Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an anonymous fourteenth-century poet in Northern dialect, combines two plots: "the beheading contest, in which two parties agree to an exchange of the blows with a sword or ax, and the temptation, an attempted seduction of the hero by a lady" (Norton p.200). The Green Knight, depicted as a green giant with supernatural powers, disrespectfully rides into King Arthur's court and challenges the king to a Christmas game -- a beheading contest. Sir Gawain, a young, brave and loyal knight of the Round Table, acting according to the chivalric code, takes over the challenge his lord has accepted. The contest states that Sir Gawain
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The hero's helmet, "embellished with the best gems"(Norton, p.214, l.609) and "with diamonds richly set"( Norton, p.214, l.617), has been made by many women who had to work for seven years in order to create such beauty. Besides being very heavy, the knight's suit is also described as being composed and decorated with the most lavish and expensive materials such as silk, gold and diamonds. This strikes the reader as being odd. When we first meet him, Sir Gawain describes himself as poor, humble, insignificant and the weakest of all the knights, and, yet he has such goodly clothes and armor. This little detail could be overlooked (because, after all, the hero is King Arthur's nephew), but it makes the contemporary reader realize that the things in the King Arthur's court are not always what they appear.
Sir Gawain "heard the mass and honored God humbly" (Norton, p.214, l.593) before the long journey. The word that captures the reader's attention and has important meaning and significance in relation to this passage as well as to the poem as a whole is "humbly." The hero thinks of himself as being humble and courteous
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
In the beginning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is introduced as a courtly knight with a sense of perfection. The author does this to compare it to his failures, which are later displayed through Gawain’s acts at Morgan le Fay’s castle. Gawain is portrayed to be a chivalrous knight with honor and courage. Gawain is presented with a challenge: accept the game to cut off the Green Knight’s head, and in a test of courage and honor, set out to allow the Green Knight to return the favor to him in a year and a day. This initially shows the knightly characteristics of Gawain which presents him as noble and honorable, which allows the author to shock the audience when Gawain falls under pressure to actions that contradict the chivalrous code. The first of these actions taken by Gawain in opposition to his morals is the temptation
Throughout the Arthurian legends, Sir Gawain seems to be the epitome of a noble knight. He is always putting his king before himself, repeatedly sacrificing his own life in some way for King Arthur. He is an honorable knight that lives up to his word. This is evident in both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell." In these stories, Gawain lives up to the expectations of a knight belonging to the legendary Round Table.
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.
In this passage taken from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Lines 1623-1718, the reader sees how Sir Gawain is the hero of the poem, through the tests of the host. Sir Gawain is speaking to the host of the castle where he is staying for a few days before journeying on to the Green Chapel. The host has just returned from hunting and killing some boar. While the host is out hunting for the boar, we learn that Sir Gawain is developing a love interest in a special lady friend, the wife of the host, who makes several attempts to seduce him. Before this hunt, Gawain and the host make a promise to each other that they will exchange whatever they may win that day for the other's winnings. The host gives Sir
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight begins with an extended idealized description of Arthur’s court; “The most noble knights known under Christ, / And the loveliest ladies that lived on earth ever, / And he the comeliest king, that that court holds. ” (Marie, 51-53) The court is in the middle of its Christmas celebration, the knights and ladies are young-and well favored enjoying the pleasures of court life. However, there is a negative side to the youthful King Arthur, and his kingly whim who that desired a tale of “some suppliant came seeking some single knight / to join with him in jousting, in jeopardy each / to lay life for life and leave it to fortune.” (Marie, 96-99) Thereby implication the court and the romantic ideals they represent: a potentially damaging carelessness, a lack of stability, and responsibility. Authur’s court is initially regaled as:
In the Pearl poet’s Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, an epic talk emerges to reveal a man’s journey of honesty, morals, and honor. Sir Gawain accepts a challenge in place of his uncle King Arthur, with hidden tests and viable consequences. As Gawain begins his journey, he proudly upholds his knightly honor and seeks out his own death; however, Gawain gives into his human emotion and is soon distracted from his chivalrous motives. As a result of this distraction, Gawain is marked with a scar to show his dishonest and cowardly deception. This scar is a visible reminder to Sir Gawain that honor and prestige cannot always protect against the desires of the flesh. Gawain pays for his sins at the Green Knights axe (Stone 136). This sin
On the contrary, this type of modesty would invoke feelings of pity.Regardless of what others were thinking at the time, Gawain is determined to bare the cross of his deed in order to gain high renown among his peers and the devotion of the king. King Arthur's demonstrates his appreciation through his words of praise and the feast celebrating Gawain's courage.This is because he is expected, as a knight, to excel at humility and modesty due to the importance of the Christian state of mind in this epic poem. Gawain is a humble knight with a brave heart and many human flaws. Along with humility, the many traits of a good Christian Knight, such as chastity, are shown through Gawain’s encounter with Lady Bertilak. When speaking to lady Bertilak, Gawain admires her in a respectful and sacred approach. “As myself ever can, however long I may live/ would be absolute folly, noble lady, on my word/ I will carry out your desires with all my power/ as I am in all duty bound, and always will be/ the servant of your wishes” (Fitt 3.1544-1548). He assures her that for as long as he shall live, he will remain her noble servant attending to her every wish. Interestingly, although he has promised her to do as she pleases; he rejects her desire of a sexual encounter. He shows humility towards her for he is “completely unworthy” (Fitt 3.1244) of her seduction. He wants to remain true to his word, but cannot come to terms of allowing himself to
Gawain, a knight of the famed King Arthur, is depicted as the most noble of knights in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Nonetheless, he is not without fault or punishment, and is certainly susceptible to conflict. Gawain, bound to chivalry, is torn between his knightly edicts, his courtly obligations, and his mortal thoughts of self-preservation. This conflict is most evident in his failure of the tests presented to him. With devious tests of temptation and courage, Morgan le Fay is able to create a mockery of Gawain’s courtly and knightly ideals. Through the knight Gawain, the poem is able to reveal that even knights are human too with less than romantic traits.
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.
Though often extensive detail may be condemned as mere flowery language, in understanding Sir Gawain and the Green Knight one must make special emphasis on it. In color and imagery itself, the unknown author paints the very fibers of this work, allowing Sir Gawain to discern the nuances of ritualistic chivalry and truth. His quest after the Green Knight is as simple as ones quest toward himself. Through acute awareness of the physical world he encounters Gawain comes to an understanding of the world beyond chivalry, a connection to G-d, the source of truth. He learns, chivalry, like a machine, will always function properly, but in order to derive meaning from its product he must allow nature to affect him.
Fraternity and generosity are certainly important to Gawain as well. According to French literary historian, Leon Gautier, one of the main tenets of chivalry is that "thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to everyone" (Gautier 57). Likewise, Gawain and Bertilac strike a friendly deal with each other. Bertilac gives Gawain asylum on the one caveat that they both exchange gifts each day of what they had acquired. Bertilac would exchange his winnings from his game hunts, and Gawain was to give in return what he acquired in the castle, which in this case were kisses from Bertilac 's main squeeze. Finally, there is Sir Gawain 's devout piety which is seen throughout the tale. Gautier states that "no one could become a knight without first becoming a Christian" (Gautier 26). Gawain constantly prays and gives thanks to God. He is sort of like the Ned Flanders of the Middle Ages. Devotion to God is perhaps the most important aspect of chivalry in Sir Gawain 's eyes. He is a hero in the sense that, while he is certainly brave and selfless, he is also extremely kind and courteous, which in the end is truly the best kind of hero. What an outstanding gentlemen he is.
Sir Gawain is a wonderful knight; he is courageous, modest, polite, kind, loyal and trustworthy, everything a knight should be. When there is danger he promptly steps up, and when there is a fight he won't back down. He is courteous with the ladies, but he never falls for any tricks of disloyalty. But, even he isn't perfect, he makes a mistake, and he repents for it greatly.
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
The challenge of maintaining virtues becomes a psychological game as Gawain is separated from his peers. He battles foul enemies including “dragons/ ...wolves, and satyrs, / And forest trolls, / And bulls, and bears, and ivory-tusked boars, / And giant ogres” (lines 719-723), but his physical monsters are glossed over in comparison to the mental turmoil that Gawain faces during this segment of his journey. In his “friendless” (line 714) time “nowhere near home” (line 714), Gawain lacks the support system of his compassionate friends of the court. The only backbone he has is in his faith, leading to his prayers to Mary “To end his grief, / To guide his weary / Steps to relief” (lines 737-739) in an act of piety, another knightly virtue that Gawain embodies. Coincidentally, the pious act that grants him the salvation of discovering the castle and brings the joys of having human companionship again also leads him to his greatest challenge: the seduction of the Lady Bercilak.