublets and hose of Lincoln green, in hoods of green or russet and in knee-boots of soft brown leather” (45). The author uses the Lincoln green outfit as a means to indicate any given character’s association with Robin Hood, be it when they gather together as outlaws in Sherwood Forest, support him when he rescues Will Scarlet from execution, or when Maid Marian escapes from Arlingford Castle to join Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest in Chapter 7. Though Robin apparently dons Lincoln green clothing himself, the garments are usually worn by his outlaws and carry the notion of medieval livery, a type of clothing distinct to each noble household worn by its servants and footmen. Typically, livery is used as a way to identify an individual and determine the noble with whom they serve to make sure social conventions between the nobility are observed according to rank and status. The outlaw’s use of a livery in Sherwood Forest, in this case, suggests a visual message, one that implies that Robin’s court of outlaws is validly noble and unified under his leadership.
However, whereas livery is made to identify a person, clothing, in general, is often used as a diversion tactic or as part of one of Robin’s schemes to confront, trick, or escape the Sheriff of Nottingham, Sir Guy of Gisborne, or other men who follow Prince John. Most notably, Robin swaps clothing with an old woman in Chapter 15 to escape the Bishop of Peterborough, proving that while one’s appearance can be a good indicator of one’s identity, clothing as a whole is a malleable material that allows a person to dissimulate their true nature.
Venison, or the King’s Deer
As all forests belonged to the King of England in the medieval period, so too did the privilege of hunting the game living among its trees. In The Adventures of Robin Hood, the King’s deer represent a symbol of the overall unjust social structure that would see citizens starve instead of allowing them the opportunity to feed themselves and their families with the deer in the King’s forest. Known as the Forest Laws in the narrative, hunting the King’s deer without permission has severe consequences, as the Sheriff explains when they capture Much the Miller in Chapter 1:
He was too fond of the King’s deer. See, his first and second fingers have been cut off: that tells its own story—a bowstring pulled unlawfully. Now we’ve caught him again: the law lays it down that for a second conviction for deer-slaying, a man shall have his eyes burnt out. A third time—he hangs (19).
Though hunting the King’s deer doesn’t directly support any overarching themes in the story, it does gesture to the magnitude of Robin’s actions when, as an outlaw, he takes it upon himself to feed venison to his coerced guests. Not only does Robin dare to continue hunting the deer despite the severe consequences of the act, but he also makes the men he robs complicit in the criminality of it by feeding them the illegal venison. Most of all, however, the King’s deer are a symbol of social injustice, as the Forest Laws are meant to burden people experiencing poverty and maintain the King’s privileges. As Much the Miller comes to experience, the wealthy would rather ensure the prosperity of the deer by burning down his livelihood (his mill) and turning over the river to the deer than ensuring that peasants are well fed throughout the year. That Much the Miller is then punished for hunting the deer that destroyed his only option to feed his starving family adds salt to a festering wound. Venison, therefore, becomes as much a symbol of destitution for people like Much as it is a symbol of resistance for Robin and his outlaws.
Oaths and Wagers
Oaths and wagers are a recurring motif within the narrative that act as an inviolable promise between characters in their interactions. As a literary device, oaths and wagers support the overarching theme of The Creation of Outlaw Society and provide some of The Ambiguity of Robin’s Social Justice. Though the natures of oaths and wagers differ from one another—the former is more of a solemn promise and devotion, while wagers are made in more light-spirited, game- or challenge-minded circumstances—both are intimately based on the reliability of one’s word and the ensuing accountability following the moment the oath or wager is made. For men like Robin, Sir Richard, and Sir Guy, oaths are also intimately tied with their identity, as promising something on one’s word is tantamount to placing their reputation and honor—a concept typically known as “troth” in medieval literature—as knights or nobles as collateral should they fail to uphold their promise. Through this literary device, Green nuances his characters’ personalities and reveals the depths of their nature when, for example, Maid Marian makes Sir Guy of Gisborne swear an oath that he will not pursue her and Robin, in fault of which she intimates that he will die (“on these conditions you shall live” (192)). The narrative then announces the following: “Then Guy of Gisborne swore what was required by the honour of knighthood and his hope of salvation” (192). Green makes a point of removing the usual “Sir” in front of Sir Guy’s name in this instance to signal that the character is currently offering his “honour of knighthood” within the oath. Since he later does break his oath and pursues Robin, the consequence outlined in the oath is enacted—Sir Guy of Gisborne dies at Robin’s hand, revealing himself as a dishonorable knight. Wagers, on the other hand, often reveal Robin’s finesse and cunning with words, notably with Arthur-a-Bland and his promise to bring him to an unarmed and unaccompanied Robin Hood for 100 pounds. In the social interactions of the characters, therefore, oaths and wagers become the basis of a transactional system of valor as well as finances that leaves no margin for compromise.
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