Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Analysis

In the article, “Carnival, Pagan, and Christian symbolism in ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’,” Laura I. Kenny begins her discussion by introducing the background of the poem. Laura then states the perceptible relations of humankind v. nature and the underlying manifesto of each but became meticulous when beginning her discussion on religion (more specifically Paganism and Christianity). She brings into light the religious symbolism of the holly, along with the color green. Intervening both, she states the association of the holly and the Holly King’s “entirely emerald green” stature. Laura then goes on to tell about the religious sentiment and the similarities and the stipulations that go along with the color. She brings the Christian belief of renewal and the idea of change, and the Paganistic

Discussing in the second paragraph, she quotes the poem on the Green Knight’s holding of the axe and holly, but then states, “But let us focus on the Holly,” as to say she wasn’t referencing it to begin with. She also randomly brings in the Beheading Game in a single paragraph, to never mention it again. Ms. Kenny should’ve dug deeper into her key points and had an easier flow to her paragraphs. She seemed hyperactive to get her point across but subsequently missed it by having so many confusing and unnecessarily long. Kenny switches back and forth on what she exactly wants to talk about and gives no room to quite understand her trail of thought. However, despite the author’s many scatterbrained sentences, she does give evidentiary quotes when supporting the paganistic claims of the Green Chapel. She starts by confirming the natural background of the chapel and then supports this by quoting from the poem, “a soulless spot, a ghostly cathedral overgrown with grass.” Throughout,the paper was thoroughly too choppy and way too confusing at