Heroes In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

gender role. The Lady’s role questions traditional presumptions of the roles of women in medieval literature. Women of the Middle Ages were generally dependent, inferior, and many female portraits in medieval texts did not fare better. While men of the Middle Ages were generally chivalry, valiance, noble and honest. Throughout the poem I began to see gender roles being reversed between Lady Bertilak and Sir Gawain.

Medieval scholars continually inspect the particularities of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SGGK) within the context of the preexisting Gawain literary tradition, and the issue of Gawain’s sudden antifeminist diatribe repeatedly comes to the forefront of these textual investigations. Often, literary critics claim that Gawain’s antifeminist outburst is common for the fourteenth century and that his acceptance to wear the girdle as a sign of shame still epitomizes him as a model of knighthood. Other scholars hesitate to dismiss Gawain’s misogyny as commonplace, they note that this moment is inconsistent with his reputation as an ideal knight. Gawain’s hasty compulsion to blame women suggests ruptures within the essentiality of his chivalric identity and a closer examination of the text reveals that this moment is not isolated. Despite scholars repeated attempts to identify the essential knight within Gawain, there are several examples of Gawain’s unstable identity throughout the text. I will argue Sir Gawain’s knightly identity is performative rather than essential, and his diatribe is the culmination of his failure to perform his own expected social identity.

Society expects ultimate perfection of all people. Due to this people are pressured to act a certain way that they would otherwise not act. The journey of obtaining perfection and maintaining it leads to success and failure. But what is considered failing while trying to become a different person? This topic is addressed in the poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by Pearl Poet. The main character Sir Gawain finds himself on a journey that will test his knightly integrity and the true nature of his personality. Sir Gawain fails his quest when he responds to the challenge in an aggressive way; by doing so he shows his lack of concern for human life, he fails to uphold his agreement with Lord Bertilak, and succumbs to fear when the

 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.

Many years ago, knights were expected to form a certain type of relationship with their king, this relationship was otherwise known as fealty. Fealty is a knight’s sworn loyalty to their king (in other words a loyal relationship should be formed between the two). The use of this relationship is shown in the poem called “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” ( the author is unknown). This poem has a classic quest type of formula, with a knight receiving a challenge and then going out on a journey to pursue that challenge, leading to a return home to report the results of his quest. This story begins at Christmas time when a knight (who is completely green) rides into King Arthur 's hall. The Green Knight proposes a game to those who are around him which is that “Any knight brave enough to strike off the Green Knight 's head may do so, but that man must accept a return stroke in approximately one year’s time”. Gawain accepts the challenge because he will not allow King Arthur to accept this. Gawain manages to then cut off the Green Knight 's head. The knight then picks up his severed head and leaves, telling Gawain to look for the Green Chapel when it is time for Gawain to fulfill the other half of the challenge that he has accepted. Near the end of the chosen year, Gawain sets out in search of the Green Chapel because he must complete the given challenge. On his journey in search of the Green knight, he finds a castle in the wilderness. The

Sir Gawain is relevant to readers today because it brings up some important points in being courageous, sticking to your word, acceptance of inevitable human error, trying to live up to societal standards and your reputation. These are all important things to address today.

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is considered not only a most brilliant example of Middle English poetry but one of the jewels in the crown English Literatures, and sits in the British Library under conditions of high security and controlled humidity. In the anonymously written story, Sir Gawain And The Green Knight shows Sir Gawain’s chivalry form his loyalty to his King, being testing by Green Knight, and his behavior during game playing.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, by an unknown author referred to as the “Pearl Poet,” we are introduced to Sir Gawain. Gawain is a knight of the Round Table and he is also the nephew of King Arthur. As a knight, Gawain is expected to possess and abide by many chivalrous facets. Throughout the poem he portrays many of the qualities a knight should possess, such as bravery, courtesy, and honor among others. Because of his ability to possess these virtues even when tempted to stray away from them, Sir Gawain is a true knight.

The story begins in King Arthur's court, where he and the Knights of the Round Table are celebrating New Year's. While they are enjoying their feast, a gigantic Green Knight rides in on a green horse with an immense axe in his hand to offer them a challenge. His offer is: "I shall bide the fist blow, as bare as I sit…….., but in twelve month and one day he shall have of me the same." (Norton Anthology,208)

An archetypal analysis of Gawain’s quest reveals some significant changes that occur in the hero’s character. We will analyze the progress of the hero, Gawain, as he ventures out to complete his quest. By analyzing the works of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight along with The Hero With A Thousand Faces, and how it completes the Hero’s Journey.

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is an excellent work to reference when examining different relationships within Arthurian legends. The author of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is unknown, but he is sometimes referred to as the “Gawain Poet” or “Pearl Poet” because of his additional works: “Pearl,” “Purity,” and “Patience.” All four poems were part of the Alliterative Revival of the Middle Ages of Northern England, containing mostly religious content. This may be the origin of Gawain’s exaggeratedly religious portrayal in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is organized in a stanza arrangement. Each stanza ends with one short line and four longer lines, called the bob and wheel, which “knits” the story together. It may important to note that the work was most likely written in the fourteenth century. The work is set in sixth-seventh centuries, but includes modern advances in armory, dress, and décor from the time the poem was written. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” exhibits many different types of love and relationships in which they are demonstrated. Familial love, spiritual love, erotic love, and courtly love are demonstrated within families, friendships, marriages, and Godly relationships.

Many would agree that although there are many stories about heroes, they all seem similar in some way. Joseph Campbell wrote many books about this theory of a "hero cycle" that every hero story follows. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, this pattern is clearly exemplified and it shows the numerous steps in Joseph Campbell's idea of the hero cycle.

A hero is a person who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, bravery or strength, often sacrificing their own personal concerns for a greater good. During the time period of which the poem of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight was written there were actually things one had to possess that made them an “Epic Hero,” which consisted of things like a Noble Birth, Superhuman Capabilities, Vast Traveling, being an Unmatched Warrior, Cultural Legend, Humility, and Battling Supernatural Foes. Initially, heroism is the act of being a hero, bravery along with courage make a hero to be what they are for the world. “Every hero in the epic genre is a man who goes into dangerous situations either unafraid or with resolve, despite [their] fear” (Barclay, para. 6). In this case, Sir Gawain sets out to the Green Chapel to settle the deal between himself and the Green Knight despite knowing he will die. Sir Gawain fits the theme of heroism because of his chivalry acts through the honor code of a knight.

Part of the essence of drama is conflict. A man cannot be considered a hero unless he has overcome some form of opposition. In many cases, this opposition comes in the form of another character. Typically, the conflict is simplified as a malignant character with wicked intentions committing acts which would be characterized as evil; the protagonist opposes this villain and usually overcomes that character, winning the day and the admiration of all. Sometimes, the main character becomes a hero by overcoming some force within his or her own self. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, this is ultimately what Gawain must do in order to be considered a hero.

In Arthurian romances, the knight Gawain fulfills a central role as a member of the legendary Round Table. Alone or accompanied by other chivalrous knights, Gawain traverses the land of Logres, searching for adventures and achieving great feats of heroism. To those he encounters on his quests, Gawain often represents the epitome of chivalry and knightly valor. However, Gawain’s actual characterization is not constant in every tale where he is present. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Chretien de Troye’s Perceval, and Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur, Gawain’s character vacillates from being the paragon of chivalry to the antithesis of heroism, and these characterizations serve as a foil to the figures of