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 accepting Bertilak’s request, gave Gawain the chance to become a martyr if Arthur in fact could not behead Bertilak in a single swipe and therefore Gawain followed the code of chivalry to have unwavering loyalty to his lord.
These beliefs in the code of chivalry and the Christian faith stood out most to me regarding this poem and how as the story progressed the author portrayed Gawain more and more as a symbol of the ideal Christian knight in particular by his armor. As I read the poem, part 2 to be precise was when Gawain was being armored for his journey and the armor he adorned showed direct reference to the Christian influence. The symbol that Gawain displayed on his shield and coat, and the fact that the author gives a great amount of detail to is the pentangle “that Solomon designed long ago as an emblem of fidelity” (Black 176), which resembles a never ending five point star that was symbolic of Gawain’s whole journey as it was his obligation made as a knight and as a Christian to fulfill h...
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...o had a strong belief in Christianity. But whatever the case Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is still a poem that can be read and appreciated by anyone and still take away the main points.
Works Cited
Arthur, Ross. “Gawain’s Shield as Signum.” Text and Matter New Critical Perspectives of the Pearl-Poet. Troy: The Whitston Publishing Company, 1992. Print.
Ashton, Gail. “The Perverse Dynamics of sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” Arthuriana 15.3 (2005), pp. 51-74. JSTOR. Web. 2 Dec. 2013
Black, Joseph, et al, eds The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Ed, Volume A. 2nd ed. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview. 2011. Print.
Green, Hamilton. “Gawain’s Shield and the Quest for Perfection.” ELH 29.2 (1962), pp. 121-139. JSTOR. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
Hodges, Laura. “Syngne, Conysaunce, Deuys.” Arthuriana 5.4 (1995), pp. 22-31. JSTOR. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
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In the early fourteenth century, knighthood represented respect and success for brave young men, and chivalry’s codes were necessary for those young men to uphold. In the book Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the author constructs the young Sir Gawain by testing his character. These trials, given by the Green Knight, challenge Sir Gawain 's loyalty and bravery to people’s astonishment Sir Gawain 's achievement is muddled. During the test he breaks his promise and takes away the green girdle that he supposes to exchange with Bertilak just likes his bargain.
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight has prompted scholars to examine and diversely interpret the medieval narrative. One of the underlying questions that has been proposed embodies the analysis of the relationship between Christian and Pagan ideals and how knightly chivalry is influenced by religion during the Arthurian Romance period. It is no mistake that the two varied religious ideals are intertwined throughout the poem due to the nature of classical antiquity. Amidst the overlap between superstitious rituals and Orthodox- Christian beliefs it is clear that Sir Gawain has a sense of personal integrity guided by a moral compass.
Mills, M. “Christian Significance and Romance Tradition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” Critical Studies of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Eds. Donald R. Howard and Christian Zacher. Notre Dame: UP of Notre Dame, 1968: 85-105.
Anonymous. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Norton Anthology of English Literature Sixth Edition. Volume 1. Ed. M.H.Abrams. New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Inc., 1993.
Barron, W.R.J., trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.. New York: Manchester University Press, 1974.
Sir Gawain is presented as a noble knight who is the epitome of chivalry; he is loyal, honest and above all, courteous. He is the perfect knight; he is so recognised by the various characters in the story and, for all his modesty, implicitly in his view of himself. To the others his greatest qualities are his knightly courtesy and his success in battle. To Gawain these are important, but he seems to set an even higher value on his courage and integrity, the two central pillars of his manhood.
Thesis Statement: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows the struggle between a good Christian man against the temptations of this world.
Web. 30 Sept. 2009. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume A. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt.
In the anonymous poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the character of Sir Gawain is portrayed as the imperfect hero. His flaws create interest and intrigue. Such qualities of imperfection cannot be found in the symbol of the pentangle, which he displays on his shield. This contrast between character and symbol is exposed a number of times throughout the poem allowing human qualities to emerge from Gawain’s knightly portrayal. The expectations the pentangle presents proves too much for Gawain as he falls victim to black magic, strays from God, is seduced by an adulterous woman, and ultimately breaks the chivalric code by lying to the Green Knight.
Markman, Alan M. "The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Modern Language Association 72.4 (1957): 574-86. JSTOR. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance about the adventure of Sir Gawain, King Arthur's Knight of the Round Table. This great verse is praised not only for its complex plot and rich language, but also for its sophisticated use of symbolism. Symbolism is a technique used in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to give a significance to the plot. The Green Knight, the Green Sash, and Sir Gawain's Shield are three of the most prominent symbols given to us in this verse.
8[8] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Marie Borroff. Norton Anthology of British Literature Vol. 1, New York: WW Norton, 1993.
Authors incorporate religious principles to set forth the moral characteristics and ideals expected of a person. Literary works are illustrated with biblical allusions to help express the message behind the plot of a story. The poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight integrates biblical beliefs to depict the views on human nature. In this work, Christian concepts are embedded into the poem to suggest the Green Knight’s characterization as God, a representation to test human nature’s fidelity.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume One. General Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1993.
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.