Essay on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance about the adventure of Sir Gawain, King Arthur's Knight of the Round Table. This great verse is praised not only for its complex plot and rich language, but also for its sophisticated use of symbolism. Symbolism is a technique used in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to give a significance to the plot. The Green Knight, the Green Sash, and Sir Gawain's Shield are three of the most prominent symbols given to us in this verse.

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience, and Pearl” is a poem that uses symbolism to enhance multiple concepts of the natural world. Throughout the poem, the color green is used to describe both living and nonliving things such as the Green Knight and the green girdle. The poet uses various patterns and techniques to represent and introduce the color green as well as allow the reader to interpret how the color green is being used as a symbol. In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience, and Pearl”, the Green Knight, green axe, holly bob, and green girdle are all used to symbolize various natural elements such as rejuvenation, violence, and remembrance throughout the poem.

Essay with Outline  Loyalty, courage, honor, purity, and courtesy are all attributes of a knight that displays chivalry. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is truly a story of the test of these attributes. In order to have a true test of these attributes, there must first be a knight worthy of being tested, meaning that the knight must possess chivalric attributes to begin with. Sir Gawain is self admittedly not the best knight around. He says "I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest; / and the loss of my life [will] be least of any" (Sir Gawain, l. 354-355). To continue on testing a knight that does not seem worthy certainly will not result in much of a story, or in

“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.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, many archetypes can be found, like in most works of literature. This literary work included situational and symbolic archetypes as well as character archetypes and color archetypes. Each archetype in the poem aided in Sir Gawain’s development as a character. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight dramatically demonstrates how a single character can play many archetypal roles.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a very wonderful story that has many symbols that have an important meaning and lesson to it. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is written anonymously. This story is very unique in every way because some of the circumstances and games are very different compared to how some people see them today. There are many symbols that are embedded into this story. Items that seem simple and irrelevant in real life are important in the story and embrace special lessons. The green belt, nature and the color green are important symbols in the story.

    Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a tale that takes place in the medieval period. During this time period, knights were considered very common and were expected to follow one main code of law, chivalry. This code mainly stated that a knight must be loyal to his king, honest, modest, and brave. Chivalry is practiced in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the form of tests that are given to Gawain to reveal his true character, and what is valued most to him. Throughout these tests, Sir Gawain proves that he values his honor over his life and will not fall to temptations displayed to him.

In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it is apparent that the author uses two dynamic literary devices to express and portray the importance of them within the narrative. These literary devices add to the text and correlate to broader themes within the tale. The use of symbolism and themes play a significant role within the poem because they represent abstract concepts, as well as shows how fundamental the theme of the poem is. Within Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the audience observes the use of symbolism through the green girdle.Whereas, the theme can be identified through the changing of time. Overall the use of symbolism and themes are imperative within the poem because they help develop universal ideas and represent significant concepts.

Medieval romances are dramatic theatrical narratives that usually include heroes, adventures, and of course the excitement of love. These stories have been around since the 12th century, first appearing in France and then later seen in England. They were some of the most popular texts of the era. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of these stories introduced in the 13th century. In fact, it’s so old that nobody knows who even wrote the poem. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an exciting tale where Sir Gawain is tested as a knight by facing challenges and adventures. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows us the all the main traits and characteristics of a medieval romance, such as supernatural elements, mistaken identity, larger than life characters, and lastly a hero facing and passing tests of loyalty.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight is repeatedly associated with the color green. The Green Knight’s whole and impressive self is entirely green, including his green horse, green ribbons, and green gems. “For man and gear and all were as green could be. And in guise all of green, the gear and the man” (line 149). The Green Knight is described in the poem as being “half a giant on earth” (140). On one hand, the king’s court links the knights intimidating and huge physique as being frightening and dangerous, while on the other hand the knight is visibly decorated in green, the color of nature. The color green, in most cases, can be represented by the weaknesses of man, like lust and greed, but for the Green Knight, his appearance symbolizes nature and the power of nature. The Green Knight shows how he is connected with nature when instead of using traditional weapons of a knight, he chooses to carry a “holly bob” and a “huge and immense ax”, both of which associate him with the forest. Nature in the real world and in the world of the poem is very unpredictable and often impossible to control. Similar to nature, the Green Knights unpredictable actions are similar to that of natures. An example would be when the Green knight announces his beheading game to the audience of the king’s court. “And so I call in this court for a Christmas game, as stoutly to strike one stroke for another. Now be it seen straightway who dares take up the game” (lines 286-300). The allusion of nature in the poem is continued by the poem which expresses “the butterflies and birds

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)

In the poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, the themes of chivalry and courtesy show up time after time throughout the story. Along with those themes, the color green seems to be a very significant symbol. At the end of the poem, Gawain states that he will wear the green girdle that was given to him by Morgan le Fey so he can always remember his wrongdoing. Along with Gawain wearing it, all of Arthur’s men decide to wear it as a green sash, yet it holds a completely different meaning to them. It is interesting to note the different views the two have on wearing the green sash, which view is actually more noble, and understanding Gawain’s character progression throughout the poem.

Gawain, Arthur's knight who takes the Green Knight's challenge, is portrayed in different lights as the story progresses. Descriptions of fabric and clothing are integral to this portrayal. When he is departing Camelot to find the Green Knight, Gawain is depicted as a virtuous, chivalrous knight bravely facing his fate. His clothing, therefore, is red, symbolizing courage, and bears a gold pentangle, a symbol of

The character of the Green Knight, Sir Bertilak, wholly opposes the Christian, honorable characterization of Gawain. When Gawain comes to meet the Green Knight, he exclaims: “‘Can this be the Chapel Green?/Alack!’ ...Here might/The devil himself be seen/Saying matins at black midnight” (2185-2188). The Green Knight is a fairy, who resides in a parody of a church. His pagan figure contrasts sharply with this characterization of Gawain, who is strongly connected with his Christian faith. Gawain is also a foil to the Green Knight in that Gawain epitomizes courtly manners, whereas the Green Knight lacks courtesy. He traipses into Camelot and acts as though he cannot tell Arthur is king (224-231), and later refers to the courtiers as “beardless children” (280), showing a great lack of manners. Later, as Sir Bertilak is hosting Gawain, it seems that the Green Knight does actually possess courtesy. However, boarding Gawain is revealed to be a part of a grand scheme to shame prideful knights of the Round Table (2456-2459). The illegitimacy of his courtesy toward Gawain shows that the Green Knight lacks the honesty attributed to truly courteous knights. The Green Knight, a pagan figure that shuns the manners of the court, is inverted by the character of Gawain, who epitomizes honorable knighthood in this

Upon first Reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I noticed that it comes off as a romantic normative poem about chivalric ideals and traditions of the ruling class with covertly Christian Images. The protagonist character Sir Gawain stands out as the role model of the chivalric ideals of the 14th century while displaying Christian images on his armor. The combination of Gawain’s armor and actions throughout the poem exemplify his characteristics of Christian perfection and chivalric ideals. The very first scene with Bertilak of Hautdesert known as the Green Knight begins to mold your perception of how chivalrous Sir Gawain is by portraying him as valiant, humble, and virtuous knight to Arthur. I felt that the interruption of Arthur