In the poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Pearl Poet, Sir Gawain goes on a journey. Many people believe that Sir Gawain did not abide by his virtues, letting go of what he valued most. Gawain was so proud of his values that he depicted them on his shield, which he carried around everywhere. Gawain’s first four sets of virtues are not contested over; however, there is a debate over the last set. Sir Gawain himself believes that he failed in his journey because he did not overcome his challenges virtuously and accepted the green girdle. On the contrary, I believe that by accepting the girdle, he did not break any of his fifth set of virtues. He still showed politeness, pureness, friendship, fraternity, and pity along the way. Although quite …show more content…
For example, after the lord treats Gawain with hospitality, Gawain mentions, “Your requests are now this knight’s commands. I am bound by your bidding.” Although this unknown king could ask for anything outrageous, Gawain gives his solemn oath. Gawain is paying respect to this lord who made Gawain welcome. In addition, when the Green Knight comes to King Arthur’s palace, Sir Gawain is the only knight who accepts it and tells King Arthur“ Such a foolish affair is unfitting for a king, so; being first to come forward, it should fall to me.” Arthur is being courteous to his king, and taking on a very suspicious job against a humongous Green Knight who other “brave” knights were afraid of. Furthermore, Sir Gawain is polite towards the king’s wife. After much insistence for Gawain to commit an act of adultery, Gawain merely says “ I shall kiss at your command, as becomes a knight.” Even though this beautiful lady was seducing Gawain, he had to be polite to the lord and not commit adultery with his wife. On top of that, Gawain had to reject the lady’s advances in a chivalrous manner. Gawain handled this quite nicely with courtly love. Likewise, he is also being noble with this act. The lord’s wife keeps on pressing him day after day to advance with her, but he stays strong and mentions “ I shall not succumb.” This is so difficult because Sir Gawain could enjoy on his possibly last day to live, but instead chooses to stay pure and
“Culture does not make people. People make culture” said Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian writer and educator, in a presentation on feminism in a TedTalk. The culture in which Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written was misogynistic and it shows in the writing of the poem. Medieval cultural misogyny manifests itself in multiple ways in SGGK. This paper will examine the negative relationships between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and gender by discussing: the representation of female characters, gendered violence, and Christianity in the Middle Ages.
Tragic and hero may not be words that easily reveal a relationship, but throughout literature the two have been linked to create an enthralling read. The emergence of the tragic hero seemed to take shape in ancient Greece where such works as Oedipus and Antigone were popular among all classes of people. Aristotle defined a tragedy as "the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself. It incorporates incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotions." Though Greece may be credited with the creation of tragic heroes, the theme is seen in literary works across many different cultures, including England. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one such English work where the development of the main character, Gawain, follows the pattern of the classical tragic hero. In this paper, we will explore the characteristics of the tragic hero and show how these traits are demonstrated in Gawain.
The first symbol in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that I will discuss is Sir Gawain’s knightly shield. On Gawain’s shield is a pentangle, the five points on this pentangle represent the five virtues of the perfect knight; piety, friendship, generosity, chastity and courtesy. Each of the five virtues is tested on Gawain throughout the poem creating an emphasised importance on the shield’s representation and meaning. “Now alle þese fyue syþez, for soþe, were fetled on þis knyȝt, And vchone halched in oþer, þat non ende hade, And fyched vpon fyue poyntez, þat fayld neuer” (SGGK, 656-8). This quote tells of the pentangle’s design, how each line of the pentangles composition is endlessly linked to one another, suggesting that each virtue depends on th...
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain humbly approaches the King and courageously says, “For I find it not fit… when such a boon is begged… though you be tempted… to take in on yourself while so bold men about upon benches sit” (122-125) “And for that this folly befits a king, and ‘tis I that have asked it, it ought to be mine” (132-133). He, the weakest Knight, sees the injustice of someone challenging the King and instead of acting passively he willingly sacrifices himself for the King’s sake, which shows his loyalty, courage and integrity. However, Sir Gawain becomes a hypocrite even though the Green Knight says, “Friend mine, it seems your word holds good” (333-334) because the Green Knight’s wife “made trial of a man most faultless by far” (452) and he did not remain loyal and honest. The opportunity of remaining secure and safe presents itself and selfishly he chooses this course of action; consequently, he “lacked… a little in loyalty there” (456). In the end, the Green Knight reprimands him for his dishonesty and lack of integrity and in return Sir Gawain, shamefully responds “I confess, knight, in this place, most dire is my misdeed; let me gain back your good grace…” (Line 474-476) so even though he was not noble and loyal throughout the entire course he remains sincere in his apology. His loyalty to the King in the
. Based on the unit, we learned that when you begin to imagine how your characters will look and how they will act, there are two important approaches to remember. Please name and briefly define these approaches. Direct characterization and indirect characterization are two approaches to remember. Direct characterization-
Excellence has always been a virtue revered by society. Writers throughout the ages have tried to capture the essence of excellence in their works, often in the form of a title character, who is the embodiment of perfection, encapsulating all the ideal traits necessary for one to be considered an excellent member of society. However, the standards for excellence are not universally agreed upon. On the contrary, one man's idea of excellence may very well be another's idea of mediocrity. Yet, human nature is constant enough that by analyzing different literary "heroes", one can discover the standards of excellence that are common to different peoples.
In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” King Arthur is hosting a feast to celebrate Christmas and New Years. While they are waiting to eat, the Green Knight came in and challenged King Arthur and all of his knights to a challenge. Everyone hesitated because of fear but Sir Gawain fearlessly accepted the challenge. During the Middle Ages, the knights followed a moral and social code of chivalry. The code was documented around the 1100’s in the Song of Roland, which is also a documentation of battles fought by Emperor Charlemagne. (“Knights Code of Chivalry”) The code of chivalry consists of faith, charity, justice, sagacity, prudence, temperance, resolution, temperance, truth, liberality, diligence, hope, valor, humility, honor, and honesty. Men of importance during the Middle Ages were expected to behave chivalrously in all situations, and this mindset of society affected Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain was motivated by ideals of chivalry to protect King Arthur when the Green Knight challenged him, because of his bravery and valor. Sir Gawain’s acceptance of the challenge also kept King Arthur from having to accept the challenge or denying it and being labeled a coward. Later on Sir Gawain travels to the Green castle to fulfill his challenge from the Green Knight and he stumbles into Bertilak’s castle. Bertilak welcomes him with open arms and lets him stay at the castle under one condition: Bertilak will hunt during the day and give Sir Gawain whatever he kills, in return he has to give Bertilak anything he receives while he is staying at the castle. While there, Bertilak’s wife tries to seduce Sir Gawain, but he constantly denies her. The bedroom scenes show Gawain’s restraint and persistence to his chivalry. Throughout the three day stay, Bertilak’s wife tries harder and harder to seduce him until he gave in and accepted the girdle. During this escapade,
The knowledge of Arthurian literature affected Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which contains the qualities Arthur displayed to the people of his time. The word essential refers to something absolutely necessary, a need. Essential elements contain crucial and references to the poem and to its history. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, an example of Arthurian literature, two essential elements are chivalry and faith.
In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Poet Pearl, Sir Gawain, knight of the Round Table, acts chivalrously, yet his intents are insincere and selfish. It is the advent season in Middle Age Camelot, ruled by King Arthur when Poet Pearl begins the story. In this era citizens valued morals and expected them to be demonstrated, especially by the highly respected Knights of the Round Table. As one of Arthur’s knights, Sir Gawain commits to behaving perfectly chivalrous; however, Gawain falls short of this promise. Yes, he acts properly, but he is not genuine. The way one behaves is not enough to categorize him as moral; one must also be sincere in thought. Gawain desires to be valued as
Despite being a knight, Sir Gawain sinned. He was greedy. He accepted a woman’s girdle because it would literally save his neck in the covenant he had with the Green Giant. The woman’s girdle was magical and saved people from every thrust or strike they would endure. Sir Gawain learned his lesson through all the guilt he feels when he was caught. Moreover, when Sir Gawain says, “Dread of the death blow and cowardly doubts meant I gave into greed, and in doing so forgot the freedom and fidelity every knight knows to follow,” (“Sir Gawain” 235). Even though Sir Gawain was a noble knight he still sinned against the knightly code and also against the Ten Commandments.
After reading through the piece of literature Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one will realize there are many elements present throughout that could be analyzed such as humility, chastity, and courage. It could be interpreted that the author meant for the main theme of the writing to be a theme of chastity. Although the element of chastity is present in that Sir Gawain is tested by many sexual temptations, the element of humility is one that is prominent and changing throughout the piece. Humility is apparent throughout the story in the way Sir Gawain displays false humility at the beginning, the way he keeps his humility during his stay at the castle, and the way he is truly learns humility after his challenges with the Green Knight are over.
In stanza 74, fit III, the lady of the castle offers a magical, green girdle to Sir Gawain and explains to him that the wearer of this corset "cannot be killed by any cunning on earth." Sir Gawain, amidst an ethical dilemma, accepts the gift and chooses to conceal it from Lord Bertilak. This passage contains three of the main themes of the story – the inner and outer conflicts between Sir Gawain’s ethics and desire to live, and the test of religion.
Gawain’s acceptance of Lady Bertilak’s girdle causes him to progressively lose himself internally in order to save his physical life. Gawain appears to be the perfect image of a knight, who exhibits himself as worthy and noble when he accepts the Green Knight’s challenge. Known to be “honored all over the world,” his remarkable valor and devout behavior define his character. He loses his honorable reputation, though, when he disrespects the honor of King Bertilak. Disgracing his knightly code, Gawain fails to exchange all of his gifts with the king and lies, without hesitation, to the king when he claims that “what [he] owed [King Bertilak] [he has] paid [King Bertilak]” (1941). Gawain directly lies to him without hesitation, proving that his conscience does not seem to be effecting his actions. Lying is a common action, but generally, it causes us to feel remorseful and guilty over our wrongs. Gawain breaks the code of chivalry that requires a knight to be loyal and honest, but he is not regretful due to his apparent selfish nature (“Code of Chivalry, 2 and 15”). He makes a deal with the king to “[trade] profit for profit,” yet he dishonestly “[hides] [Lady Bertilak’s] love gift” rather than honoring the king’s wishes (1677, 1874). Gawain makes a promise that he fails to fulfill. The girdle drives him to destruction because it pulls him away from what he knows to be good and
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 is a poem which tells the tale of a knight who undergoes trials-testing the attributes of knighthood-in order to prove the strength and courage of himself, while representing the Knights of the Round Table. One of King Arthurs most noblest and bravest of knights, Sir Gawain, is taken on an adventure when he steps up to behead a mysterious green visitor on Christmas Day-with the green mans’ permission of course. Many would state that this tale of valor would be within the romance genre. To the modern person this would be a strange category to place the poem in due to the question of ‘where is the actual romance, where is the love and woe?’ However, unlike most romances nowadays, within medieval literature there are many defining features and characteristics of a romance-them rarely ever really involving love itself. Within medieval literature the elements of a romance are usually enshrouded in magic, the fantastic and an adventure. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight follows Sir Gawain over the course of one year, from one New Years to the next, as was the deal he and Bertilak, the green knight, struck.