Heroes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Joseph Campbell
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.
The first step in Campbell's hero cycle is "the call." This is when the hero of the story is drawn into some type of journey, challenge, or adventure. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, this step occurs after the Green Knight enters the castle and requests a challenge, and no one but King Arthur will accept it. Then, Sir Gawain says, "I beseech you uncle, to grant me a kindness. Let this contest be mine. Gentle lord, give me permission to leave this table and stand in your place there" (Ponsor 127). Gawain believes that he is the least brave knight in the court and should take the blame if he fails so that it does not rest on the court since it is such a foolish challenge in the first place. So Arthur grants him his request and wishes him good luck. The second phase of the hero cycle is called "crossing the threshold." This is when the hero crosses his ordinary, everyday world and enters the dark, unknown area where his challenge awaits him. This happens when the story states, "Gawain walked, ax in hand, to the Green Knight, who had been waiting patiently" (Ponsor 127). Gawain then faces his first challenge with the Green Knight.
There are many trials the hero goes through in his adventure, which makes up the third step of Campbell's hero cycle. Gawain's first trial is in the castle when he takes over A...
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...ble to admit that he was dishonest and proved that the knights at the Round Table were all just as honorable as he. The return occurs after the Green Knight and Sir Gawain embrace each other in friendship and Sir Gawain heads back to Camelot. He was given his life back, and the green scarf as a reminder that he had committed a sin. He was a stronger knight and had learned a valuable lesson when he returned to King Arthur's court.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a great example of the hero cycle. There are many other stories that follow Joseph Campbell's theory, which is why I agree with him. Being familiar with the hero cycle makes these stories easier to predict and interpret. We can refer to the hero cycle when we want to find out why the hero goes on his journey, what he wants to accomplish, and what good he has done for the rest of his people.
When referring to archaic writing, it is clear to see the recurring archetypes and symbols throughout plots and situations. Understandably, certain patterns involving such motifs have continued through centuries, resulting in various works based around the same monomythic template with slight variations. All the big movie titles we love, Aladdin, Shrek, even, Sharknado contain more than traces of these archetypal patterns, consisting of a hero, a mentor, a dark figure and so on. Prime examples of this archetypal plot structure, with their own unique adaptations, may be found within the two poetic narratives Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Aside from their completely disparate backgrounds and morals, both works include and follow the monomythic journey, as perceived by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, as well as in the secondary works of others who have helped to further our understanding of this analytical method. This generalization, however, is shifted when one dissects further into these two pieces of literature. As in the majority of monomythic quest narratives, the protagonist often practices and displays the characteristics of courage, loyalty, humility
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a fourteenth-century tale written by an anonymous poet, chronicles how Sir Gawain of King Arthur’s Round Table finds his virtue compromised. A noble and truthful knight, Gawain accepts the Green Knight’s challenge at Arthur’s New Years feast. On his way to the Green Chapel, Gawain takes shelter from the cold winter at Lord Bercilak’s castle. The lord makes an agreement with Gawain to exchange what they have one at the end of the day. During the three days that the lord is out hunting, his wife attempts to seduce Gawain. At the end of the story, it is revealed that Morgan le Faye has orchestrated the entire situation to disgrace the Knights of the Round Table by revealing that one of their best, Sir Gawain, is not perfect.
The narrative artistry of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight can be attributed to the fundamental elements of chivalric life and the exploration of classic mythological elements that allows the narrative to bridge the gap between Christianity and Paganism, and allow its readers to find their own spiritual interpretation with in the text.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a test of challenges of a hero’s progression. The novel involves a hero steering his way through obstacles to reach maturity. In order to reach his heroic maturity, Sir Gawain must participate in these games. These games serves as the obstacles that stand between the path. Throughout history there have been many instances in which games stood in between a hero and its end goal. In the novel the Hunger Games, for example a simple game of survival served as the obstacle between the hero and the heroic maturity. The main character of this story played an actual game of fate where they battled survival of the fittest to become the hero of their own game. Sir Gawain in his own way play his own game of fate which determined his heroic maturity in the way he develops. The game is a symbol that represents heroic maturity. Throughout history, it has repeated itself over and over to show that the game is a degree of obstacles that determine the maturity of the hero. The game serves as a challenge of heroic maturity where Sir Gawain must prove how much of a hero he is.
In the final scenes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain’s encounter with Sir Bertilak allows Gawain to perceive his own flaws, manifested in his acceptance of the Green Girdle. The court’s reaction to his personal guilt highlights the disconnect between him and the other knights of the Round Table. Gawain’s behavior throughout the poem has been most noteworthy; his understanding of his sin, one that many of us would dismiss since it was propelled by his love of life, enhances his stature as a paragon of chivalry.
If Sir Gawain chops off the Green Knight's head, one would think that the Green Knight would die. So why does the Green Knight ask to meet Sir Gawain in a year and a day to return the strike? The answer to this question shows the Green Knight's supernatural powers because he knows that he is not going to die because of the strike. The Green Knight appears to have a hidden agenda, which will be revealed at the end of the story.
In Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, our main character is faced with a challenge. A strange figure, appropriately named after the color of clothing he wears and his title, asks whether any man that is “bold in his blood” in courageous enough to accept his terms. He mocks Arthur, who is silent, and before the king can accept, Gawain stands and agrees. The trial is as follows – if Sir Gawain strikes the knight, in exactly one year, he will return and have an opportunity to deliver his own blow. Not surprisingly, Gawain, who is well known for his bravery, successfully attacks.
The Green Knight begins to mock the court; and then boldly, King Arthur accepts his challenge. Sir Gawain realizes that this should not be the king’s responsibility for there are others present worthy of the challenge including him. Symbolically, this scene can be seen as a Christian standing up for what he believes in. Gawain says, “I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest;/ And the loss of my life would be least of any; (354-355). Here, Gawain humbles himself before his lord, just as a Christian should in prayer to God.
Throughout the years, certain writers were able to set off a deep sympathetic resonance within readers by their usage of archetypal patterns. One of those patterns is known as the hero's journey, which Joseph Campbell gave an understandable idea of in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. According to his book, while comparing world's mythology, he found that no matter how far cultures are from each other, they will still have the same structure of hero's journey in their legends (Voytilla vii).
Sir Gawain shows his bravery the first moment he has the chance to, when the Green Knight enters King Arthur's Court. The Green Knight taunts with 'Anyone with the nerve to try it, take this ax, here. Hurry, I'm waiting! Take it and keep it, my gift forever, And give me a well-aimed stroke, and agree to accept another in payment, when my turn arrives.'; (I, 292) Sir Gawain took this burden and took the ax from the king who was prepared to do this deed. Gawain knows full well that he would receive a blow in return and would have to find the Green Knight in order to receive his blow. He accepts these terms and gives the Green Knight his blow with no haste. Time passes and it eventually is time for Sir Gawain to start to look for his fate and find the Green Knight and his chapel. Starting his crusade, Gawain was given a feast and many thought he would never return again, as some of the knights would comment, 'Better to have been more prudent, to have made him a duke before this could happen. He seemed a brilliant leader, and could have been.'; (II, 677) Gaw...
Sir Gawain's inner values and character are tested to the fullest and are clearly defined in the text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The unknown author describes Gawain and the other knights as "Many good knights" (Norton 159), and he is referred to as one of the "most noble knights" (Norton 159) in King Arthur's land. This claim by the author is solidified by a challenge presented by the evil Green Knight, who enters the court of King Arthur and asks him to partake in a Christmas game. Sir Gawain, after hearing this challenge, asks the king if he may take his place. This represents that Gawain is very loyal to his king. Sir Gawain is also an honest knight in the text because in a year's time he ventures out in search of the Green Knight to endure a blow with the ax as the rules of the game were stated. He very easily could have not have carried out his end of the bargain by not traveling to the Green Chapel to meet the evil being, but Gawain is an honest knight who is true to his word.
In the beginning of the passage, not much action is going on. The Green Knight then rides into King Arthur's house on his horse. He gives a challenge to everybody in the hall. The king says that whoever cuts the Green Knight's head will be a brave person. Then Sir Gawain says that he will take the Green Knight's challenge. But, he wants to know the Green Knight's name. Sir Gawain says,"Nor I know you not, knight your name nor your court. But tell me truly thereof, and teach me your name (Norton 210,line400-401). The Green Knight, however, does not give his name to Sir Gawain. Instead, the Green Knight says Sir Gawain has a year to find out where the Green Knight lives. Once Sir Gawain discovers where the Green Knight lives, he will know his name. The Green Knight says, "If I tell you true, when I have taken your knock, and If you handily have hit, you shall hear straightway of my house and my home and my own name" (Norton 210 lines 406-408). At this point Sir Gawain does not know what to do. Sir Gawain asks the Green Knight for directions to his house. But the Green Knight will not give any clues to Sir Gawain, and he says, "That is enough in New Year, you need say no more" which means that after the year is through, Sir Gawain will know everything (Norton 210 line 404).
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain shows qualities of a chivalrous knight. He demonstrates that by showing generosity, courtesy, and loyalty during his travels. A mysterious knight shows up at the king’s castle and calls himself the Green Knight. The Green Knight then challenges one to play a game which he challenges the king to strike him with his axe if he will take a return hit in a year and a day. Sir Gawain steps forward to accept the challenge for his uncle King Arthur when nobody else in the castle would. He took the King’s role in the game to protect him from the Green Knight. He must learn to accept his responsibility as a knight, in accepting his fate.He demonstrates goodness at the hand of the Green Knight. He shows courage by accepting what is to come upon him during his voyage. His journey to find the Green Knight is filled with temptations.In the conversation with him and the “Lady”, Sir Gawain showed a Chivalrous code by keeping his loyalty to the king by not kissing his wife. The lady states “if I should exchange at my cho...
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight fit in with the concept of a romance; it has all the elements that would make one consider the text as so. The tale holds adventure, magic, a quest and an unexpected reality check that even those who are considered “perfect” are also just humans. The author used this story as a way of revealing faults in some of the aspects of knighthood through the use of intertwining chivalric duty with natural human acts; thus showing to be perfectly chivalrous would be inhuman.
Gawain courageously volunteers to go through the challenge if the Green Knight, to strike his neck, and get the favor returned later on. After his courageous act of bravery, he sets off to find the Green Knight, halfway there, he finds an amazing house in which a lord lives. As the lord accepts him with open arms, he takes it for granted, while the lord is gone, he kisses his wife three times. He thanks the family and leave. He goes to the Green Knight, and as it turns out the lord was the Green Knight. He does not know that, so he goes and waits for the Green Knight to strike and he strikes. Gawain dodges it and runs, he says that that was his blow and that’s final. The Green Knight reveals himself as the lord and he learns a valuable lesson, and the lesson learned was known as, “ I must wear this badge… for nothing befalls a man who hides from his own fears.” ( Thompson 5 ) He learns his lesson and finds the true meaning of honor. From this he will now be more brave, more motivated, and he will never dishonor anybody