Editing and translating Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the nineteenth century : the work of Sir Frederic Madden, Richard Morris, and Jessie L. Weston.

Editorial decisions and translation choices reveal the rhetorical aims of editors and translators. No edition or translation is entirely neutral, as editors and translators emphasize some information and ideas as they mediate the text for their audiences. This thesis will analyze the rhetorical effects of Victorian editing and translating practices on medieval texts by examining the work of Sir Frederic Madden, Richard Morris, and Jessie L. Weston related to the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Each body chapter will focus on one editor or translator and discuss how the perception of audience needs and the privileging of aspects of the text influence their choices. By using these nineteenth-century editions of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as a case study, the significance of editorial and translation choices will be considered.