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Characters of sir gawain and green knight
Sir gawain and the green knight literary devices
Sir gawain and the green knight literary devices
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In many ways, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a poem constructed from various binary oppositions, all encompassed within the genre of the medieval romance. These oppositions, however, are not always as polarised as might be initially expected. This is certainly the case with the relationship between civilisation and the wild, whose continual juxtaposition often allows for the distinction between the two to become blurred. This essay will explore the difference between the topographical wild – that is, the wilderness – and civilisation, demonstrating that the two are not as different as they immediately appear to both reader and protagonist. Furthering this line of argument, this essay will also consider the definition of ‘the wild’ as …show more content…
As W.R.J Barron says, ‘the elements [of the Green Knight] are familiar, but their fusion in one person is unacceptable, incomprehensible’. The court is stunned into ‘swoghe sylence’ (l. 242) for several moments, seemingly unable to process the almost-apparitional figure who has entered the civilised space. The poet adds that the silence was ‘not al for doute [fear], / Bot sum for cortaysye’ (ll. 246-7): the reaction is inappropriate (because these chivalric knights should not be afraid), yet completely justified, as they are showing respect for the impressive figure. The Green Knight, then, is an example of the Lacanian extimité, the ‘embedded alien’. He is the ‘intimate that is radically Other’, recognisable to the court as a fellow ‘cortays knyƷt’ (l. 276) but also a ‘selly’ (‘marvel’; l. 239) who might not be fully human. He is a symbol of liminality, embodying both ‘self’ and ‘Other’, ‘civilisation’ and ‘wild’. The items the Green Knight carries with him only further frustrate the ability to definitively categorise him; in one hand, he carries ‘a hoge and vnmete’ (l. 208) axe, whilst the other holds ‘a sprig of holly as a sign of peace and goodwill.’ Further, he refers to his challenge as a ‘Crystemas gomen’ (l. 283), but the violence of his request conflicts with the idea of it as a mere ‘game’. The unclear intentions only …show more content…
As this essay has discussed, it is difficult, even erroneous, to attempt to address the notions of civilisation and wild as distinct from one another. The poet continually juxtaposes and interposes the concepts, inviting us to interrogate what exactly constitutes ‘civilisation’ and what determines its separation into the definition of ‘wild’. This tenuous relationship is typified through the character of the Green Knight, whose liminality disrupts and defies attempts to define him as either one thing or the
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a stranger rides into King Arthur's court with a challenge. This stranger, green in color from head to toe, proposes to play a game with a member of King Arthur's court. This game will be played by each participant taking a blow from a weapon at the hands of the opponent. The person that dies from the hit is obviously the loser. On top of this, the Green Knight offers to let his opponent take the first swing. This sets up the action in the passage beginning with line 366 and ending with line 443.
The poet spends most of the next three stanzas describing the Green Knight in detail; first, we learn of his clothing, trimmed in fur and embroidery, all green and gold. Then we learn that the horse he rides, the saddle, and the stirrups are all green. The man's long hair matches that of the horse, and he has a great, thick beard, also green.
The culture of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight forms the foundation of the Cohen’s category crisis thesis. Due to the fact that Sir Gawain and the Green Knight can not solely fit into one category within culture and society, it is evident that “The Monster Is the Harbinger of Category Crisis” is not the only one of Cohen’s seven these the poem could have related to. The stereotypical ideas of monstrous actions has evolved into new understanding by connecting the poem to Cohen’s thesis, comparing and contrasting the Green Knight and Sir Bertilak while relating aspects of old ideas to help dissect and form this poem into a new light. As states in Monster Theory by Jeffery Jerome Cohen, “We live in an age that has rightly given up on Unified Theory, an age when we realize that history (like “individuality, “subjectivity”, “gender,” and “culture) is composed of a multitude of fragments, rather than of smooth epistemological wholes. “ In order to create and form a new idea from the poem in connection to Cohen’s thesis the past, current cultural, society roles, and environment must be included. Cohen stated, “Some fragments will be collected here and bound temporarily together to form a loosely integrated net—or, better, an unassimilated hybrid, a monstrous body.” Fragments of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight were taken and connected to numerous factors of the evolution of history,
Marie De France’s Lanval is a remarkable short narrative that engages the reader into a world filled with unrealistic elements, but enhances on the true meaning of romance, chivalry and nature during the years that King Arthur reigned. “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” unfortunately does not have an author that can be recognized but this epic poem demonstrates the ghastly adventure of a knight who decides to defend the honor of young King Arthur against a supernatural being in this malicious game of cat and mouse. Both of these pieces of literature have enchanting characteristics that define them as a masterpiece of their era and that’s why they both are easily compared and contrasted. In addition, both Lanval and “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” can be classified as similar through their themes, style and plots, although they are different through their language and diction. Even though both of these literatures can be viewed as similar as well as contrasting, in the end, each of these tales have illuminated the realm of fantasy throughout the court of King Arthur.
In literature, insights into characters, places, and events are often communicated to the reader by symbolic references within the text. This is the case in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In this Medieval romance, the colors and textures of fabrics and jewelry are used heavily by the poet not only as a descriptive tool, but also to give the reader information about the characters’ personalities and roles within the story.
The tales of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Lanval offer their readers insight into a common knightly quandary. Gawain and Lanval are both faced with challenges that threaten their ability to protect, uphold, and affirm their very knightliness. The two knights repeatedly see several knightly traits--- each invaluable to the essence of a knight--- brought into conflict. While the knights are glorified in their respective texts, they are faced with impossible dilemmas; in each story, both reader and knight are confronted with the reality that knightly perfection is unattainable: concessions must be made--- bits and pieces of their honor must be sacrificed.
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.
Through jest of a game the Green knight enlightens Gawain the short sights of chivalry. He comes to realize within himself that the system which bore him values appearance over truth. Ultimately he understands that chivalry provides a valuable set of ideals toward which to strive, but a person must retain consciousness of his or her own mortality and weakness in order to live deeply. While it is chivalrous notions, which kept him, alive throughout the test of the Green Knight, only through acute awareness of the physical world surrounding him was he able to develop himself and understand the Knights message. From the onset of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the author relies intensely upon descriptive language to create ambiance and tonality, but it is only later in the work, upon Sir Gawain’s development, that like Gawain, the reader is able to derive meaning from the descriptive physicality and understand the symbiotic relationship of nature and society.
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.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Lais of Marie de France, the authors use animals as metaphors for human actions, and as characters. By analyzing the use of these animals, we are able to explore the meaning the authors were trying to communicate through specific scenes. The Book of Beasts, a translation by T.H. White (1984 ed.), provides a medieval standpoint when analyzing the use of animals in the Lais and in Gawain.
“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.
Web. 30 Sept. 2009. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume A. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval poem by an unknown author, written in Middle English in the 14th century. This poem is uncanny to most poems about heroism and knightly quests as it doesn’t follow the complete circle seen in other heroism tales. This poem is different to all the rest as it shows human weaknesses as well as strengths which disturbs the myth of the perfect knight, or the faultless hero. The author uses symbolism as a literary device in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to give the plot a deeper and more significant meaning. Symbolism is used to emphasise the difference of this heroism story against others and therefore symbolism is of great importance in this poem. The importance of the following symbols will be discussed in this paper; the pentangle, the colour green, the Green Knight, the exchange of winnings game, the axe and the scar. This paper argues the significance of the use of symbolism as a literary device in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
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.
The poem’s intricately balanced structure challenges the reader to seek out a resolution coherent with his or her own ethics. An admirable knight of King Arthur's renowned court, Sir Gawain is directed by a complex set of ethos, a collaboration of principles symbolized by the mystical pentangle. A five-pointed star composed of five interlocking lines; the figure represents a multitude of guiding tenets, representing both religious and knightly ideals. One can recognize that “the pentangle cognizance is explicated by the poet to signal Gawain’s complete Christian perfection, and for the reader to be aware of contemporary concerns about magical protective practices, hinting at human frailty” (Hardman 251).