Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

            The Gawain poem is considered to be a moral growth lesson or simply a rollicking romance of magic and adventure. The literary genre of the poem is known to be romance though not from a love story as it refers to the European language from the language of the Roman Empire. With the story being written in the roman languages the element of magic and fantasy is present (Leitch, 2015). There is also the inclusion of monsters and dragons to the battle, mysterious places, curses and peculiar spells to be broken. There is a frequent appearance of Damsels in distress as seen in the plot whereby victims needs to be rescued. The story of romance begins where the knight is faced with a challenge before embarking on a journey to accomplish their task. The test is seen to originate from a mysterious guest (Forsberg, 2015). The knight had to move far from home where they encountered dreadful hardships and the battles they fought before they had achieved their goal and their return to the courts to tell their stories (Gardner, 2011). There is a basic piece for every romance where the hero is aimed at and the presentation of the famous knights.

Sir Gawain

Gawain seeks to advance the inner self in the poem which is evident by his reputation that is widespread. Gawain considers public reputation more important which is symbolized by the green girdle to show disgrace at the story comes to an end as he believes that sins should be visible as virtues (Forsberg, 2015). The Green knights trick Gawain by hiding about the supernatural capabilities whereby Gawain refuses to leave the honored deal.  Gawain stands by his commitment even when his life is at stake “he straightened up his stirrups, handsome to see” (Gardner, 2011, 14). Despite the deep fears of Gawain and anxieties that are frequently reiterated in the poem Gawain maintains his zeal for personal integrity by all means that has helped him conquer the fears of the green knights.

In the poem, Gawain is portrayed as a ideal of virtue in part 1 and 2 but in part 3 he is seen to hide from his swarm of the mysterious green girdle of the host wife showing that regardless of his valor he considers life to be of more importance in comparison to honesty (Leitch, 2015). He confesses to his sins and begs to be pardoned by the knight whereby he thereafter voluntarily wears the girdle as a sign of his sin. Although he repented his sins honorably there is an indiscretion of his basic goodness at the end of the poem.

Gawain is not a still character because he recognizes the problematic nature of the courtly morals. An example of this is when he returns at Camelot to the Arthurs court where the lords and the ladies looked at him as lighthearted children but he was weighed down by the fresh somberness (Leitch, 2015). At the end of the poem Gawain emerges as a humble man who is able to acknowledge his own mistakes and is able to cope with the truth that he will never be able to live to his personal lofty principles “a captive he had become, his life is care, many joy he had lost and all his mastery” (Gardner, 2011, 19).

The Green Knight

The Green Knight is also known as the Host who is a supernatural and a mysterious creature who rides in Arthur’s court to tell his marvelous story. The supernatural characteristics that involved the aptitude to live on decapitation and the green cast portray him as an ominous figure (Forsberg, 2015). The Knight in the poem symbolizes fertility, wildness, and death that typify a primeval world and the courts signify a commune of evolution in the wilds.  Green Knight support values in the justical system of the courts. The long hair of the host symbolized an unchanged state of nature (Leitch, 2015). The cut made to the hair into the form of a courtly item of clothing shows that there is that part of his role that institutes a link among evolution and the wilds, current and the past.

During the planned beheading of Gawain, the emerald Knight discloses that he is the multitude that stayed with Gawain through the journey in the wilds and he is known as Bertilak de Hautdesert. Bertilak is portrayed as jovial and a courteous man who takes pleasure in hunting sports and playing games.  The host contrasts with a middle aged and a well-respected lord with the beardless Arthur (Leitch, 2015). The feature of his beard is associated to the green knight with the host. The green knight and the host are connected in that they both place an importance on the power of verbal contracts as it is seen at the end of the poem where each one of them makes a Covenant with Gawain and the two agreements overlap.

There have been different systems in the poem that has governed morality. Nature and human society have been a center of conflict due to the internal and the external forces in the form of the winter landscape, green knight, sexual desires and the fear of death (Leitch, 2015). The morals have been governed by the well distinct codes of behaviors. Chivalry as a code of behavior particularly shapes the action and the values of sir Gawain. The principles of the Christian morality, as well as the knightly chivalry, have jointly brought out Gawain symbolic shield. The pentangle shows the virtues of the knight that includes friendship, chastity, courtesy, generosity and piety (Forsberg, 2015). On governing morality Arthur’s court depends on the code of chivalry which is criticized by the both Gawain and knight as it symbolizes value and truth and where Arthur looks at it as the most courteous of all. Gawain moral behavior is also governed by nature where he abandons the chivalry codes in the wildness and adopts his animal nature to enhance survival for physical comfort of his survival (Gardner, 2011).

Gawain system of the human society is seen to dominate at the end of the tale. His moral superiority plays a big role throughout the poem. In the final scenes, Gawain encounters Bertilak where he perceives his own flaws and his acceptance of the green girdle. His behavior is the most noteworthy due to his understanding of sins that most individuals would not accept especially if propelled in their love life “a woman of so much might so wicked a wheel-wright” (Gardner, 2011, 17). The acceptance act boosts his stature to that of paragon of chivalry. He is derelict in his duties in the crumbling house of Arthur and he also lives up to his good name as he is able to resist the temptation of lady Bartilak in various encounters which can be considered unbearable “sir so sweet, you honor the trysts you owe” (Gardner,2011, 20). Gawain dominates the end of the tale because the reader can easily forgive him as he has repented fully and he goes a step further to impose a penance on him. In order to crack Gawain, the green knight takes a mild rebuke confident valor of Gawain in pretense hence his significance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Forsberg, L. (2015). Christina Rossetti and Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight. Studies In English Literature, 1500-1900, (4), 861.

Gardner, J. (2011). Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: In a modern English version. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Leitch, M. G. (2015). 'Grete luste to slepe': somatic Ethics and the sleep of romance from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to Shakespeare. Parergon, (1), 103.