What Is The Parallel Between Gawain And The Green Knight

Throughout Gawain and the Green Knight, we as readers are presented with many symmetrical elements. The poem is filled with balance, contrast, and antithesis. These literary devices help to make the story interesting for readers, but also have significance to the character of Gawain himself. In this essay, I will explore some of the deeper meaning of a few parallels presented in Gawain and the Green Knight; such as Gawain’s shield and the green girdle, the temptation scenes, and a few miscellaneous parallels.

There are two parts to Gawain’s journey during the poem. The first, in which he leaves Arthur’s court (536-569), and the second, from when he leaves Bercilak’s castle in search of the green chapel (2011-2041). In the earlier scene Gawain seems indifferent to the fate that he is about to incur asking his comrades, “Why should I tarry? In destinies sad or merry, true men can but try.”(562-565); the scene ends with a description of his shield. The second passage, however, ends in a very different way with a description of the green girdle that Gawain wears “to keep himself safe” (2040). The girdle in essence becomes a contrasting

elements not only for the physical protection a shield offers, but also the moral significance the shield represents. The pentangle adorned on the outer side of the shield represents the perfect knight; a man with perfection in his five senses and his five fingers, his faith in the five wounds that Christ received and the five joys of the Virgin Mary, and finally the five knightly virtues – franchise, fellowship, cleanness, courtesy, and pity (640-654). On the inner side of the shield; a picture of the Virgin Mary serves to remind Gawain of her five joys and keep his spirits high in the most terrible of situations. The shield, with its image on either side, has two functions – it serves as a devotional reminder to Gawain as well as representing the moral perfection of a knight to the world around him. It is both a part of the war objects designed to keep him safe during combat as well as a reminder of the immortal soul that all devout Christians possess. Thus, the shield serves as a symbol of his indifference to worldly matters while expressing his knightly valor. The girdle, however, contrasts the shield both by the level of protection it grants the wearer and the valor the knight holds. The way in which Gawain obtains the girdle directly contradicts his knightly code as he falls to the temptation that the girdle presents. This magic girdle that protects the user from death (1851-1854) requires Gawain to act dishonorably to his host in order to keep the treasure. He must succumb to using a worldly object, like the shield, for a worldly end; but unlike the shield he has to break his knightly honor to obtain it. This act shows that Gawain might not be the knight we think he is. Maybe he isn’t perfect. Maybe he has fears of death and what comes next just like everyone else. The shield and the girdle are presented as two kinds of worldliness: the shield an allowable, self-rejecting use of the world’s objects in the service of holy Christian ideals; the girdle a forbidden and greedy way to stay alive.
The three temptation scenes are paralleled by the three strokes of the axe. In the temptation scenes, the author brings about a sort of humor in which the hot and heavy bedroom scenes parallel the gritty, tense hunting scenes which suggest the qualities Gawain must overcome on his journey; the timid deer, the ferocious boar, and the cunning fox. The incredulous position that Gawain is put into with the lady of the house is heightened by the exchanges with the husband. The number of kisses increase daily and the suspense is left to grow as it is unclear if the husband knows what his happening while he is away. These temptation scenes are drawn out for quite a while to build the reader’s suspense. The author wants to keep the readers at the edge of their seats; giving them just enough information so they feel like they sort of know what is going to happen, but not enough to be sure of the outcome. The Green Chapel scene however happens really quickly. The knight swings three times, pulling the axe on the first two strokes (2268- 2291), and finally just nicking Gawain on the third stroke (2311). There are no details as to why this happens. We know what happens, but none of it makes sense at this point. When Gawain takes the girdle from the queen we knew exactly what lead to that point and the rationale behind the keeping of the token, but the Chapel scene leaves much to be said. The explanation comes soon after with the Green Knight explaining the situation to Gawain (2358 -2368). Gawain confesses his wrong doings to the Green Knight and genuinely feels bad about what has happened. He promises to do better and to wear the girdle as a reminder of his own faults (2434-2436). When Gawain returns to Arthur’s court, he is met with a much less harsh judgement of his actions which parallel the mindset of the Green Knight. Even though he took the girdle, he did it to save his own life which cannot be thought ill of as life is the only thing tethering us to this world.
A few other parallel features of the Gawain poem are the opening and ending scenes.

In both scenes we see a reference to the siege ending in Troy (1 &2525). The first scene opens up the story while the last serves as a way to bring the action to a close and return to normalcy. When the Green Knight enters into Arthur’s court he is holding both a holy bob and an axe (206-208). These items are directly parallel to each other; the holy bob representing an everlasting life as it is the only thing still living in the winter, and the axe representing certain death as it is a weapon used to introduce men to their mortality. These items serve to foreshadow the events that will eventually play out. Either Gawain will someone survive the axe swing and continue on his way, or he will be snuffed out by the sharp blade and meet his untimely

end.
In conclusion, the Gawain poet uses these parallels to not only entertain the readers, but also to invoke some critical thought as to the validity of the virtues that a knight holds. He presents the questions that all men eventually face as to whether they will choose to save their own life, or stand by their ideals even when presented with a situation that seems impossible. As we see in the poem, Gawain does indeed choose his life over his ideals when he takes the belt (2040). After he comes out alive, he realizes that the decision was not the most honorable and he has to reevaluate what it is he truly believes. He proves to judge himself quite harshly, but with good reason. His peers on the other hand sort of brush it off as natural human instinct to want to save yourself from death and laugh at his insecurities. In the end, they agree with Gawain and choose to wear similar belts that speak to the inherent flaws all men possess (2516-2520).