Analysis Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

A close reading of the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reveals a very antifeminist view. The poem, told in four parts, tells of common medieval folklore. The stories seem to be of different plotlines, but start to intersect in interesting ways – that is, the character of Morgan Le Fay begins to frame the stories together. The half-sister of King Arthur, she holds intense hatred for her half-brother and his court. It is her thirst for the downfall of Camelot that makes this character infamous, and, surprisingly, her success and the strength of her ability that give a bad name to women. Through the examination of Morgan Le Fay’s character, it is clear that a successful woman is always an illusion.

The animals in this story are closely related to the characters, especially the character of Robert. Rodwell acknowledges Robert's close union with animals when he draws Robert in his sketchbook as "the only human form" among sketches of animals (155). When Robert sees the drawing, he notices that "the shading [is]

 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of the most intriguing Middle English chivalric romances known today. The poem is a delicately written balancing act between two cultures, clashing in a time of unease between the religion of tradition, (paganism) and the new religion, (Christianity). The poem is also one of the best known Arthurian tales, with its plot combining two types of folklore patterns, the beheading game and the exchange of winnings. The Green Knight is interpreted by many as a representation of the Green Man of folklore and by others as an allusion to Christ. The story is told in stanzas of alliterative verse, ending in a bob and wheel. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an important poem in the Middle English romance genre, because it involves all the typical plot progression of a hero who goes on a quest to prove himself. Yet what sets Sir Gawain apart from heroes of lore is his inability to finish his quest. The aspect which makes Sir Gawain and the Green Knight different is Sir Gawain’s failure. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a perfect example of the struggle between enduring Paganism and newfound Christianity.

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is the classic tale of a knight of the round table who takes up the challenge of the mysterious Green Knight. The poem begins with the Green Knight’s sudden arrival and his declaration of his proposition: a knight may strike him, and then a year and one day from then he will return the blow. This tale is most well-known for dealing with the themes of a knight’s code of chivalry, loyalty, resisting temptation, and keeping one’s word. While the whole poem is full of great lines that beautifully deliver the message, one of the best passages come at the end of the poem after Sir Gawain has managed to survive his second encounter with the Green Knight. This passage perfectly encompasses the various themes of the poem, as it deals with all of the trials Gawain has faced up until that point and also explains how he deals with the shame he feels for surviving the game in the way he did.

Singing “Beasts of England” continually unified the animals. Even when the animals received no orders, “ without waiting for further orders, they charged forth in a body,” they unified to fight the enemy and protect their home.

Animal imagery is used to give the reader a better understanding of the message the author is trying to convey and to produce more vivid descriptions. During a round Mailer explain Griffiths attack “Griffith was like a cat ready to rip the life out of a huge boxed rat.” Mailer is describing an image in your mind that Griffith is intense and wants to win his fight against Paret. This also creates an imagine in readers head of Griffith looking so furious and hyped up, like his veins were popping out and he was growling like a bear. “Griffith making a pent-up whimpering sound all the while he attacked.” This is like an animal, such as a lion, which is furious and about to attack their prey. “…and then he leaped on Griffith to pull him away.” “His trainer leaped into the ring, his manager, his cut man, there were four people holding Griffith, but he was off on an orgy…” The word leaped creates an imagine of an animal prancing in joy or hunger, and this is what comes to mind as readers read this part of the

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, after Gawain ventures “into a forest fastness, fearsome and wild” (Norton, 311), he prays that he will be able to find “harborage” on Christmas Eve (Norton, 312). It is the middle of winter, and Gawain has been traveling in search of the Green Knight whose head he has cut off. After he prays and signs himself three times, Gawain finds a magical castle in the midst of a winter forest. He rides to the castle and is granted permission to enter by the lord. Gawain is attended to in a fashion befitting kings, and he meets the lord who tells his identity to all in the court. There are many significant implications and foreshadowings which occur during Gawain’s

What really characterized the medieval period?is that each literary movement was influential in the creation of other texts. It was a kind of appreciation for literature in the sense that each piece of literature fed into another which means that they were connected and that there were influences between them at the time.

Throughout the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, there is a diverse amount of motifs present, including the use of animals. Himmelstoss, a hostile commander, in charge of Paul’s company is compared to a beast. In a long speech Kat gives to the company, he says, “In himself man is essentially like a beast, only he butters it over like slice of bread with a little decorum. The army is based on that; one man must always have power over the other” (Remarque 44). This quote emphasizes the relationship between animals and humans, based on fueling off of power over others. Himmelstoss is like an animal- or beast, because he craves dominance, but turns it off when he is among his hierarchies. In chapter five, animals are also present when horses

Probably one of the most important uses of animal imagery in the book comes early on, when McMurphy describes the group sessions as a “pecking party”. McMurphy explains a pecking party to Acutes as:

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain must travel on a quest to the green chapel and meet with the Green Knight in exactly 1 year and a day. While on this quest he must follow the terms of the agreement; which are that whatever is hunted or caught while at Lord Bertilak's castle must be exchanged with the Lord himself. This all started when the Green Knight challenges King Arthur. This challenge being that whoever accepts the challenge can strike him with his own axe, on the condition that the challenger find him in exactly one year and a day to receive a blow in return. Sir Gawain steps up and accepts the challenge.

Atwood’s ironic tone is made apparent to the reader through the physical narrative structure of the poem. The speaker begins the poem with, “In that country the animals have the faces of people” (1-2) and indents the second half of the poem to represent a shift in the narrative structure of the poem, The indent of the physical structure in The Animals in that Country augments the physical distancing of humans from animals as the stanzas have a distance between them. The subjective and ironic tone of the speaker is evident when the speaker creates a contrast between the two worlds as the shift begins with, “In this country the animals have faces of animals.” (21-23) This repetition reinforces the distance between humans and animals as animals are not revered in “this country” but treated as just animals. They have neither been incorporated nor valued, and little attention is paid to their role in society in the speaker’s country, creating a subjective tone.. Atwood’s use of anthropomorphism in the first line of the poem illustrates that the animals are a part of that society and are more than just simple creatures as they connect humans to the spiritual world. The use of the word “that” refers to past European culture and the word “this” refers to modern North American culture. The speaker’s subjective tone towards North American culture is evident as they end the poem by stating that, “They [animals] have the faces of no one”. (28-29) This emphasizes the speaker’s hostility towards the West by reinforcing the belief that they have lost all ties to their spiritual

According to Christopher Reeve, “a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” In today’s culture, the hero is frequently depicted as a knight in shining armor, an image that originates from age-old literature such as the fourteenth-century Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In such literary works, the heroic knight has several virtuosic character traits: friendship, chastity, generosity, courtesy, and piety; however, he must also endure a quest in which his virtues are tested. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, three obstacles challenge the hero Gawain’s morals, including the Green Knight, the seductress, and the threat of death, leading to a further maturity of

An interesting concept for imagery would be about the hounds, as in popular culture men are sometimes referred to as dogs, with Elvis’ famous tune noting males as hound dogs. The word beguiled means to be charmed in a deceptive way, which creates the sense that the deer is charming, but also that the hounds were captured and left through the same sorts. In other words, the charming nature of the deer is what culled the hounds in, and it is also what cause the hounds to not be able to capture her. The first quatrain gives the imagery of the feminine figure of the deer being a charming and graceful of sorts, which parallels females being the one to be chased, with the hunt for love not always being so

As the first verse of “Beasts of England,” which Old Major taught all the animals at the start of the revolution, these words help to instill in them the flames of rebellion. The optimistic nature of the song helped the animals remember the goals of their rebellion, and without this song to keep up morale, I don’t think the revolution would have worked as well as it did in the beginning, if at all. At multiple points in the story, these words give the animals strength and hope, allowing them to push through and endure the hardships of rebellion. Also, even though there were many reasons why this optimism and hope helped the animals, it was also the reason Napoleon was able to manipulate them so easily. No matter how badly the animals were