There are many main themes in the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but three of the most important ones are the themes of salvation, morality, and truth. These themes help connect Christianity to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. These themes are so important to the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight because the whole book is set around salvation, morality, truth, and any other themes. All of these themes tie into one another and help connect other parts of many of the King Arthur stories. The themes of salvation, morality, and truth are key themes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Morality is one of the major themes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The ideals of chivalry are based off the Christian theme of morality. More importantly, morality and chivalry are brought together in the pentangle of Sir Gawain’s shield, namely by the five virtues that the fifth point stands for: free-giving, friendliness, chastity, chivalry, and piety. These virtues of chivalry
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overlap the virtues of Christianity. Coincidentally, the beginning of the book describes Gawain as a faithful, religious character who adheres to these virtues thought out most of the book, depicting him as a moral man. However, Gawain ends up straying from these virtues much later in the book, when he is tested and tempted by the lady of the castle. At the end of the book, Gawain justifies this straying from virtues as the failure of humanity. Humans are not perfect and make many mistakes. In the case of Gawain, his mistake was ignoring the principles of morality during the lady’s test of temptation. He doesn’t completely ignore his moral values because he does not give into the lady’s temptations completely. Gawain makes an honest effort to resist the lady’s temptations and hold on to his moral values. For the most part, Gawain holds firm to the principles of morality and the values of chivalry. Gawain only begins to make his mistakes when he makes the choice to stray from the principles of morality and become dishonest. There are many examples of morality and moral situations in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. One of the best examples of Gawain’s stray from morality is when he accepts the green girdle from the lady. This ties into the moral theme of seduction, which is a prominent throughout the third section of the book. In part four, section 97, of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain compares himself to four Bible characters: Adam, Samson, Solomon and David. He compares himself to these men in the Bible because their downfalls were all brought about by women in some way that went against the principles of morality. For example, Adam strayed from his morals when he was tempted by Eve to eat the apple. He knew it was wrong to do so, but he chose to act against the principles of morality and disobey God’s rules anyway. Adam’s downfall was brought about by a woman - Eve. Gawain felt that he was like these characters because his downfall was also brought by a woman. Even though Adam and Gawain both are caused to fall by another person, they could have still saved themselves by looking at the basic principles of morality. Adam, who realized that taking the apple was wrong, could have chosen not to eat it, thus saving himself and Eve in the process. As for Gawain, he could have either not accepted the girdle because it was wrong to, or he could have been honest and given it to the lord. Both men chose to ignore the basic principles of morality, and therefore, suffered because of this choice. Another major theme of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is truth. The heart of the poem is the notion of truth. All of the other themes center around the stem of truth in some way. Since Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was originally written in Old English, the meaning of truth is a little different than what we know it to be today. The Old English definition of truth describes it as honesty, promise, faithfulness, loyalty, or fidelity. This definition is what makes truth tie into all of the other themes of the book. The pentangle also represents the devotion to truth, as the definition of truth is very similar to the ideals of chivalry. The book also subtly criticizes the fact that chivalry values appearances over truth. Gawain is a loyal and honorable knight, yet he is dishonest and deceives the lord. Gawain also has a split honestly thing going on with the lady. His speech is always pure, so when he says he does not want to be tempted, he really means what he says. However, in keeping with the Old English definition of truth, Gawain is unchaste with how he handles the temptations by giving the lady the kisses. In other words, breaking his vows, is an act of Gawain’s violation of truth. There are also many examples of Gawain’s violation of truth in the book.
In a sense, Gawain is untruthful to Mary because by accepting the girdle from the lady, Gawain put his trust in the lady’s pagan magic and became unfaithful to Mary. Gawain is also untruthful to the lord. Gawain gave the lord the kisses he rightfully earned on the first two days after the hunt, but he failed to give the lord the green girdle on the third day of the hunt. This dishonesty results in the outcomes of the three “swipes” the Green Knight gives him. For Gawain’s first two days of honesty, the Green Knight gives Gawain two fake “swipes” to reward him for his honesty. The third swipe results in a cut on Gawain’s neck since Gawain did not give the lord the green girdle. Gawain realizes that by being untruthful, he has broken his vows and condemns himself at the end of the book. He decides to wear the green girdle around his left shoulder as a reminder to himself that he had broken his vows during his
journey. Another major theme of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the theme of salvation. The theme of salvation in the book reinforces the idea that we are all human and capable of error. As previously stated, Gawain is a deeply religious man. He prays throughout his journey, but Gawain only prays to ask God to help him with his needs or to grant him his salvation. Gawain never once prays to thank God for all of the help He has given Gawain. Gawain also jeopardizes his salvation when he doesn’t confess the green girdle. However, at the end of the book, the Green Knight acts as God for Gawain. The Green Knight is the one who ultimately passes judgement at the end. The Green Knight is the one who hears Gawain’s confession. He declares Gawain clean of all his debts and judges Gawain to be a noble and brave knight. The failure of Gawain’s quest prepares him for his redemption. The theme of salvation can also tie Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to The Death of Arthur and to the Bible. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is willing to sacrifice his life like Jesus was willing to sacrifice his life for our salvation. Gawain was also willing to die because he thought that was God’s purpose for him, just as God’s purpose for Jesus’ death was so we could be saved. In The Death of Arthur, Arthur can be seen in the position of God because God “killed” his son, as Arthur kills his son. The Death of Arthur also can compare to the Bible because both Jesus and Arthur allude to their second comings. Finally, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Death of Arthur, and the Bible all tie together because Gawain, Arthur, and Jesus are each still alive at the end of the book. Gawain’s life is spared, Arthur is not quite dead yet, and Jesus resurrects. Therefore, because of these reasons, the theme of salvation does not just apply only to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it can be applied to The Death of Arthur and the Bible as well. In conclusion, three of the major themes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight heavily relate to Christian allegories. These themes of morality, truth, and salvation also show the strong connection between Christianity and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight focuses itself around these three themes, subtly showing the reader how to better adhere to the values of morality, truth, and salvation. These three themes might seem like they hardly add to the story, but the play such a major role in connecting the themes of Christianity to the story that they cannot be easily overlooked. The Christian themes of salvation, morality, and truth play such a large, important role in the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The code of chivalry is a set of rules followed by the knights during the middle ages. The evolution of heroic and chivalry code has changed over time beginning from the Middle ages to now. The three stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Lanval and Beowulf illustrate what it takes to be considered a chivalrous knight. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain shows qualities
Part of learning how to be a good writer is in learning to assess your own work and the work of others. So, in an effort to practice this skill, please choose one of your favorite works of fiction and evaluate how successfully the author was able to weave the theme through the story. Did the author utilize any of the following to weave in the theme: character actions, symbolic environment, repeating ideas, highlighting symbols, or contrasting values? Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was a perfect example of weaving a theme into a story.
In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Poet Pearl, Sir Gawain, knight of the Round Table, acts chivalrously, yet his intents are insincere and selfish. It is the advent season in Middle Age Camelot, ruled by King Arthur when Poet Pearl begins the story. In this era citizens valued morals and expected them to be demonstrated, especially by the highly respected Knights of the Round Table. As one of Arthur’s knights, Sir Gawain commits to behaving perfectly chivalrous; however, Gawain falls short of this promise. Yes, he acts properly, but he is not genuine. The way one behaves is not enough to categorize him as moral; one must also be sincere in thought. Gawain desires to be valued as
But in the end he conceals the green girdle that the Bertilak’s wife gives him from him, revealing that despite Gawain’s bravery, he values his own life more than his trustworthiness. When he finally reencounters the Green Knight, he realizes the problematic nature of courtly chivalric ideals. During this, Gawain confesses his fault, of hiding the girdle, to the Green Knight and pleads to be forgiven. Afterwards, he chooses to wear the girdle as a symbol of his mistake. He cannot accept his sin and free himself of it the same way the Green Knight had and he continues to do penance by wearing the girdle for the remainder of his life.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – A Test of Chivalry Essay with Outline: Loyalty, courage, honor, purity, and courtesy are all attributes of a knight that displays chivalry. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is truly a story of the test of these attributes. In order to have a true test of these attributes, there must first be a knight worthy of being tested, meaning that the knight must possess chivalric attributes to begin with. Sir Gawain is admittedly not the best knight around. He says "I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest; / and the loss of my life [will] be the least of any" (Sir Gawain, l. 354-355).
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.
Though often extensive detail may be condemned as mere flowery language, in understanding Sir Gawain and the Green Knight one must make special emphasis on it. In color and imagery itself, the unknown author paints the very fibers of this work, allowing Sir Gawain to discern the nuances of ritualistic chivalry and truth. His quest after the Green Knight is as simple as ones quest toward himself. Through acute awareness of the physical world he encounters Gawain comes to an understanding of the world beyond chivalry, a connection to G-d, the source of truth. He learns, chivalry, like a machine, will always function properly, but in order to derive meaning from its product he must allow nature to affect him.
The Green Knight challenging Sir Gawain reminded me of the serpent challenging Eve to eat the Apple. She knew God told her and Adam that they can eat anything except fruit from the tree of knowledge. Sir Gawain did not need to accept this challenege, no one did. But the temptation to create a name for himself outweight any common sense. I also believe that when Sir Gawain was offered the green gridle, it was similar to the apple given to Eve. He did not need the gridle but his desire to live outweight any reasoning. He also went on to lie to the Lord about what he recieved that day so that he may live when his invevidable demise came from the Green Knight. Stories have always been allegored retells from epic floods to temptation driven stories. I believe the Green Knight tale was inspired by the Garden of Edan as many stories before it has
Although, Gawain was not honest about the green girdle that he received from the lady of the
Symbolism is used throughout literature to give deeper meaning to a variety of literary works. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight symbolism is seen through the actions of Sir Gawain against the trials he faces. The poem is first set during Christmas time at Camelot, showing that they were Christian for they were celebrating Christmas. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows the struggle between a good Christian man against the temptations of this world. Symbolically, one can see Sir Gawain holding true to Christian values: first, by standing up for what he believes in; second, by staying true to a future mate; and thirdly by repenting from sins due to a broken promise.
The first symbol in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that I will discuss is Sir Gawain’s knightly shield. On Gawain’s shield is a pentangle, the five points on this pentangle represent the five virtues of the perfect knight; piety, friendship, generosity, chastity and courtesy. Each of the five virtues is tested on Gawain throughout the poem creating an emphasised importance on the shield’s representation and meaning. “Now alle þese fyue syþez, for soþe, were fetled on þis knyȝt, And vchone halched in oþer, þat non ende hade, And fyched vpon fyue poyntez, þat fayld neuer” (SGGK, 656-8). This quote tells of the pentangle’s design, how each line of the pentangles composition is endlessly linked to one another, suggesting that each virtue depends on th...
The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight revolves around the knights and their chivalry as well as their romance through courtly love. The era in which this story takes place is male-dominated, where the men are supposed to be brave and honorable. On the other hand, the knight is also to court a lady and to follow her commands. Sir Gawain comes to conflict when he finds himself needing to balance the two by being honorable to chivalry as well as respectful to courtly love.
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.
Even court life need not be washed completely of human sin and the natural instincts all animals rely on, for being godly, as Gawain is, should not be viewed as the primary characteristic of being moral. There should be a balance between humanity and godliness, similar to Aristotle's idea of a golden mean, that all these knights seek. By showing that knights should achieve this balance, the author extends his message to the common people, who look to knights as role models of morality. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight challenges the contemporary ideals of morality, presenting instead a golden mean that the common people would not have associated with their knightly role models before.
The narrative artistry of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight can be attributed to the fundamental elements of chivalric life and the exploration of classic mythological elements that allows the narrative to bridge the gap between Christianity and Paganism, and allow its readers to find their own spiritual interpretation with in the text.