Theme Of Archetypes In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

The archetypes that permeate many different stories all originate from Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces. More specifically, in the medieval story, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a variety of different archetypes are especially necessary to the theme of the story. An understanding of three key archetypes—the temptress the magic weapon, and the task—reveal the essence of Gawain’s role within the archetypal quest motif.

Ordinarily, the temptress archetype is characteristic of women who ”become the symbols no longer of victory, but of defeat” (Campbell 111).She also serves as a distraction to the hero’s task and may even intentionally misguide the hero. As seen in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the temptress, the host’s wife, kisses Gawain three times total throughout the duration of his stay at the house. Gawain, being chivalrous , politely declines her advances towards him.Consequently, he feels guilty each time she kisses him, but he cannot outright turn her down because it is just not in his

His encounter with the Green Knight is imperative to his growth as a character. For the most part, all of the other supporting characters in the story remain static, whereas Gawain’s growth can be directly attributed to the task he he must complete to ensure the honor of Camelot. The Green Knight first appears and challenges anyone to come and chop his head off by stating that,

”If anyone in this hall holds himself so hardy, so bold both of blood and brain, as to dare strike me one stroke for another...If any knight be so bold as to prove my words, let him come swiftly to me here, and take this weapon... Then shalt thou give me the right to deal him another, the respite of a year and a day shall he have.”(Weston 6) Upon hearing this, Gawain initially hesitates to accept the challenge but ultimately ends up sacrificing himself in place of Arthur. This hesitance