Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Analysis

Morgan Le Fay, a sorceress, tells the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. She begins the narrative by asking the question, “What is it that makes a man?” At the end of her story, she finds a response to that question, but she had to play a trick to get there. As one can see from the title, Sir Gawain was a main character in the narrative. Even though he was King Arthur’s nephew, he can be seen as a humble knight treating others with great respect. Though humble, he did hold himself up to high standards. One day, some sort of monster or perhaps, some sort of man came to King Arthur’s palace to play a little game. Sent by Morgan Le Fay, the Green Knight wanted to find one fellow that would hit him on the back of the head with an axe

On his way, he came across a kingdom where he would be an honored guest for the next few days. Three days in a row, he made a little deal with the lord of that palace: as lord Bertilak went out hunting and Sir Gawain stayed in the palace, they would trade with each other whatever they gained that day. The first day, Sir Gawain received a kiss from a lady. In accordance with the deal, he kissed Bertilak on the forehead, and he was given venison in return. However, he wouldn’t tell Bertilak who had kissed him. The second day was similar to the first. However the third day, Lady Bertilak went into the room of Sir Gawain once more giving him several kisses and a green belt that she said would protect him from harmful weapons. However, she made him promise not to give her husband the green belt when they were to trade the days’

The first time the Green Knight swung at Sir Gawain’s head, he moved out of the way. However, the next time Sir Gawain stood perfectly still. The Green Knight stopped the axe a moment before it would’ve hit his neck. Then he actually hit him, and Sir Gawain bled, but not much. He was alive. His head was still attached, however it wasn’t the belt that had saved him. He simply chose to not hit Sir Gawain hard enough to chop off his head. The Green Knight confessed that it was his own belt. He conceded who he truly was. Yes, the Green Knight was Bertilak. And Bertilak was the Green