Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 13751400

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight(1375-1400)

• More than a Sword in a Stone
• Humility, Piety, Integrity, Loyalty, Honesty

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Who is Gawain?

• Gawain is Arthurs nephew
• Exemplar of courtesy and chivalry
• Never portrayed as Christian unlike the other
  knights of his time
• Alienated from the other knights

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The Green Knight Hero of Ecology

• Eastern origins
• Green is the color of Islam
• Connection to the Pagan god, Odin
• Has regenerative qualities like a plant
• Influenced Robin Hood
• The Green Man appears in gardens
  and other vegetation

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knightand the Ideals of
Knighthood

• Physical idealsStrengthSkill at
  armsHorsemanship
• Non-physical idealsCourageHumilityCourtesyLoy
  alty
• Gawain tries to be loyal to Arthur, to Bertilak,
  and to his own word. His failure is in loyalty to
  his word.

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Sir Gawain and Courtly Love

• Elevated women
• Object of love was to be worshipped from afar as
  an ideal
• Only noble people were worthy of love
• Poem seems to condemn courtly love

Lady visits Gawain in his bedroom
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The Poem

• Alliterative Poem
• ARTHURian Romance
• Written by clerk or town official
• 14th Century (same time but not same place as
  Chaucer - Canterbury Tales)
• Middle English
• Four sections called fitts 2500 lines

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Sir Gawain and the Green KnightNOT EPIC

• Hero fighting for spiritual ideals
• Not fighting for people against a monster or
  other threat.
• Chivalric/Arthurian Hero NOT an Epic Hero like
  Beowulf

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Gawain as flawed hero

• Gawain is flawed
• Green Knight says Gawain lacks loyalty

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Synopsis 2500 lines on 2 slides

• Starts on Christmas Eve at the court of King
  Arthur
• Gawain accepts a challenge from The Green Knight
• Chop off his head, then seek the GK out in one
  year, then the GK will behead him
• Gawain does it
• The next year, Gawain sets off to find the GK.
  After surviving many perils, he comes to stay
  with Bertilak and his wife hospitable
• Lady Bertilak tries to seduce Gawain but he
  refuses
• She offers him a sash that will make the wearer
  invulnerable to weapons
• Gawain accepts hoping to protect himself from the
  GK

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Synopsis

• The next day he sets off to find the GK and he
  appears
• 1st blow of the ax Gawain flinches and the GK
  complains
• 2nd blow of the ax The GK praises Gawain for
  not flinching Gawain complains and wants him to
  finish
• 3rd blow of the ax Nicks Gawains neck, but
  does not decapitate
• The GK explains that he is Bertilak
• The first two checked blows were for the
  honorable behavior shown by Gawain in refusing to
  be seduced by Lady Bertilak
• The nick was for dishonorably taking the sash
• Gawain wishes to return the sash, but Bertilak
  insists that he keep it.
• Gawain says that he will wear it as a token of
  his shame.
• When he returns home everyone is delighted by the
  story
• They follow his example and wear green baldrics
  in honor of Gawain