Symbol Analysis
The elaborate extended image of the two cloths – one red, one blue – is very important in the poem. At the beginning Guenevere asks her listeners to imagine that the difference between going to heaven and being condemned to hell is as arbitrary as choosing between a red and a blue cloth. Both options look equally good, so how do you know which to pick? It's kind of like in The Matrix when Neo has to choose between the red pill and the blue one. Only there's no Morpheus to tell you which is which. This is a weird idea, so the symbol of cloths is definitely worth looking at more closely.
- Lines 22-25: This is where the symbol of the red and blue cloths is first introduced. This is the opening of Guenevere's defense – why does she start with this particular metaphor?
- Line 38: The obvious choice between the two cloths would be the blue one, since blue is the color of the sky and is more often associated with heaven, while red is more often associated with the fires of hell. Right? Not in this case – the relationship between allegory and reality is all messed up: Guenevere says that the obvious choice – the blue – is actually wrong. Nothing is as it seems!
- Line 80: This is where Guenevere says she had to make a choice between the "red" and the "blue" cloths. We assume that the choice she is comparing the cloths to, through metaphor, has to do with remaining faithful Arthur (her husband, whom she doesn't seem to love) and starting an adulterous affair with Launcelot, but she doesn't say so explicitly. We're left to guess, just as she has to guess, which is the right choice.