Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Pentangle Essay

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A simple five-pointed star, shinning in the purest of gold, each line overlapping and linking with the last. Each point virtuous, loyal, and kind, donned by the noblest of knights. The ever eternal and endless knot devoid of any vice.(Gawain 627-638) This symbol, the Pentangle, so cherished, creates a morality structure which juxtaposes the virtues Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight strives to embody and how he, as a human, falls short.
Within its introduction, the pentangle is described as a “symbol that Solomon once set in place / and is taken to this day as a token of fidelity.” (Gawain 625-626) The image of this powerful and wise king injects ethos, creating a sense of value to the virtues the pentangle represents. This five-pointed …show more content…

Gawain, in a similar manner of the preceding hunts rejects the Lady’s advances, but after much “convincing” accepts her green girdle. For Gawain knows that “the body which is bound within this green belt… will be safe against anyone who seeks to strike him.” (Gawain 1851-53) Instead of keeping his end of the bargain, Gawain gives Bertilak a mere three kisses, and conceals the girdle. The action of keeping the girdle, in deceit, turns our hero into an ignoble knight rather than one who treats the five virtues to the highest honor. The green girdle represents the vices that the pentangle is against. It represents Gawain’s fall from the virtues he used to embody with his very soul. Through the incident with the green girdle Gawain betrays all of five virtues, fraternity, friendship, politeness, purity and piety. Through the action of keeping the green girdle, Gawain betrays fraternity, friendship, politeness, and purity in response to his deceit with Bertilak, and Piety for not trusting in the will of God, holding his own life to more esteem than his ultimate fate. Through these tests and tribulations, Gawain, like any other human being, is shown to have faults. The pentangle serves as a perfect representation of what every noble knight should strive for and how Gawain ultimately fails. Without the pentangle Gawain’s failure holds no meaning. The simple five pointed star creates a morality structure that binds each character with the next, through the common set of virtues they share. This morality structure illustrates how a knight must fight against his ultimate humanity in order to obtain nobility. This allows for Gawain’s failure to have value, for the trait of nobility to be esteemed. (FIX

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