The Green Knight and King Arthur
Many British literature writers of the Middle Ages wrote about reality of the Middle Ages including the social, political, and economical styles of writing. During the Middle Ages, chivalry was a big aspect of every day life. Chivalry, a word not rarely used in modern times anymore in the same fashion it was before, is defined as, "the code of life that defined the qualities of knighthood, such as honor, courage, loyalty, and willingness to defined the weak and protect women." (English & Western Literature Text) The Middle Ages were known to be the times of knights, kings, and queens and fighting for their country for pride for the king. Loyalty was a major part of chivalry and thus was a part of many stories about the King Arthur era. One story in particular, "Le Morte d'Arthur" compiled by Sir Thomas Malory, shows many characters throughout who appear to be loyal to the king and queen of their country.
Loyalty is shown through many instances from the beginning of the story to the end. All three knights, namely, Sir Torre, Sir Pellinore, and Sir Gawain, all reveal their loyalty through different actions and emotions. But in the introduction, before Arthur becomes King, King Uther was sick. In this instance, Merlin, the advisor, summons the Kings noblemen to take care of him. They did as they were told and did not back out because they loved their king and felt loyal to him unto his dying day. Unfortunately, King Uther dies and his son, Arthur comes into the picture. When the news of the great stone in the rock came to everyone the noblemen wanted to win the prize and to become king of the land. One of them was Sir Kay, the brother of Arthur, the song of Sir Ector, whom asked Ar...
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...my noble knights destroyed! I would prefer that I myself had fallen." This states that King Arthur, is loyal to his country and wished that he could die instead of all of his noblemen.
Conclusively, at the very end of the story, after King Arthur is buried, one of his true loyal followers, stayed by him even in death. His follower, Sir Bedivere, walked up to a tomb and found out that it was the King Arthurs tomb and immediately "sat down and never left that place." For he was being very loyal to his king who had died. Sir Bedivere lived next to the king for years after until his death. The end of his life was full blown loyalty to the king ever, especially since the King had died. Lastly, he states his true loyalty to the Archbishop of Canterbury who had been there since he had been banned by Sir Modred. "Father, I wish only to be near to my true liege."
Life during the Middle Ages was full of social change, division, and classism. This feudal society of Britain was divided into three estates. (social classes) Within the second estate was the the knight who was a soldier for the king who fought in many battles. Even though the knight is expected to have the strength and the skills to fight in battle, all knights during the Medieval period additionally had a chivalrous aspect to them. Chivalry was the honor code of a knight which included bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women. Within the stories of the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” and “Le Morte d’Arthur”, the code of chivalry was broken by knights which show the corruption of England’s feudal society.
One of the most enduring myths in the Western world is that of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Regardless of the origins of the tales, the fact is that by the time they had been filtered through a French sensibility and re-exported to England, they were representations of not one but several ideals. Courtly love and chivalry and the various components thereof, such as martial prowess, chastity, bravery, courtesy, and so on, were presented as the chief virtues to aspire to, and the knights as role models. Arthur's eventual fall is precisely because of having failed at some level to fulfill these ideals in his life.
Arthur has a lot of confidence in his choice of Sir Lancelot and even states that, "He is going to be the best knight I have ever had." (331) This foreshadows that Lancelot will become one of Arthur's greatest knights. This quote is important because Arthur showing so much courage in Lancelot later led to many other issues later on in the book. Arthur and Lancelot developed a very good relationship throughout the course of the book, He was my first friend and I love him." (541) This quote is extremely important because it shows that, no matter, what Lancelot will almost always out Arthur first and Arthur will almost always put Lancelot first. This leads to great things throughout the book because it shows that Lancelot and Arthur have lots of faith in each other and trust each other. Fate played a very crucial part in the later parts of Arthur's life because it allowed Arthur and Lancelot to meet and create a good
What makes a man a hero? Where lies the line which when crossed changes a mortal man into a legend? Is it at the altar at Canterbury? in the Minotaur’s labyrinth? or is it an age or a time? Does a man become a hero when he transforms from a boy to an adult? or when he stops being a man and becomes a martyr? Where are the heroes of 1993? In whom do the children of this age believe? Like whom do they strive to be? Kennedy, Lennon, and even Superman are dead. World leaders are mockeries of real men, more like Pilates than Thomas Mores. Pop culture’s icons change daily. It is interesting that nearly 600 years ago someone was writing about heroism in a way that can be understood today. The poet of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells a tale in which a man is proven to be a hero through the seemingly un-heroic decisions made in the course of numerous tests. Sir Gawain is a hero for the 21st century. He is tried and trapped, he is inundated with opportunities to fail and yet he does not lose. More importantly though, in the end he learns an essential, inescapable fact about himself and human nature.
Games can cause you to lose your idea of reality and create a sense of disillusionment. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, games are immensely significant throughout the story. Mental games tear at a Gawain's perception of what's going on, deceiving him to the truth of his situation. Sir Gawain knows this all too well from his experience with the Green Knight. The Green Knight creates a challenge for someone to cut his head off and in twelve months seeks him out to return the favor. Physical games can be as impacting as mental ones; Lady Bertilak attempting to seduce Sir Gawain. This temptation that generates a rift between what his mind knows and what it wants to do leads to more confusion within him She basically throws herself upon him yet he stays strong to his morals. These games within the novel create copious amounts of irony during Sir Gawain's quest. He gets caught up within all these games only to find out later that it was all a hoax. His year long quest is an ironic journey that was produced entirely by the Green Knight. Games hold tremendous value in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the games cause Sir Gawain to lose his sense of reality. Through the Green Knight's games, Sir Gawain's word is truly tested.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written in the fourteenth century in Northern dialect by an anonymous author who was a contemporary of Chaucer. The story begins in King Arthur's court. The Green Knight, a green monster who challenges the court to a Christmas game, Sir Gawain, a brave, loyal knight of the court, and King Arthur, the lord of the court, are the main characters. Lines 279 through 365, which deal with the Christmas game, also known as the beheading game, foreshadow the Green Knight's supernatural powers, Sir Gawain's victory over the Green Knight, and his bravery and loyalty to King Arthur. The events surrounding the proposal of the game foreshadow what will happen next.
Morte d'Arthur". He wished to inspire people to return to the basic ideals of the chivalric
Nobody wanted to stand up to Tetley nor King Arthur, they just did what they
had served him. / That was Lanval; Arthur forgot him, / and none of his men favored him
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.
In the Medieval Period, knights dedicated their lives to following the code of chivalry. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a number of characters performed chivalrous acts to achieve the status of an ideal knight. Their characteristics of respect for women and courtesy for all, helpfulness to the weak, honor, and skill in battle made the characters King Arthur, King Pellinore, and Sir Gryfflette examples of a what knights strove to be like in Medieval society. Because of the examples ofchivalry, Le Morte d’Arthur showed what a knight desired to be, so he could improve theworld in which he lived.
Closely associated to the romance tradition are two idealized standards of behavior, especially for knights: courage and chivalry. The protagonist within many medieval romances proved their worth by going on quests, as many a knights went in those times, thus returning with great tales of their travels and deeds. Many modern people think of chivalry as referring to a man's gallant treatment of women, and although that sense is derived from the medieval chivalric ideal, chivalry could be seen as more than that. Knights were expected to be brave, loyal, and honorable-sent to protect the weak, be noble to...
Even though it is argued widely throughout history that King Arthur is non-fictional, it is not true. To deem King Arthur a non-fictional person there should be written records that he was born and that he died. There are people farther back in history that have birth and death records. Just because people want him to be real they will depict anything with a tale of him and make it truth. According to the facts King Arthur was fictional. He was said to have fought very many battles; however, he could not have been attended all of the battles. (Wood). If King Arthur was apart of these wars as the legend suggests, he would be of the supernatural. Some of these battles were not written down in history, if the incident was not documented they must not have been factual. There are documents that show historical figures farther back in history, so why do we not have proof of King Arthur’s life or death? They are not there because he was not real. If Arthur was real he would have been buried in the ground, but he is not. In every story told of King Arthu...
Throughout the dawns of time, people have recorded lives and made histories about the past, the people and all of their dramatics. One such story is Le morte d'Arthur, or in English, the Death of Arthur. Despite its French title, the actual text was written in English. It is a twenty-one book series written by Sir Thomas Malory in 1469-1470 describing in detail the problematic lives of the Arthurian legends.
The Arthurian legends are well known in today's society. However, very few people know of the "real" Arthur -- who he was and what his accomplishments were. This paper will establish a difference between legend and truth, show evidence to support and explain who the real Arthur was, and shed some light on the sometimes confusing Arthurian legends.